Tamil Nadu: State Minister for Rural Development I Periyasamy moved a Bill to further amend the Tamil Nadu Panchayat Act 1994 in the Assembly to validate the appointment of Special Officers in panchayats in 28 districts, where the term of the elected panchayats expired on January 5 and elections could not be held.
The elections could not be held since the process of delimitation of wards had to be completed in various panchayats and reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Women had to be finalized since many panchayats had been merged with the nearby urban local bodies, leaving many panchayat union councils and village panchayats with less representatives.
The merger of the village panchayats with the urban local bodies was carried out under the Urban Local Bodies Act with effect from August 12, 2024.
Since elections could not be held for most of the panchayats, special officers were appointed and the Bill seeks to validate their appointment and also their actions.
