The total revenue receipts of gram panchayats in Telangana has been on the decline for the past three financial years — from fiscal year 2020-21 to 2022-23.
The total revenue receipts per panchayat dropped by almost 50% from ₹20.36 lakh to ₹11.52 lakh during the three years. Own tax revenue, which saw an increase from ₹81,867 in 2020-21 to ₹94,653 per panchayat during 2021-22, however, saw a 25% decline to ₹72,257 in 2022-23.
The same is the case with the own non-tax revenues of the panchayats which fell from ₹83,939 to ₹63,187 per panchayat during the period. On the revenue expenditure front, expenditure of gram panchayats fell from ₹16.5 lakh to ₹11 lakh during the three-year period and a major chunk of the spending was on gram panchayat programmes.
According to a study of Finances of Panchayat Raj Institutions conducted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), with internal revenue sources constituting only a minimal portion of the financial resources, the Panchayats primarily rely on fiscal transfers provided by State governments through shared taxes and grants. Accordingly, grants from the Centre which were at ₹5.01 lakh per panchayat in 2020-21 dropped significantly to ₹1.83 lakh in 2022-23. The grants from the State government during the period too came down from ₹13.6 lakh to ₹8.29 lakh per panchayat during the period, according to the report.
The report, however, made a mention of Velpur gram panchayat in Nizamabad district which demonstrated effective revenue generation from internal sources. Panchayats in Telangana along with those in Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra reported higher non-tax revenues than other States. Telangana was ranked among States where panchayats had managed to generate relatively higher own revenues.
