The Central Government has limited the funds given to Gram Panchayats under the Fifteenth Finance Commission to 50 percent and has directed that they be used mainly for water supply and sanitation schemes. The funds distributed to Gram Panchayats under the Fifteenth Finance Commission are distributed by the Rural Development Department. The Rural Development Department has announced a government decision on June 29, 2020 regarding the distribution of the Fifteenth Finance Commission funds. Funds from this fund are used for water supply as well as for works under the Swachh Bharat Mission.
The limited funds provided to Gram Panchayats under the 15th Finance Commission must be used on priority for water supply works. Accordingly, the funds provided under the 15th Finance Commission will be used to provide 100 percent functional household water connections (FHTC) to the concerned Gram Panchayats till further orders. The following instructions should be followed for this:
For retrofitting works under Jal Jeevan Mission, the existing Domestic Water Connection (FHTC) works must be completed by the Executive Engineers at the Gram Panchayat level.
Technical approval for such works should be given by the Deputy Engineer, Water Supply.
The Gram Panchayat has the administrative authority to use the funds for the Finance Commission funds provided by the Rural Development Department.
Also, the sanitation sub-department and Zilla Parishad will also be competent for this.
In villages where there is a lot of work (e.g. source development for functional household tap connection (FHTC) works, finding new sources, construction of elevation/gravity channels, construction of reservoirs, etc.), it is necessary to first complete 100 percent water connections to households with Finance Commission funds in such villages.
