The Centre has asked states to promote village secretariat system. Under the system good development centres will be developed to cater to the needs at village level in providing basic amenities like drinking water, sanitation and even banking services. Replying to a supplementary during Question Hour in the Lok Sabha today, Panchayati Raj Minister Birender Singh said the Centre will be providing expertise to such initiatives. He said village Secretariat system should be tried on pilot basis. He informed that two major programmes, Backward Regions Grant Fund and Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat Sashaktikaran Yojana are being transferred to Panchayats this year. <br/><br/>The Minister said additional funds to the tune of 2 lakh crore rupees will be made available to Panchayats this year onward. He also said the Government will be spending 300 crore rupees for capacity building for Panchayats this year.