Rural Local Bodies

The Centre has released the first instalment of the 15th Finance Commission grants for FY 2024-25 to the rural local bodies (RLBs) in Karnataka, the Union Panchayati Raj Ministry said in a statement. The funds are meant for all the 5,949 eligible gram panchayats in the state, it added. "The Government of India through the Ministry of Panchayati Raj and Ministry of Jal Shakti recommends the release of XV-FC grants to the Rural Local Bodies which are then released by the Ministry of Finance. The allocated grants are recommended and released in two installments in a financial year," the statement said. The grants will be utilised by the RLBs for location-specific requirements under the 29 subjects enshrined in the 11th Schedule of the Constitution, except for salaries and other establishment costs, it added. The grants can be used for the basic services of (a) sanitation and maintenance of ODF status, and this should include management and treatment of household waste, and human excre

Own Source Revenue (OSR) generation for panchayats remains low, with the income through tax collected by the rural local governance bodies on an average being just Rs 59 per capita between 2017 and 2022, according to government data. Even as the generation of OSR for panchayats has come into focus to give these rural bodies more financial autonomy, according to the data compiled by the Panchayati Raj ministry, between 2017 and 2022, only an amount of Rs 5,118.98 crore was raised as OSR by the panchayats. This comes down to Rs 59 per capita and Rs 2.27 lakh per panchayat over the five-year period for 2.25 lakh gram panchayats across the country. The total population coming under these panchayats was more than 86.95 crore in the said period. Among the states, Gujarat collected the highest amount as OSR at Rs 829.75 crore, while Kerala came second collecting Rs 802.95 crore. Andhra Pradesh, which raised Rs 791.93 crore, occupied the third position, followed by Karnataka (Rs 627.56 ...

To improve MC finances, interventions will be required at various levels. Most importantly, MCs will have to work on boosting their revenues

Several states do not have proper state finance commissions (SFCs) for fund distribution to urban local bodies and panchayati raj institutions

Without the development of hinterland, India cannot become Viksit Bharat or a developed nation by 2047, Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) Girish Chandra Murmu said on Tuesday. Noting that decentralisation of power has not taken to the extent it should have happened, he said, gram sabha or rural bodies are yet to get its due importance in the federal structure. "Without the development of grassroots level at the local level, we cannot achieve Viksit Bharat. More than 50 per cent people live in rural area, and until their governance, their development, their administration, their resources are not augmented, we will not be able to reach (Viksit Bharat goal). As our prime minister says that if everyone take one step, we will have 1.4 billion steps... that is why Jan Bhagidari is important," he said. There are about 2,60,000 panchayats and 7,000 urban local bodies in the country. He empahsied the need for strengthening of local bodies so that efficiency of government schem

Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister P Keshav on Tuesday said the government will release Rs 1,452 crore as funds to local bodies in the state to speed up works at the village and ward levels. According to directions from Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, it has been decided to release Rs 998 crore to gram (village) panchayats and Rs 454 crore to urban local bodies, he said. "Chandrababu Naidu directed that these funds be used to speed up works at the village and ward levels. The release of these funds will financially strengthen the local bodies," said the Finance Minister in a press release. Alleging that the erstwhile YSRCP government had weakened local bodies, Keshav asserted that the TDP-led government would work for the strengthening of local bodies. Further, he claimed that the YSRCP government had diverted the 15th Finance Commission funds.

Reforms must be initiated to strengthen local bodies

To push the decentralisation project forward, the first step is to create and distribute information on the activities and finances of local bodies

Local bodies need more predictable revenue flows

The Centre informed the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that there was no proposal to increase reservation for Other Backward Castes as per population in the local body elections. Union Minister of State for Panchayati Raj Kapil Moreshwar Patil, during the Question Hour in Rajya Sabha, said OBCs are provided one-third reservation under Article 243D of the Constitution. "However, 21 state governments have increased the reservation up to 50 per cent. The member has sought increasing the reservation for OBCs as per the population in the local body elections. There is no such proposal before us," he said. In local bodies, there is a 50 per cent reservation for women. Under this quota, there is a provision to accommodate OBCs, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Patil added. However, the state governments have the right to provide reservations for OBCs. "On this subject, the states should take a call at their level," the Union minister said while replying to another supplementary question.

The state of healthcare services will improve substantially with the participation of urban local bodies in delivering them, Union Health Secretary Sudhansh Pant said on Friday. Pant made the remark at a national urban health conclave on "developing a joint roadmap for strengthening health systems resilience" here. Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Manoj Joshi was also present. Addressing the gathering, the health secretary highlighted the pressing need for strengthening the primary and secondary healthcare network in urban areas. Citing the significant impact of urban local bodies (ULBs) in Maharashtra and Gujarat in delivering high-quality healthcare services, he said, "The state of healthcare services will improve substantially with the involvement and participation of ULBs in delivering them and at the same time it will make the healthcare services more affordable and accessible to urban dwellers." Commending the convergence of efforts between the Ministry of Heal

A voter turnout of 49.33 per cent was recorded till 5 pm on Thursday in the final phase of the urban local body polls in Uttar Pradesh, with the Samajwadi Party alleging that supporters of the ruling BJP were indulging in election malpractices, especially in Kannauj. The polling began at 7 am in Meerut, Ghaziabad, Shahjahanpur, Bareilly, Aligarh, Kanpur, and Ayodhya. Polling was going on smoothly with 57.60 per cent turnout in Ayodhya, 46.20 per cent in Aligarh, 50.93 per cent in Etawah, 60.87 per cent in Gautam Buddh Nagar, 41.92 per cent in Ghaziabad, 46.40 per cent in Kanpur and 46.75 per cent in Bareilly till 5 pm, the election office said. Officials also said that voters, who have lined up at the polling centres till 6.00 pm, will be allowed to cast their votes. In a series of tweets, the main opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) accused members of the ruling party of indulging in fake voting in the Gursahaiganj polling booth of Kannauj. It also alleged that BJP MP Subrat Pathak a

The AAP on Sunday unveiled its election plank for urban local body polls in Uttar Pradesh, promising to halve house taxes and waive water taxes in municipal bodies it wins. AAP MP Sanjay Singh, the party's Uttar Pradesh in-charge, launched the party's slogan -- "House Tax Half, Water Tax Maaf" -- to woo the electorate during a visit to Lucknow. He also declared in-charges for 633 urban local body seats in Uttar Pradesh and said the party will contest from every constituency. During his visit, Singh called the ED (Enforcement Directorate) the "Entertainment Department" and alleged that central agencies are being misused to target the opposition. Singh said the Uttar Pradesh Cabinet has accepted the report of the commission set up to look into the issue of reservation to Other Backward Castes (OBCs) in urban local body polls and expressed hope that the government will soon announce the election dates, he said. The party will reach out to the public and ask them to give the AAP an ..

Murmu also pointed out that digitisation and expanded use of technology and artificial intelligence have brought its own challenges

Property tax is one of the major sources of revenue for local governments/Urban Local Bodies (ULBs)

The Finance Ministry on Wednesday said it has released Rs 4,189 crore to five states for providing grants to the rural local bodies. "The Department of Expenditure (has) released an amount of Rs 4,189.58 crore to Karnataka (Rs 628.07 crore), Tripura (Rs 44.10 crore), Uttar Pradesh (Rs 2,239.80 crore), Andhra Pradesh (Rs 569.01 crore) and Gujarat (Rs 708.60 crore) for providing grants to the Rural Local Bodies," an official statement said. This grant is based on the recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission and are released to the states as per the advice of the Department of Drinking Water & Sanitation for making improvements in two services -- sanitation and maintenance of Open-Defecation Free (ODF) status and supply of drinking water, rain water harvesting and water recycling. The states are required to transfer the grants to the local bodies within 10 working days of receipt from the Union Government. Any delay beyond 10 working days requires the state governments to ...

Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday called for qualitative reforms in the functioning of local self-government bodies, which he said will save money and improve quality. Speaking at the convocation ceremony of the All India Institute of Local Self Government, Gadkari stressed the need for coordination between technology and education. He lamented the lack of quality in the functioning of the municipal administration and said technical qualifications in works must improve. Gadkari also called for improving the standard of Detailed Project Report (DPR) of management consultants hired for municipal works. He appealed to municipal administrations to work on solid and liquid waste management, developing a tree bank and adopting the "waste to wealth" concept. Gadkari said performance audit of municipalities was a must.

The Finance Ministry on Tuesday said it has released about Rs 13,386 crore to 25 states for providing grants to rural local bodies (RLBs).

The Union Finance Ministry, on the recommendation of the Panchayati Raj Ministry, released Rs 8,923.8 crore to 25 states for providing grant to rural local bodies.

The UP panchayat polls will be held in four phases in 75 districts from April 15. Return of migrants has added another dimension