Telangana Urges Centre to Relax Finance Rules for Tribal Gram Panchayats

Hyderabad: The Telangana government has called on the central government to provide special relaxations for tribal, Scheduled Area, and backward Gram Panchayats under the proposed norms of the 16th Finance Commission. These norms govern performance-based grants and own source revenue (OSR) for local bodies.

Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Minister Danasari Anasuya Seethakka presented the state’s views at a national workshop of state Panchayat Raj ministers in New Delhi on Friday. She argued that the performance of Gram Panchayats should not be judged solely on tax collection, but also on service delivery, sanitation, transparency, digital governance, and public participation.

While welcoming the concept of performance-based grants, Seethakka said eligibility criteria must not impose an additional tax burden on Gram Panchayats in tribal, remote, and economically weaker regions. These areas have limited revenue-generating capacity, she noted.

Many Gram Panchayats in Scheduled Areas have small populations and therefore limited own-source revenue. Seethakka urged the Centre to grant special relaxations for them, as well as for local bodies with predominantly Scheduled Tribe or Scheduled Caste populations.

The minister also requested that development grants not be withheld from Gram Panchayats where elections could not be held due to pending court cases. She argued that villagers should not suffer because of circumstances beyond their control.

Seethakka further called for the continuation of untied basic grants to allow Gram Sabhas to address local priorities, as development needs vary across villages. She also urged the Centre to give additional weightage in fund allocation for Scheduled Areas, backward districts, and geographically difficult regions, citing the higher cost of delivering public services in such areas.