Centre releases Rs. 387 crore for Andhra Pradesh gram panchayats to tackle covid-19

The Union Ministry of Rural Development has released funds to a total of 25 states in the country. The Central Rural Development Department, which has released a total of Rs 8,923.80 crore, has directed the Gram Panchayats to spend. Two Telugu states are on the list of states that would receive funds. Andhra Pradesh to Rs. 387.8 crore and Telangana Rs. 273 crore. Meanwhile, the Central Rural Development Department allocated funds to each gram panchayat in the country on the basis of population as per the recommendations of the Central Economic Commission.

The ruling party should be able to afford these funds. New governing bodies were formed in February this year with elections to local bodies in Andhra Pradesh. With this, the centre has allocated funds to Andhra Pradesh. The center has the power to suspend if there is an administration of special officers. The funds did not come after August 2018 as there were no elections held till 2018.

However funds ware granted last year considering it was a special situation at the time of the coronavirus outbreak. The National Health Mission provides Rs.10,000 per annum to each panchayat for public health care. Panchayats are released funds from the Center at the rate of Rs.450 per person based on population. In the villages it is mainly used for construction of roads, drainages, maintenance of drinking water schemes, repair of pipelines and sanitation.