Small-population village panchayats in Uttar Pradesh will now obtain authorities help equal to 5 occasions the income they generate on their very own underneath a brand new incentive scheme aimed toward strengthening financially weak rural our bodies.
As per the 2011 Census, out of over 57,,691 gram panchayats in Uttar Pradesh, almost 25% have populations beneath 1,500 (For Illustration)
The “Own Resource Income-Based Panchayat Compensation and Incentive Scheme,” notified by the federal government, targets 12,087 gram panchayats with populations as much as 1,500. These embrace 252 panchayats with fewer than 1,000 residents and 11,835 with populations between 1,001 and 1,500 as per the 2011 Census.
Further chief secretary, panchayati raj, Anil Kumar issued a GO (authorities order) introducing the scheme right here early this week. The scheme is aimed toward addressing the long-standing funding hole that hampers the functioning of smaller panchayats, which regularly battle to fulfill routine bills equivalent to sanitation, ingesting water, electrical energy, and upkeep of group belongings. Inhabitants-based fund allocation leaves these panchayats with little assist regardless of their vital position in grassroots governance.
Many of those smaller panchayats, the GO factors out, face a monetary crunch because of rising tasks on the village degree. With the enlargement of rural improvement actions and institution of panchayat secretariats, they’re now required to fulfill recurring bills equivalent to salaries of pradhans, panchayat assistants/accountants-cum-data entry operators, caretakers in addition to pay electrical energy payments, like for stray cow shelters and panchayat secretariats and so on.
Nevertheless, restricted fund allocation based mostly on inhabitants usually falls wanting assembly these obligations by small native rural our bodies. Eligible panchayats underneath the brand new incentive-based scheme shall be compensated based mostly on verified own-source income (OSR) collected within the earlier monetary 12 months from native sources like market stalls, ponds, waste assortment, group halls, widespread service centres and different belongings listed underneath Part 37 of the UP Panchayat Raj Act, 1947. They will acquire income from native sources equivalent to taxes, charges, fines and rents. District magistrates will certify these earnings.
Funds underneath the scheme shall be routed via the State Finance Fee and may solely be used for authorised improvement actions — not for honorariums or salaries. A devoted digital portal shall be developed to watch panchayat earnings and disbursal, with 0.05% of the scheme’s allocation put aside for its maintenance.
As per the 2011 Census, out of over 57,,691 gram panchayats within the state, almost 25% have populations beneath 1,500. These panchayats usually get disproportionately decrease funds in comparison with bigger panchayats as a result of 90:10 allocation ratio based mostly on whole and Scheduled Caste/Tribe populations respectively.
The scheme won’t solely reward such panchayats but additionally promote transparency and accountability by mandating correct documentation of earnings sources via the OSMARO portal. Panchayats should add information of earnings from markets, tourism-related receipts, group corridor leases, and different companies.
District-level committees led by the district Justice of the Peace will assess the eligibility of panchayats and suggest the quantity of incentive to be awarded. The motivation may go as much as 5 occasions the panchayat’s personal earnings deposited within the designated account.
The GO mandates that each one incentive quantities be used strictly as per the rules set by the state and central governments. “Despite having functional secretariats and sanitation infrastructure, most gram panchayats lack mobility and operational resources. This scheme marks a shift towards rewarding self-reliance and incentivising rural bodies to build their own financial base,” a senior panchayati raj official stated.
The initiative, he identified, was according to the spirit of the 73rd Constitutional Modification, which sought to empower panchayati raj establishments and decentralise improvement planning to the grassroots.