Question : Panchayat Buildings

(a) Whether the construction of Panchayat Building is essential and mandatory for all the Gram Panchayats in the country and if so, the details thereof;

(b) the number of Gram Panchayats without Panchayat Buildings in the country, State/UT-wise;

(c) the funds allocated/released for construction of such buildings during each of the last three years and the current year along with the utilisation status thereof State/UT-wise;

(d) whether cases of alleged irregularities in the construction of such buildings have come to the notice of the Government during the said period and if so, the details thereof along with the action taken thereon, State/UT-wise; and

(e) whether the Government proposes to increase the budgetary allocation for the purpose to various States including Rajasthan and if so, the details thereof?

MINISTER OF STATE FOR PANCHAYATI RAJ
(SHRI NIHAL CHAND)

(a) Panchayat Ghar/Bhawan is the office of the Gram Panchayats for holding meetings and discharging the responsibilities of the Panchayat including issuance of certificates, permits, licenses etc. as mandated by the respective State Panchayati Raj Acts. Panchayats is a State subject, it is upto the States to provide building to Gram Panchayats.

(b) As per the information provided by States, there are 51332 Gram Panchayats without Panchayat Ghars in various States/UTs. State/UT wise details are given at Annexure-I.



(c) To strengthen the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) across the country, funds under the RGPSA have been provided for construction and repair of Panchayat Ghars. The details of funds sanctioned to States during 2013-14 & 2014-15 for construction and repair of Panchayat Ghars are given in Annexure-II. As a meagre amount was available under RGPSA in 2015-16 due to state component of RGPSA being delinked from central support, construction and repair of Panchayat Ghars could not be supported. However, funds have been sanctioned under RGPSA to UTs for Panchayat Ghars.

(d)The complaints connected to Panchayats Bhawan fall within the purview of the concerned State Government, the same are addressed by them as per their respective statutes. In case a complaint on the subject is received by the Ministry, these are sent to the concerned State Government for examination and remedial action. Since issues related to Panchayati Raj Institutions are a State subject, the Ministry does not maintain any data regarding the total number and type of complaints received.

(e) The funds available for 2015-16 under RGPSA are Rs. 191crore, mainly for capacity building and training. However, construction of buildings for Gram panchayats was specifically notified as a permissible item of work under MGNREGS with effect from 3rd January, 2014. Construction of 58851 Gram Panchayat Level Sewa Kendras across the country have been sanctioned utilizing funds from MGNREGS of which 18961 have been completed. The number of such Gram Panchayat Level Sewa Kendras sanctioned to Rajasthan is 9165 out of which 7960 have already been completed.


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