The Centre released Rs 680.71 crore as the first instalment of united (basic) grants under the Fifteenth Finance Commission for rural local bodies (RLBs)/Panchayati Raj institutions (PRIs) of West Bengal for the financial year 2025–26, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj said Thursday. The release was made on October 6, for 3,224 gram panchayats, 335 block panchayats, and 21 zilla parishads across the state, the ministry statement said. During the previous financial year 2024–25 and current financial year 2025–26, Rs 4,181.23 crore was recommended and released to West Bengal, comprising Rs 2,082.13 crore as untied grants and Rs 2,099.10 crore as tied grants, the ministry said. United grants are flexible funds that can be used for a broad range of local needs, while tied grants are designated for specific purposes. "Untied Grants from XV-FC provide RLBs with the flexibility to address location-specific development needs across the 29 Subjects of the Eleventh Schedule of the Constitution, excluding salaries and establishment costs. These funds support initiatives such as road and footpath construction and maintenance, LED and solar street lighting, village playfields, environmental protection, income-generating activities, digital connectivity, crematorium maintenance etc., aligned with the local priorities identified through participatory planning," the statement said. "Tied Grants, on the other hand, are dedicated to essential services, including sanitation and maintenance of Open Defecation Free (ODF) status, supply of drinking water, rainwater harvesting, water recycling, stormwater drainage, waterlogging management etc," the ministry added. The government also released the Fifteenth Finance Commission health sector grant amounting to Rs 151 crore to West Bengal under the component 'Support for Diagnostic Infrastructure to the Primary Healthcare Facilities for the Sub-Centres (For Rural)' for the year 2024–25. The ministry said the grant is intended to be utilised to "fully equip primary healthcare facilities so that they can provide necessary diagnostic services in rural areas". This release will help strengthen diagnostic infrastructure at the grassroots level, benefitting citizens in villages where Panchayati Raj unstitutions are functioning, it said. The Centre also released the Fifteenth Finance Commission grants for the financial year 2025–26 to rural local bodies in Andhra Pradesh. The first installment of the untied grants, amounting to Rs 410.76 crore has been disbursed. "These funds will benefit all 13 district panchayats (zilla praja parishads), 650 eligible block panchayats (mandal praja parishads) and 13,092 eligible gram panchayats (GPs) out of 13,327 GPs in the state, the ministry said in a separate statement.
