Centre releases over Rs 299 crore under Fifteenth Finance Commission Grants for rural bodies in Assam

The Union Government has released over Rs 299 crore in grants under the Fifteenth Finance Commission Grants for Panchayati Raj Institutions and Rural Local Bodies in Assam during the financial year 2025–26.

According to official sources, the funds include the second instalment of untied grants amounting to Rs 256.60 crore, which will be distributed among 27 District Panchayats, 182 Block Panchayats, 2,192 Gram Panchayats, and three Autonomous District Councils in the state, Bodoland Territorial Council, Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council, and Dima Hasao Autonomous Council.

In addition, the Union Government has also released ₹42.70 crore, representing the previously withheld portion of the first instalment of untied grants for FY 2025–26, to the three Autonomous District Councils, bringing the total disbursement to more than ₹299 crore.

The grants are recommended jointly by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj and the Ministry of Jal Shakti (Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation) and are subsequently released by the Ministry of Finance to strengthen rural governance and infrastructure.

Under the Fifteenth Finance Commission framework, grants are released to states in two instalments each financial year. The untied grants are meant to support location-specific developmental priorities across the 29 subjects listed in the Eleventh Schedule of the Constitution, though they cannot be used for salaries or administrative establishment costs.

Meanwhile, tied grants are earmarked for critical civic services such as sanitation and maintaining Open Defecation Free (ODF) status, including waste management and faecal sludge treatment, as well as for strengthening drinking water supply, rainwater harvesting and water recycling initiatives in rural areas.