(a) whether his Ministry has proposed any scheme for panchayats to get additional funds competing with each other; and
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(a) whether his Ministry has proposed any scheme for panchayats to get additional funds competing with each other; and
(b) if so, the details thereof;
MINISTER OF PANCHAYATI RAJ(SHRI MANI SHANKAR AIYAR)
(a)and(b): Yes Sir. The Panchayat Empowerment and Accountability Incentive Scheme (PEAIS) of the Ministry is already
being implemented to incentivise the State Governments/UTs to empower the Panchayats through better and quicker devolution
of powers as envisaged in the Part IX of the Constitution. However, as the budget allocation for this scheme is only Rs. 10
crores, the Ministry has now proposed to implement the scheme across the country as a national programme through which
States that are able to show better performance over the previous year in empowering Panchayati Raj Institutions and
Panchayat which demonstrate better performance in practicing transparency and accountability to citizens, would receive
incentive grants. The performance of the States and Panchayat would be independently assessed using a Devolution Index
developed for the purpose. The PEAIS is envisaged to be a Government of India-led funding support, to which the World Bank
and other donors could supplement with additional funds. The scheme is still in the process of conceptualization and
finalization.