13 October,2026 05:35 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Libraries receiving the grants are required to submit utilisation certificates along with the necessary audited statements of expenditure. Representational Pic
The Maharashtra government has approved Rs 79.09 crore as the first instalment of maintenance grants for government-recognised public libraries across the state for the financial year 2026-27, Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil said on Tuesday.
A total of Rs 79,09,42,000 has been approved for distribution to eligible public libraries, Patil said in a statement.
The maintenance grants are calculated based on the expenditure incurred by libraries in the previous financial year and their respective grades and categories. The amount allocated to each category is subject to the maximum grant limits prescribed by the state government.
The government has directed the Director of Libraries to verify whether grants released in the previous financial year were justified and whether the reasons cited for their allocation were accurate.
The authorities must also ensure that the funds are used only for the purposes for which they were sanctioned and that the prescribed procedures are followed. The conditions are intended to ensure that grant money is accounted for and spent in accordance with the approved allocation.
Libraries receiving the grants are required to submit utilisation certificates along with the necessary audited statements of expenditure. These documents form part of the prescribed process for accounting for the funds received and the expenditure incurred.
The Director of Libraries will act as the controlling officer for the distribution of the grants, while the accounts officers concerned will serve as the drawing and disbursing officers.
The government resolution approving the grant has been made available on the Maharashtra government's official website, www.maharashtra.gov.in.
In September 2025, the state government began transferring grants directly to the bank accounts of recognised public libraries through a computerised Library Grant Management System. The system was introduced to improve transparency and ensure timely disbursal of funds.
Before the introduction of the system, grants were distributed in two instalments annually through district library officers.
The direct transfer system marked a change in the way grants were disbursed to recognised public libraries. The latest approval concerns the first instalment of maintenance grants for the 2026-27 financial year.
The amount allocated to an individual library depends on its expenditure in the previous financial year and its classification under the state's library grading system. The grants remain subject to the maximum limits prescribed for the respective categories.
