Centre Releases ₹213.9 Cr to Assam Panchayats, Boosting Tech-Led Local Governance

The Untied Grants provide local bodies the flexibility to invest in community-specific needs under the 29 subjects of the Eleventh Schedule of the Constitution, excluding salaries and establishment expenses.

In a major boost to decentralised and data-driven rural governance, the Union Government has released ₹213.9 crore as the first instalment of the XV Finance Commission (XV-FC) Untied Grants for FY 2025–26 to Rural Local Bodies (RLBs) in Assam, empowering Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) with greater financial autonomy and scope for technology-enabled local development.

The funds have been disbursed to all 2,192 eligible Gram Panchayats, 182 Block Panchayats, and 27 Zilla Parishads across the State, enabling them to directly plan and execute location-specific development priorities using digital accounting, e-governance platforms and outcome-based monitoring systems increasingly adopted at the grassroots level.

The XV-FC grants are recommended by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj and the Ministry of Jal Shakti (Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation), and released by the Ministry of Finance in two instalments each financial year. The Untied Grants provide local bodies the flexibility to invest in community-specific needs under the 29 subjects of the Eleventh Schedule of the Constitution, excluding salaries and establishment expenses.

This funding architecture supports the shift towards digitally empowered Panchayats, where local governments can leverage e-planning tools, GIS-based asset mapping, real-time expenditure tracking and citizen-facing platforms to improve transparency, service delivery and accountability.

In parallel, Tied Grants under the XV Finance Commission framework are earmarked for core civic services, including:

• Sanitation and sustaining Open Defecation Free (ODF) status, with a strong focus on household waste management, fecal sludge treatment and sanitation infrastructure

• Drinking water supply, rainwater harvesting and water recycling — areas increasingly supported by smart water management and IoT-based monitoring solutions

The release of funds strengthens Assam’s capacity to align rural development with Digital India, Jal Jeevan Mission and Panchayat Enterprise Suite (PES) initiatives, enabling Panchayats to function as last-mile implementers of tech-enabled governance.

Call to Action for GovTech and Civic-Tech Innovators

Technology providers, GovTech startups, civic-tech platforms, and social enterprises are encouraged to partner with Panchayati Raj Institutions in Assam to deploy digital planning tools, smart sanitation solutions, water-tech innovations, and transparency platforms, helping local governments maximise the impact of XV-FC grants and scale successful models nationwide.