A) NAME OF THE SECTION – INSTITUTIONAL STRENGTHENING OF GRAM PANCHAYATS PROGRAMME
B) SCHEMES RUNNING DETAILS IN BRIEF – Government of West Bengal, with support from GoI and financial assistance from the World Bank, has designed and launched the second phase of ISGPP (ISGPP-II) in FY 2016-17. This is aimed at scaling up the capacity building support system and performance-based grant (PBG) allocation system state wide encompassing all 3,342 GPs of the state. PBG system will be used for providing all the available sources of discretionary financial sources to the GPs. The PBG allocation to GPs includes 100% State Finance Commission (SFC), 10% performance grants allocated to GPs by the Central Finance Commission (CFC) , as well as the ISGPP-II Grant funded by the World Bank. Focused and dedicated capacity building support to all GPs is in-built under ISGPP-II so as to ensure that GPs are able to function effectively as the local service delivery units in the rural decentralization context. ISGPP-II provides assistance for state wide roll-out of systems for institutional strengthening of the GPs such as Gram Panchayats Management System (GPMS), Web Based Monitoring System (WBMS), Geographic Information System (GIS), expansion of video conferencing facilities, Grievance Redressal Management System (GRMS) etc. ISGPP-II also launches a comprehensive system of internal audit of GPs. Further it will provide support to the office of Examiner of Local Accounts (ELA), in order to achieve timely completion of external audit of GPs.
Program Objectives and Outcome:
The Program Development Objective (PDO) is to strengthen the institutional and financial capacities of Gram Panchayats (GPs) across the State. Achievement of the proposed PDO for the program will be measured in terms of the following performance indicators: • Percentage of GPs that qualify the Basic Minimum Conditions (BMCs) and Expanded Minimum Conditions (EMCs) annually • Average percentage of total performance-based grants utilized by the GPs annually.
1: Establishing a state wide unified performance-based grant allocation system for all discretionary funds available for GPs
2: Improve local government financial management systems in GPs
3: Improve local governance and HR capacities for increased transparency and accountability in local government functioning
4: Improve the decentralized and participatory planning and budgeting mechanisms at the local level
KEY PROGRAMME ACTIVITIES:
- Performance Based Grants to GPs
- Program management, coordination and monitoring
- Focused mentoring support for strengthening GP functioning
- Formal learning and trainings for the GPs
- Institutional systems development and roll-out for improving local governance
- Timely completion of external audits of all GPs annually
- Timely completion of APA every year