Tenkasi: The Tamil Nadu government has ordered an extension of the tenure of special officers for rural local bodies in 28 districts of Tamil Nadu by another 6 months. In addition, since the tenure of rural local body representatives in 9 districts, including Tenkasi and Tirunelveli, has ended, a government order has been issued appointing special officers for those districts as well.
In 28 districts of Tamil Nadu, the terms of office of the elected representatives of village panchayats, panchayat union councils, and district panchayats ended on January 5, 2025. Following this, the Tamil Nadu government ordered the appointment of officials from the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department as special officers for a period of six months to administer the rural local bodies.
Accordingly, the respective Block Development Officers of the unions were appointed as special officers for the village panchayats, the Assistant Directors from the Rural Development and Panchayat Department of the respective districts were appointed as special officers for the panchayat unions, and the Deputy Director, Additional Collector, Joint Director, and Project Director of the respective District Rural Development Agency were appointed as special officers for the district panchayats.
In all these 28 districts, the Tamil Nadu government had been issuing orders to extend the tenure of special officers every six months after their term ended. In this situation, the tenure of special officers in the village panchayats, panchayat union councils, and district panchayats in the 28 districts ended on Oct. 19 (yesterday). Following this, the Tamil Nadu government has ordered that the tenure of special officers in these 28 districts be extended until April 19, 2027.
In this situation, the terms of office of the elected rural local body representatives in the nine districts of Kanchipuram, Chengalpattu, Villupuram, Kallakurichi, Vellore, Ranipet, Tirupattur, Tirunelveli, and Tenkasi also ended on Oct. 19 (yesterday). Following this, the Tamil Nadu government has ordered the appointment of administrators for a period of six months (until April 19, 2027) to manage the rural local bodies in these nine districts. It has also been stated that the newly created 9 panchayat unions and 93 village panchayats are not included in this.
The Regional Assistant Block Development Officers of the respective regions 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 respective districts. The Government Order issued by the Tamil Nadu government states that the Additional Director, Additional Collector, Joint Director, and Project Director of the District Rural Development Agencies are appointed as special officers for the district panchayats of the respective districts.
