The Maharashtra government told the Bombay High Court on Friday that no private person would be appointed as an administrator in gram panchayats and preference would be given to government officers.
A Division Bench of Justices S.S. Shinde and M.S. Karnik was hearing two petitions. One was filed by Vilas D. Kunjir and others, and the other by Pradeep Shivaram Hulawale and others, concerning the Maharashtra Village Panchayat (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020, and the government resolutions (GRs) dated July 13 and 14 issued by the State Rural Development Department respectively. The GRs and the ordinance were related to the appointment of private individuals as administrators of gram panchayats and the petitions challenged them on various grounds.
Earlier, senior advocates Milind Sathe and Pralhad Paranjpe, appearing for Mr. Hulawale and others, pleaded that no administrator, at least no private person, be appointed to the post.
End of tenure
An affidavit filed by Eknath Garage, deputy secretary, Rural Development Department, said the terms of 1,566 gram panchayats from 19 districts ended between April and June this year, while the terms of 12,668 gram panchayats would end between July and December.
The 52-page affidavit said, “Only about 1,669 out of the sanctioned posts of 1,950 extension officers are filled and certainly these are not sufficient to cover 14,234 gram panchayats. The government servants need to be officers who are personally aware about the overall functioning, working and administration of the gram panchayat.”
The affidavit added, “Extension officers will be appointed as administrators and only in such cases, where it is not practically feasible to appoint extension officers as an administrator, a private person will be appointed, that too by giving reasons for the same. He denied the contention that there is some kind of a practice that only government servants are to be appointed as administrators.”
Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni said only government servants will be appointed as administrators till the matter is decided. The court said, “Gram Sevaks normally work in close tandem with the Sarpanch and hence are aware of all the work and procedures. They would be a better option than appointing a private person as administrator.” The matter is posted to be heard on August 24.
On July 22, the HC had passed an interim order directing that a government servant or officer of the local authority be appointed as an administrator for nearly 15,000 gram panchayats where the terms of these officers have ended or would be ending.
