The Panchayat Raj department has intensified its efforts to ensure effective functioning of the gram panchayats, including the 4,393 new ones that are coming into existence from August 2.
With barely two days left for the new panchayats to start functioning, the department has communicated a detailed set of functions to the functionaries at district, mandal and village-levels. The guidelines encompass various aspects including the thrust areas for gram panchayats, office set-up, distribution of assets and staffing pattern in the new panchayats.
Special officers
Senior PR officials said that the government had appointed special officers to all the 12,751 Panchayats drawn from different departments from the ranks of superintendents, senior assistants, revenue inspectors and others. Though it was contemplated to nominate gazetted officers as superintendents, the government had to opt for lower-level officials due to absence of numbers.
While officers of the rank of superintendent and above had been nominated for major panchayats, lower-level officials were selected for minor panchayats like tribal hamlets that had been upgraded to gram panchayats. Special care has been taken to ensure that teachers and headmasters are not nominated as special officers to ensure that the academic work is not disturbed
The department is of the view that the nominated officials can manage the situation effectively as there would not be much of work in medium and smaller-size panchayats. “We are confident that the special officers can manage the situation as there will not be any work on daily basis,” a senior official told The Hindu .
Officials asserted that the village secretaries who are being appointed to each of the panchayat will have to work under the special officer. The government had also ensured that these secretaries would deliver goods by making three-year probation period mandatory for this category of employees.
“We don’t want these new recruits to take their job for granted and hence, the clause relating to regularisation after completing the probation period. There is low likelihood of these secretaries not completing their probation if they perform up to expectations,” the official said.
Thrust areas
The government had focussed on sanitation, green cover and street lighting as thrust areas in the next few months and the performance of the secretaries will be judged through their achievements in these three areas.
The government had asked the district collectors and other senior officials to identify premises for housing the offices of the new Panchayats.
