In Tamil Nadu, the state government has extended the tenure of special officers for rural local bodies in 28 districts by 6 months and has also ordered the appointment of special officers for rural local bodies in 9 districts, including Chengalpattu, Kanchipuram, Tenkasi, and Tirunelveli.
Local body elections are being delayed because tasks including ward delimitation have not been completed. In Tamil Nadu, the terms of the elected representatives of village panchayats, panchayat unions, and district panchayats in 28 districts ended on January 5, 2025. Following this, special officers were appointed to administer the rural local bodies. Since then, their terms have been continuously extended.
In this situation, the terms of office of special officers in village panchayats, panchayat unions, and district panchayats in 28 districts ended on Oct. 19. Following this, the Tamil Nadu government has ordered an extension of the special officers’ terms in these 28 districts until April 19, 2027.
At the same time, the terms of the elected rural local body representatives in the 9 districts of Kanchipuram, Chengalpattu, Villupuram, Kallakurichi, Vellore, Ranipet, Tirupattur, Tirunelveli, and Tenkasi, which were split and newly formed, ended on Oct. 19. Following this, the Tamil Nadu government has ordered the appointment of special officers for a period of 6 months (until April 19, 2027) to administer the rural local bodies in these 9 districts. It has been stated that the newly formed 9 panchayat unions and 93 village panchayats are not included in this.
The Block Development Officers of the respective blocks are appointed as Special Officers for the respective village panchayats. The Assistant Director (Panchayats and Audit) of the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department is appointed as the Special Officer for the panchayat unions of the districts.
It has been stated that the Additional Director or Additional Collector or Joint Director or Project Director of the District Rural Development Agencies of the respective districts will be appointed as Special Officers for the district panchayats of the respective districts.
When will the election be held? - Since special officers have been appointed, the Tamil Nadu government has also explained why local body elections cannot be held immediately. In particular, work is underway to expand urban local bodies by merging 46 rural local bodies with urban local bodies, and to redefine the boundaries of village panchayats, panchayat unions, and district panchayats.
In addition, the Rural Development Department has issued the final order regarding the newly formed 9 panchayat unions and 93 rural local bodies. Work such as the formation of new rural local bodies, delimitation of boundaries, and creation of category-wise representation is under way in 23 districts.
Furthermore, in the case filed in 2024, it has been stated that ward delimitation must be completed, along with matters such as reservations for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe women. Until these tasks are completed, it has become impossible to hold local body elections.