Rural Local Bodies receive Rs 12,351 crore grant from Finance Ministry
Rural Local Bodies (RLBs) are set to receive grants from states as the Centre has released Rs 12,351.5 crore for this purpose to those 18 states which have provided utilisation certificate for the first instalment. As part of the basic grant provided by the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance to states for RLBs, grants have been released to these states.
The grant has been recommended by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj and 15th Finance Commission for creating community assets while simultaneously improving the financial viability of RLBs. All the three tiers of Panchayati Raj have been provided with the grants including Village, District and Block which enables the pooling of resources.
Two types of grants — basic grants and tied grants — have been recommended by the 15th Finance Commission. While the basic grants can be used by local bodies, the tied grants are for use in providing basic services including supply of drinking water, sanitation & open defecation-free status and maintenance.
