The Centre has released over Rs 223 crore under Fifteenth Finance Commission (XV FC) Grants during Financial Year 2025–26 for Rural Local Bodies in Assam.
“This entails the second instalment of Untied Grants for the Financial Year 2024–25, amounting to Rs 219.24 crores. These funds are intended for all eligible 27 District Panchayats (DPs), 182 Block Panchayats (BPs), and 2,192 Gram Panchayats (GPs) of the State,” the Ministry of Panchayati Raj said on Friday.
Further, Rs 4.698 crore from the withheld portion of the first instalment of the Untied Grant for the Financial Year 2024–25 has also been released to an additional 26 eligible Block Panchayats.
The Government of India, through the Ministry of Panchayati Raj and the Ministry of Jal Shakti (Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation), recommends the release of XV-FC Grants to States for Panchayati Raj Institutions/Rural Local Bodies, which are subsequently disbursed by the Ministry of Finance.
The allocated Grants are recommended and released in two instalments within a financial year.
The Untied Grants will be utilised by the Panchayati Raj Institutions/Rural Local Bodies for location-specific needs, under the twenty-nine (29) subjects enshrined in the Eleventh Schedule of the Constitution, except for salaries and other establishment costs.
“The Tied Grants can be used for basic services, such as (a) sanitation and maintenance of ODF status, including the management and treatment of household waste and human excreta—particularly faecal sludge management — and (b) the supply of drinking water, rainwater harvesting and water recycling,” the Ministry added.