Over Rs 2 lakh cr to be given to panchayats over 5 years: Govt

With an aim of ensuring development of villages, over Rs two lakh crore would be provided to panchayats over the next five years, government told Lok Sabha today.
"I do not think that any panchayat would face the funding problem. The only problem which I apprehend is that a panchayat may not have that capacity," Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Birender Singh said.
On account of capacity, he said the government is thinking as to how to improve the capacity building of all the panchayats so that any work that they take up would be of good quality.

As per the 14th Finance Commission recommendation, a sum of Rs 2,00,292 crore would be transferred to 2,40,000 panchayats of the country in the next five years, he said.
If any panchayat is in a position where it has the capacity to do certain works which relate to the development of villages, then it would be having sufficient funds, the minister said.
"We still hold that some sort of guidance should come from our ministry to the gram panchayats. For that, we have requested the Ministry of Finance...We are still making efforts to see that more funds should flow to us so that we can also help for capacity building of village panchayats," he added.

Giving details of the status of panchayats, he said as many as 43,653 of the country's 2,39,812 local bodies are still running without any building.

About two lakh panchayat ghars or bhawans have been constructed by the respective state governments using their resources and schemes,
Panchayat ghars function as the office of the gram panchayats for holding meetings and discharging the responsibilities of the panchayat including issuance of certificates, permits and licenses among others.
Singh said funds under Rajiv Gandhi Panchayati Sashaktikaran Abhiyan (RGPSA) have been provided for construction and repair of the local buildings on the basis of the approved annual RGPSA plans of the states.

RGPSA provides for Rs 12 lakh for construction of the buildings for panchayats with population of less than 5,000 and Rs 15 lakh in the case of gram panchayats with population above 5,000, he said.