Good News ! Center will provide grant of Rs 15187.5 crore for the development of Gram Panchayats For the development of infrastructure in the village panchayats, the central government will give a grant of Rs 15187.5 crore. On the recommendation of the Fifteenth Finance Commission, the Finance Ministry has approved an amount of 15187.5 crore for the development of infrastructure in panchayats across the country. The amount of grant will vary according to the need in different states. West Bengal received an amount of Rs 1103 crore in this regard. According to administrative sources, the amount this state will get as a grant from the Center will be spent in the drainage, drinking water, making the area free from open defecation and conserving rain water in the panchayat areas. The Fifteenth Finance Commission had recommended sanctioning Rs 90 thousand crore for infrastructural development in rural and urban areas, in which it is proposed to allocate Rs 60750 crore for rural areas. Under this proposal, the Finance Ministry has sanctioned Rs 15187.5 crore for development works in Gram Panchayats as the first installment. There is no condition for spending half of this fund. Gram Panchayat can spend half of the fund according to its needs. But the remaining half will have to be spent on projects such as fund withdrawal, open defecation and drinking water etc. After the release of the central fund, the central government will also monitor its proper use. The central government has said that within 10 days of receiving the fund, the state governments will have to hand over the allotted amount to the panchayats. After receiving the funds, the panchayats will start development work. Source: Agrostar, 16 july 2020 If you find this information useful, like it and share it with your friends.