Parliamentary Panel Recommends Framework For Gram Panchayat Funds

New Delhi: The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj has recommended that the Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR) develop a national convergence framework for providing funds for gram panchayat (GP) infrastructure and prepare a roadmap on the priority list of GPs lacking buildings and digital assets nationwide.

Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka, chairperson of the standing committee, has recommended the implementation of the framework nationwide to have the facility of GP Bhawan in each village of the country. Further, the MoPR should conduct third-party evaluations and social audits of infrastructure projects to ensure transparency and accountability to achieve the targets.

The ministry, in reply to the committee, said that providing panchayat infrastructure, like the construction of Panchayat Bhawan and procurement of computers, is the primary responsibility of states/UTs. The MoPR supports states/UTs through the Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA) by providing funds for the construction and repair of Panchayat Bhawans, Common Service Centres (CSC) and procurement of computers.

The ministry further said 3,301 GP Bhawans were sanctioned in 2024-25 for GPs with a population of more than 3,000. Apart from this, a total of 9,609 GP Bhawans and the procurement of 28,032 computers have been approved since 2022-23 to 2025-26 (as on May 9, 2025). To this, the committee replied that 20,164 computers have also been approved for Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttarakhand 2,000 computers for Bihar to meet the requirement. In addition, the eGramSwaraj portal has been integrated with the BSNL portal to facilitate panchayats across the nation to apply for a new internet connection and payment of monthly bills.

However, the committee observed that the ministry has not provided a clear, time-bound plan to build Panchayat Bhawans and provide computers with internet service to all GPs across the country. Further, GPs with a population of less than 3,000 have been neglected despite the need for infrastructure, and it is not clear that construction of the proposed 9,609 GP Bhawans will meet overall national demand.

Regarding the construction of Panchayat Bhawans, the committee had earlier recommended that the construction be undertaken under RGSA. For the year 2024-25, 4,420 Panchayat Bhawans were approved. However, only 661 were constructed. While states like Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Odisha have full coverage with all GPs having Panchayat Bhawans, a significant number of GPs in states like Bihar (6,607 GPs), Haryana (3,135 GPs), and Manipur (3,678 GPs) lack the facility.

During the course of evidence, the representative of the ministry said there is a shortage of around 32,000 Panchayat Bhawans in the country and Rs 20 lakh is allocated for the construction of a Panchayat Bhawan. The committee is well aware of the importance of Panchayat Bhawans as centres for local governance, facilitating meetings, grievance redressal, and community programs, and therefore, urged the MoPR to expedite pending constructions by streamlining tender process, ensuring proper fund utilisation and establishing a real-time monitoring dashboard to track the status of approved and progress of underconstruction Panchayat Bhawans.

Further, the committee is of the view that Rs 20 lakh allocated for construction of a Panchayat Bhawan is too less in the present situation in view of the escalating inflation rate, mounting costs of building materials and other construction costs. The committee recommend that the ministry review the amount allocated for the construction and appropriately increase the same and, if need be, provide 13 additional funds for those states having a large number of GPs without Panchayat Bhawans.

The committee has further been informed by the ministry that the work of the creation of a network to connect all GPs (around 2,55,000 GPs) in the country is being undertaken under the Bharat Net Project. And so far, 2,18,347 GPs have been made service-ready.

Regarding the recommendations of the committee, the ministry, in its action taken reply, has stated that to ensure all GPs with a population of more than 3,000 have a building, the ministry has provided funds for the construction of 3,301 buildings along with CSC co-location in GPs. Apart from this, a total of 9,609 GP Bhawans and the procurement of 28,032 computers have been approved, as proposed by the states/ UTs in their respective Annual Action Plans of revamped RGSA from 2022-23 to 2025-26 (as on May 9, 2025).

As per ministry data, India is home to 6.65 lakh villages, with 2.68 lakh Gram Panchayats and Rural Local Bodies, and it has prioritised digital empowerment of panchayats by sanctioning 31,003 computers for GPs that already have established office buildings.

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