T.N. government appoints Special Officers for over 9,600 village panchayats
The Hindu
The Tamil Nadu government on Monday (January 6, 2025) announced the appointment of special officers (SO) for 9,624 village panchayats, 314 panchayat unions, and 28 district panchayats in the State.
The Tamil Nadu government on Monday (January 6, 2025) appointed special officers (SO) for 9,624 village panchayats, 314 panchayat unions, and 28 district panchayats in the State.
The decision followed the expiry of the term of office of elected representatives of the rural local bodies (RLBs) on January 5.
A 14-page Government Order (G.O.) issued by the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RD&PR) department’s Additional Chief Secretary Gagandeep Singh Bedi justified the appointment of the SOs on the ground that elections to the RLBs were “not feasible” due to the re-organisation of local bodies in general, merger of certain village panchayats with municipal corporations, and the issue of notifications for the expansion of territorial limits of many municipal corporations, municipalities, and town panchayats by incorporating nearby village panchayats.
Read the full Government Order here.
Additionally, four municipal corporations — Tiruvannamalai, Karaikudi, Pudukottai, and Namakkal — had been constituted, by roping in village panchayats. Also, the Madras High Court, in December last year, disposed of a petition, seeking the conduct of elections to the RLBs only on completion of delimitation, in favour of the petitioner, the GO pointed out.
Giving district-wise details of the SOs, the G.O. stated that Block Development Officers (BDO - village panchayats) of the respective Panchayat Unions had been made SOs for all the village panchayats. Likewise, Assistant Directors (Panchayats) and (Audit) in the RD&PR department in the respective districts would be SOs for the panchayat unions and Additional Collectors or Additional Directors or Joint Directors or Project Directors of District Rural Development Agencies for district panchayats.
A Bill may be tabled in the Assembly during the ongoing session to run the affairs of the RLBs through SOs till July 5.
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