Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and the State Finance Commission

Two devolution formulas govern money reaching a Gram Panchayat in Rajasthan, and both are asked by their numbers. The Sixth State Finance Commission recommended that 7 per cent of the state's own net tax revenue go to local bodies, split 73.2 to 26.8 between rural and urban. Within the rural share, the split across the three tiers is 5:20:75.

The present count of the three tiers is the other certainty on this page. 41 Zila Parishads, 457 Panchayat Samitis and 14,403 Gram Panchayats. The Zila Parishad figure moved with the districts and is one of the few institutional counts already on the 41-district map.

1. The three tiers

GovtSource: Government of Rajasthan, Economic Review 2025-26 (Directorate of Economics and Statistics, published with Budget 2026-27), chapter 10, "Rural Development", read directly. The Gram Sabha is the general body of all citizens of a Gram Panchayat, and is not a fourth tier.

The department's mandate is framed around the 73rd Constitutional Amendment, and its functions include implementing the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, building the capacity of elected representatives with a stated focus on women, running decentralised participatory planning through District Planning Committees, and strengthening the Gram Sabha for social audit.

Note the distinction the Review draws and papers exploit. The Gram Sabha is not an elected body; it is the whole electorate of the Gram Panchayat. The three tiers are elected; the Gram Sabha is the assembly that holds the lowest of them to account.

2. The Sixth State Finance Commission

The Sixth State Finance Commission's final report covers 2020-25, and the state's Action Taken Report on it sets the devolution that operates now.

GovtSource: Economic Review 2025-26, chapter 10, read directly. Distribution is on the basis of the 2011 Census with district-wise weightage, and the three-tier split shown is the one applied in the financial year 2024-25.

The Commission also fixed how a Panchayati Raj body may spend what it receives.

GovtSource: Economic Review 2025-26, chapter 10, read directly, as set out in the state's Action Taken Report on the Sixth SFC's final report for 2020-25.

Two of those four are the ones a paper will pick. The 3 per cent incentive grant is tied to a body raising its own income, which is the only performance-linked element in the formula. The 2 per cent for gender-friendly places is small enough to be forgotten and specific enough to be asked.

The money side, for 2025-26. Budget provision ₹7,000 crore. ₹2,489.96 crore belonging to 2024-25 was transferred to PRIs, and up to December 2025 ₹2,452.21 crore was spent against ₹4,849.92 crore available, completing 60,799 works.

3. The Fifteenth Finance Commission grant

The Fifteenth Finance Commission's period is five years, 2021-22 to 2025-26. Its grant to Panchayati Raj Institutions is distributed in the same 5:20:75 ratio, on 2011 population with district-wise weightage, following the Sixth SFC's recommendation.

GovtSource: Economic Review 2025-26, chapter 10, read directly. The grant is released in two instalments of 50 per cent each, per the Ministry of Panchayati Raj and Ministry of Finance.

What the untied grant may not be spent on is the examinable part. It cannot be used for salary or other establishment expenses. It can be used for street lighting, public buildings such as primary and upper primary schools, health sub-centres, cooperative seed and fertiliser storage, repair and maintenance of roads and pavements, parks, sports grounds and cremation sites.

The money side, for 2025-26. Budget provision ₹3,087 crore. ₹927.44 crore belonging to 2024-25 was transferred to PRIs, and up to December 2025 ₹1,997.42 crore was spent against ₹2,953.33 crore available, completing 50,934 works.

Hold the two grants apart, because they are easy to merge. The Fifteenth Finance Commission grant is central and is split 40:60 untied to tied. The Sixth State Finance Commission grant is the state's own devolution, 7 per cent of state net tax revenue, split 55:40:3:2 by purpose. Both flow to the same bodies in the same 5:20:75 tier ratio, which is why the ratio is worth memorising once and attaching to both.

4. MGNREGS and the state's extension of it

GovtSource: Economic Review 2025-26, chapter 10, read directly. The 2025-26 column runs only to December 2025 and is therefore a nine-month figure, which is why the 100-day count is so much smaller: a household cannot complete 100 days early in the year.

The 100-day column is the one that misleads if read carelessly. 46,684 households against 5.11 lakh the previous year is not a collapse, it is a nine-month figure for an entitlement that takes most of a year to exhaust. The full-year comparison is 2024-25's own 5.11 lakh out of 58.86 lakh households employed, which is under a tenth reaching the guarantee.

The state adds days on top of the central guarantee. Under the Chief Minister Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, a household completing 100 days under MGNREGS gets a further 25 days, and households in 47 scheduled tribe blocks get 50 additional days.

Mission Amrit Sarovar targets at least 75 ponds in every district, each with a pondage area of at least 1 acre (0.4 hectare) and a holding capacity of about 10,000 cubic metres. The state target is 2,475, of which 3,138 works were completed in the first phase and 601 more identified in the second.

One arithmetic note on that target. 2,475 is exactly 75 multiplied by 33, which is the pre-2023 district count. The target has not been restated for 41 districts in anything read for this chapter, and completions in phase one already exceed it.

5. Rural housing

GovtSource: Economic Review 2025-26, chapter 10, read directly. Sanctioned is not built, and the two figures on this table differ by more than a lakh.

PM-JANMAN is the housing scheme for Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups, and in Rajasthan it is narrow and specific. It covers houseless Sahariya families in 8 Panchayat Samitis of Baran district, excluding those with a pucca house or a government employee in the family.

GovtSource: Economic Review 2025-26, chapter 10, read directly. The mission nationally aims to develop 75 PVTGs.

Progress to December 2025: approvals for 22,416 houses against an allocated target of 26,671, with 11,411 houses completed at ₹368.18 crore. The yearly targets were 17,512 houses for 2023-24 and 9,159 for 2024-25, and eligible families were identified and uploaded to the Awas Soft portal during 2023-24.

6. RAJEEVIKA and the self-help group economy

Rajasthan Grameen Aajeevika Vikas Parishad was established in October 2010 as an autonomous society under the Department of Rural Development, registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1958. It implements the National Rural Livelihood Mission, funded 60:40 between Centre and state. The 2025-26 provision is ₹678.35 crore, of which ₹337.55 crore was spent to December 2025.

GovtSource: Economic Review 2025-26, chapter 10 and figure 10.2, read directly.

The Rajasthan Women's Fund is a state instrument and its terms are asked. ₹735 crore lent to 1,54,861 women at an annual interest rate of 2.5 per cent, with an 8 per cent interest subsidy borne by the state government.

The "Didi" and "Sakhi" cadres are a recall list and each carries a number.

GovtSource: Economic Review 2025-26, chapter 10, read directly.

The producer companies are named and are worth holding. Ujalaa Milk Producer Company Limited, set up with National Dairy Development Corporation support at ₹41.89 crore across Kota, Baran, Jhalawar, Karauli, Sawai Madhopur and Bundi, has benefited 30,033 families and purchased ₹500 crore of milk. Hadauti Women Farmer Producer Company Limited, in Kota and Baran at ₹17.39 crore, works on soyabean, mustard and coriander value chains, benefiting 18,345 families with a turnover of ₹34.20 crore.

Also on the list: 65 Farmer Producer Organizations benefiting 45,531 families; 3,237 producer groups involving 2.32 lakh families; 517 Van Dhan Vikas Kendras in 8 districts (Baran, Banswara, Dungarpur, Jhalawar, Sirohi, Pratapgarh, Kota and Udaipur) reaching 1.50 lakh women; 54,879 women enterprises; 254 women-operated canteens; and 63 lakh sanitary pads distributed under the Udaan Scheme.

7. Sanitation, planning and land records

Rajasthan was declared Open Defecation Free by March 2018, and Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) Phase II began in 2020-21 to sustain that status and move villages to ODF Plus.

GovtSource: Economic Review 2025-26, chapter 10, read directly. The IHHL incentive goes to eligible BPL, SC, ST, small and marginal farmer, landless labourer, physically handicapped and woman-headed families.

Gram Panchayat Development Plans have been prepared since 2015 and are uploaded to the e-Gram Swaraj portal. For 2025-26, 11,173 Gram Panchayat, 346 Block Panchayat and 31 District Panchayat Development Plans were uploaded, on nine themes of localising the Sustainable Development Goals.

Compare those counts against the tiers in section 1. 11,173 plans against 14,403 Gram Panchayats, 346 against 457 Panchayat Samitis and 31 against 41 Zila Parishads. Coverage is incomplete at every tier, and the arithmetic is the useful observation, not a figure the Review states.

Jan Yojana Abhiyan, the People's Plan Campaign, runs from 2 October 2025 to 31 March 2026, and during it the development plans for 2026-27 are being prepared.

Svamitva Yojana was launched on Panchayat Day, 24 April 2020, and is implemented jointly by the Panchayati Raj Department, the Survey of India and the Revenue Department. The Survey of India prepares drone-based digital maps of village population areas, on the basis of which the Gram Panchayat issues a Patta under the Rajasthan Panchayati Raj Act, 1996. 4.13 lakh Svamitva Cards were distributed in 2025-26 up to December.

8. The constituency and area development schemes

GovtSource: Economic Review 2025-26, chapter 10, read directly. Rajasthan has 25 Lok Sabha and 10 Rajya Sabha members. MPLAD sanctions and payments run through the e-Sakshi portal of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, and sanctions should issue within 45 days of an MP's proposal.

The MLALAD conditions are asked. At least 20 per cent of the annual allocation must go to development of SC and ST habitations, and up to 20 per cent may be recommended for repair and renovation of public utilities. MLALAD runs in both rural and urban areas.

An MP may also recommend works outside their own constituency or state for rehabilitation after a "natural calamity of rare severity", up to ₹1 crore for each calamity.

The three regional area development schemes

GovtSource: Economic Review 2025-26, chapter 10, read directly. Each of the three carries a budget provision of ₹100 crore for 2025-26. The Mewat area is the tract inhabited by the Mev community; the Dang is ravine and gorge country; the Magra is the hill-surrounded south-central tract not covered under Tribal Area Development.

Three distinctions decide these questions. Mewat is by community and is the oldest of the three by nearly twenty years. Dang is by terrain, the ravine country of the Chambal, and covers the most villages. Magra is defined partly by exclusion, being the hill tract that the Tribal Area Development programme does not reach.

Mahatma Gandhi Jan-bhagidari Vikas Yojana was renamed in February 2020 from Guru Golwalkar Jan-bhagidari Vikas Yojana. It is state-funded and rural only, and the state share varies by asset: 90 per cent for Shamashaan and Kabristaan boundary walls, 70 per cent for other community assets, and 80 per cent where the SC or ST population exceeds 40 per cent. The remainder is raised from the public. Budget ₹20 crore for 2025-26; ₹9.04 crore spent of ₹48.24 crore available, 108 works completed to December 2025.

9. Nowadays — what changed in 2026

Covering 1 January to 30 August 2026. Updated every month until Prelims and Mains.

Both finance commission periods are ending, and no successor is named

The Fifteenth Finance Commission's period runs 2021-22 to 2025-26 and therefore ends with the financial year now closing. The Sixth State Finance Commission's final report covered 2020-25 and its period has already passed.

Nothing read for this chapter names a Seventh State Finance Commission or a Sixteenth Finance Commission award for Rajasthan. The Economic Review 2025-26 contains no mention of either. That is an absence rather than a finding, and it is recorded here so that a reader does not assume newer arrangements exist. The formulas on this page are the ones the Review describes as operating.

Jan Yojana Abhiyan is preparing the 2026-27 plans

The campaign runs from 2 October 2025 to 31 March 2026, and the Gram, Block and District Panchayat Development Plans being prepared during it are for 2026-27. Those plans do not yet exist as published figures, and the counts on this page are the 2025-26 ones.

What has not changed

The three-tier counts are unchanged at 41, 457 and 14,403.

The devolution ratios are unchanged: 7 per cent of state own net tax revenue, split 73.2 to 26.8 rural to urban, and 5:20:75 across the tiers.

Rajasthan's Open Defecation Free declaration still dates to March 2018, and Phase II of the mission still dates to 2020-21.

Important for RAS

Prelims Focus

• 41 Zila Parishads, 457 Panchayat Samitis, 14,403 Gram Panchayats
• Sixth SFC: 7% of the state's own net tax revenue to local bodies, split 73.2% PRI and 26.8% ULB, on the 2011 Census
• Tier split within PRIs: Gram Panchayat 75%, Panchayat Samiti 20%, Zila Parishad 5%
• Sixth SFC purpose split: 55% basic and development works, 40% national or state priority schemes, 3% incentive on own income, 2% gender-friendly places
• Fifteenth FC period 2021-22 to 2025-26; grant 40% untied, 60% tied, released in two instalments of 50%
• The untied grant cannot be used for salary or establishment expenses
• Of the tied grant, 50% for sanitation and ODF, 50% for drinking water and water harvesting
• Budget 2025-26: ₹7,000 crore under the Sixth SFC, ₹3,087 crore under the Fifteenth FC
• MGNREGS 2024-25: ₹9,441.01 crore, 3,155.57 lakh man-days, 58.86 lakh households, 5.11 lakh completing 100 days
• CMREGS adds 25 days after 100; 50 additional days in 47 ST blocks
• Mission Amrit Sarovar: at least 75 per district, state target 2,475, each at least 1 acre and about 10,000 cubic metres
• PMAY-G: ₹1,20,000 per beneficiary plus ₹12,000 for a toilet, up to 90 MGNREGS wage days, 60:40 sharing, SECC-2011 selection
• PM-JANMAN in Rajasthan: Sahariya families in 8 Panchayat Samitis of Baran; package about ₹2.37 lakh (₹2 lakh + ₹12,000 + ₹25,290)
• RAJEEVIKA established October 2010; 4.29 lakh SHGs, 51.01 lakh families, ₹10,788.96 crore bank loans
• Rajasthan Women's Fund: 2.5% interest with an 8% state subsidy; ₹735 crore to 1,54,861 women
• Lakhpati Didi: 12.98 lakh of 19.90 lakh trained
• SBM-G: IHHL incentive ₹12,000; CSC ₹3 lakh with 30% from the 15th FC; ODF declared March 2018
• Svamitva launched 24 April 2020, Panchayat Day; Patta under the Rajasthan Panchayati Raj Act, 1996; 4.13 lakh cards in 2025-26 to December
• MLALAD ₹5 crore per constituency, at least 20% for SC/ST habitations, up to 20% for repair and renovation
• MPLAD ₹5 crore per MP; Rajasthan has 25 Lok Sabha and 10 Rajya Sabha members; e-Sakshi portal; ₹1 crore for a calamity of rare severity
• Mewat since 1986-87, 807 villages; Dang re-launched 2005-06, 2,192 villages, 8 districts; Magra 2005-06, 1,746 villages
• MGJVY renamed from Guru Golwalkar Jan-bhagidari Vikas Yojana in February 2020; 90% state share for Shamashaan and Kabristaan walls

Interview and Mains Angles

• Under a tenth of the households employed under MGNREGS complete 100 days. Is that a failure of the guarantee, or evidence that the scheme functions as intended as a fallback rather than a first resort?
• The Sixth State Finance Commission gives 3 per cent as an incentive for a Panchayat raising its own income. What can a Gram Panchayat in Rajasthan actually tax, and is 3 per cent enough to change behaviour?
• Development plans were uploaded for 11,173 of 14,403 Gram Panchayats. What stops the remainder, and does an unuploaded plan mean an unmade plan?
• RAJEEVIKA has organised 51.01 lakh families into self-help groups and routed nearly ₹11,000 crore of bank credit to them. What would tell you whether that credit built enterprises or refinanced consumption?
• Three regional area schemes defined by community, by terrain and by exclusion have each spent under a third of available funds by December. What does slow absorption in targeted schemes indicate about their design?

Aggregator Watch

Practice

• Practice: Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and the State Finance Commission — 45 exam-style questions on the two devolution formulas, MGNREGS, rural housing and RAJEEVIKA, every answer traced to this chapter.
• Every RAS Prelims Geography question, 2013–2024 — the geography unit's official questions, several of which draw on the same Economic Review.

More in This Series

• Economy of Rajasthan — the unit index
• Rajasthan's Macro Economy and the State Budget — the state's own net tax revenue, of which 7 per cent reaches these bodies
• Agriculture, Industry and the Service Sector — the rural livelihoods these schemes support
• Infrastructure: Energy, Transport and Communication — rural roads, electrification and the schemes that build them
• Caution for Readers — the claims across this site that are genuinely unsettled

Sources & Verification

Written on 30 August 2026. Every figure on this page is read from the Economic Review 2025-26 directly, from its chapter 10 on rural development and figure 10.2. No coaching source or compilation supplied any figure here.

1. Part-year figures are labelled at every appearance. Almost all scheme progress in this chapter runs "up to December 2025", which is nine months. The MGNREGS 100-day count is the figure most distorted by this, and the page says so where it appears rather than only in this note.

2. Sanctioned, approved and completed are kept apart. PMAY-G shows a target of 2,21,135, sanctions of 2,18,050 and completions of 1,08,073, and all three are printed. PM-JANMAN shows approvals of 22,416 against a target of 26,671 with 11,411 completed. Available funds and expenditure are shown separately for every scheme that reports both.

3. Three observations on the page are arithmetic and are marked as arithmetic. That 2,475 is 75 multiplied by 33 and therefore rests on the pre-2023 district count; that development plan uploads fall short of the tier counts at all three levels (11,173 of 14,403, 346 of 457, 31 of 41); and that under a tenth of MGNREGS households completed 100 days in 2024-25. None is a published figure and each is a division or comparison of figures printed above it.

4. The absence of a successor commission is stated as an absence. Neither a Seventh State Finance Commission nor a Sixteenth Finance Commission award for Rajasthan appears anywhere in the Economic Review 2025-26, which was searched for both. That does not establish that none exists, and the page says so in those terms rather than asserting a negative.

5. The two grants are deliberately kept distinct. The Fifteenth Finance Commission grant is central, split 40 untied to 60 tied. The Sixth State Finance Commission grant is the state's own devolution, split 55:40:3:2 by purpose. They share the 5:20:75 tier ratio and nothing else, and merging them is the commonest error in notes on this topic.

Links were checked and resolving on 30 August 2026, each against its final URL rather than its first.

Not asserted here: any Seventh State Finance Commission or Sixteenth Finance Commission recommendation; the recommendations of State Finance Commissions before the Sixth; district-wise data for any scheme in this chapter; election dates or terms for the three tiers, which this chapter of the Review does not cover; and any full-year 2025-26 figure, which does not exist for these schemes.