CHENNAI: The State Assembly on Thursday adopted two bills to further extend the term of special officers for Tamil Nadu local bodies — village panchayats, panchayat union councils, district panchayats, town panchayats, municipalities and municipal corporations — by six months.
The term of these officers which was to end by June 30, has now been extended to December 31. This is the fourth extension since October 2016 when the Madras High Court cancelled the State Election Commission’s notification for elections to local bodies.
The bills moved by Municipal Administration Minister SP Velumani were opposed by DMK, Congress and IUML. Leaders of these parties urged the government to conduct polls to local bodies at the earliest as people were suffering in the absence of elected representatives. They pointed out Central funds for local bodies could not be used because of this.
Velumani said polls could not be held as delimitation of wards was yet to be completed. The government was ready to conduct polls but they were stalled by petitions filed by DMK, he said. Denying that people were facing problems, he said special officers had taken care of requirements of local bodies.