New Delhi . Modi government announced that it has released Rs 293.8 crore as financial assistance to rural local bodies of Kerala and Meghalaya under the 15th Finance Commission. This step has been taken by the Modi government with the aim of empowering rural self-governance. According to the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, this amount of Rs 266.8 crore released for Kerala will be distributed to all the 14 District Panchayats, 152 Block Panchayats and 941 Gram Panchayats of the state. Whereas for Meghalaya, this amount of Rs 27 crore is earmarked for the three autonomous district councils of the state – Khasi, Garo and Jaintia. The Ministry of Panchayati Raj said that this grant has been released through the Ministry of Panchayati Raj of the Center and the Ministry of Jal Shakti.
The 15th Finance Commission grants are released to the states by the Center through the Finance Ministry, and this amount is given in two installments every financial year. The Modi government aims to further empower the Panchayats and rural local bodies, so that they can facilitate the process of better self-governance in their areas. Earlier, last week the Central Government had also released the 15th Finance Commission grant for the rural local bodies of Haryana, Tripura and Mizoram. Untied grants of Rs 194.867 crore were released as first installment to Panchayati Raj Institutions of Haryana, while first installment of Rs 31.40 crore and first installment of tied grants of Rs 47.10 crore were released to Tripura. Mizoram was also given second installments of untied and tied grants for 2022-23.