SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir trained 8,80,610 participants under the revamped Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA) from 2022-23 to 2025-26, according to data presented by the Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
The figures, provided in a written reply by Union Minister of Panchayati Raj Shri Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh to Unstarred Question No. 2564, show that J&K accounted for around 6.9 per cent of the 1.27 crore training participants recorded nationally during the four full financial years covered by the data.
J&K recorded its highest annual training figure in 2023-24, with 3,50,026 participants, followed by 2,84,138 in 2022-23, 82,534 in 2024-25 and 53,912 in 2025-26. No participants were recorded for 2026-27 as on July 10, 2026.
In comparison, Ladakh recorded 6,426 participants during the period, comprising 26 in 2024-25 and 6,400 in 2025-26, while no training participants were reported for 2022-23, 2023-24 or 2026-27 as on July 10.
The Ministry’s data also show that J&K had one functional State Panchayat Resource Centre (SPRC), two District Panchayat Resource Centres (DPRCs) and no functional Block Panchayat Resource Centres (BPRCs) under the revamped RGSA. Ladakh had no functional SPRC, DPRC or BPRC.
Since 2022-23, four DPRCs were constructed in J&K, all during 2024-25, while none were constructed in Ladakh. J&K also had 104 Panchayat Learning Centres (PLCs) approved and 32 developed, whereas Ladakh had 22 PLCs approved and none developed, according to the annexures.
On funding, J&K was allocated and released Rs 65 crore each in 2023-24 and 2024-25, while Rs 57 crore was allocated and released in 2025-26. Utilisation, which includes the Central and State shares as well as unspent balances from the previous year, stood at Rs 98.61 crore, Rs 57.89 crore and Rs 78.99 crore, respectively.
Ladakh received Rs 1 crore in 2023-24, no funds in 2024-25 and Rs 72 lakh in 2025-26. The corresponding utilisation figures were Rs 80 lakh, Rs 58 lakh and Rs 92 lakh.
Nationally, the RGSA recorded Rs 814.86 crore, Rs 694.17 crore and Rs 791.76 crore in funds released in 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26, respectively. The corresponding utilisation figures were Rs 1,319.68 crore, Rs 1,375.34 crore and Rs 1,338.77 crore.
Under the Incentivization of Panchayats (IoP) component, award money released during 2023-25 included Rs 2.25 crore to four J&K districts—Budgam (Rs 25 lakh), Udhampur (Rs 75 lakh), Kupwara (Rs 50 lakh) and Baramulla (Rs 75 lakh)—with the entire amount shown as utilised. Leh in Ladakh received Rs 1.5 crore, also fully utilised.
The Centre said the Panchayat Empowerment and Accountability Incentive Scheme (PEAIS), implemented from 2011-12, was subsumed into the Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat Sashaktikaran Abhiyan (RGPSA) from 2013-14, which has since been revamped as RGSA. The Ministry currently implements the Centrally Sponsored RGSA scheme, under which National Panchayat Awards are conferred through the IoP component.
An external evaluation by the Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA), released in 2026, found that the revamped RGSA’s multi-layered capacity-building programme, including training modules, exposure visits and digital learning, improved Panchayati Raj Institutions’ capacities in operations, planning, digital governance, citizen engagement and financial management. The evaluation also found that the IoP component encouraged Panchayats to improve performance through transparent, performance-based recognition.
