HYDERABAD: A day after the tenure of sarpanches came to an end, the state government on Thursday directed the district collectors to appoint special officers to govern gram panchayats.
According to a GO issued by the Panchayat Raj department, the state government is empowered under sub-section (3) of section 136 of the Telangana Panchayat Raj Act, 2018 to appoint a special officer or a person-in-charge or a committee of persons-in-charge to the gram panchayats to exercise powers, discharge duties and perform the functions of the panchayats until the members and sarpanches elected assume office.
The government has now authorised the district collectors concerned to appoint an officer from the category of tehsildar, mandal parishad development officer, agriculture officer, mandal educational officer, mandal panchayat officer or of similar or higher rank official as special officers for a gram panchayat or a group of panchayats in their jurisdiction with effect from February 2.