Tarun Karthick
Sri Vijaya Puram, 23 December 2025
Mr. Bishnu Pada Ray, Hon’ble Member of Parliament from the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, has written to the Hon’ble Prime Minister, the Hon’ble Union Home Minister and the Hon’ble Union Finance Minister seeking urgent clarification and corrective directions regarding the interpretation and implementation of the Delegation of Financial Powers Rules (DFPR)–2024, particularly Rules 3(j) and 3(m), as being applied to development works proposed by Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and Municipal bodies in the Islands.
As per the UT Administration’s reference to the Ministry of Home Affairs letter dated 14.11.2025, it has been conveyed that proposals relating to new projects or schemes of PRIs, Municipal Council and other autonomous bodies in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, if funded through Central Government grants, would require prior appraisal and approval of the MHA. Based on this interpretation, the UT Administration has now extended the same requirement even to routine PRI and Municipal works undertaken from the yearly Grant-in-Aid funds released from the UT Budget under the Grant-in-Aid Rules, 2012.
Mr. Bishnu Pada Ray stated that such an approach would severely disrupt grassroots development, as PRIs and Municipal bodies are being restrained from independently sanctioning and executing even routine works such as rural roads, footpaths, culverts, drains, retaining walls, playground development, tree and earth cutting, and other minor infrastructure works. He pointed out that these works generally fall within the approved financial powers of PRIs and are essential for timely resolution of local issues.
The Hon’ble MP cautioned that if every small and locally required work is routed through the UT Administration for appraisal and approval of the MHA, it would not only cause abnormal administrative delays but also lead to non-utilisation and surrender of sanctioned grants, thereby directly affecting public welfare and planned development across both rural and urban areas.
Emphasising the democratic and constitutional role of local self-government institutions, Mr. Ray stated that PRIs and Municipal bodies are elected bodies created to address functional needs at the local level and have been performing this role in the Islands for over two decades. He observed that any blanket restriction requiring prior MHA approval even for minor works funded under the UT’s Grant-in-Aid framework would effectively downgrade and demoralise elected institutions, dilute decentralisation, and render local self-government ineffective in practice.
Accordingly, the Hon’ble MP has requested the Government of India to urgently review and resolve the confusion arising from the present interpretation of DFPR-2024 and to issue a clear clarification or exemption, so that PRIs and Municipal bodies in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands may be permitted to sanction and execute development works within their approved Grant-in-Aid limits without mandatory reference to the Ministry of Home Affairs.
