1.4K VAO vacancies in Tamil Nadu affecting administration?

Village Administrative Officers who have been demanding the creation of more posts in accordance with the rising population urged the government to at least fill the existing 1,436 vacancies.

NAMAKKAL: Vacancies, lack of facilities and technology are problems most VAO offices have been facing. Village Administrative Officers who have been demanding the creation of more posts in accordance with the rising population urged the government to at least fill the existing 1,436 vacancies.

Tamil Nadu VAO Association (TNVAOA) state general secretary K Selvan said, "12,563 VAO posts were created by the AIADMK government in 1984 based on the population. The same number is maintained even now. Of this, 1,436 posts are vacant. Despite repeated requests, the government has not create more posts and fill vacancies, no steps have been initiated."

Issuing certificates

K Selvan said the State government issued an order to farmers to get compensation for crop damages and that the e-adangal certificate was mandatory for availing of it. The e-adangal certificate is uploaded by the VAOs concerned. This apart, 23 certificates including community, income, nativity, patta transfer, no male child, marriage, solvency, OBC are provided by the VAOs, he noted.

“However, nearly 40 per cent of VAOs do not have any computer or laptop facilities in their office and are pushed to move towards computer centres," he worried.

He requested new laptops with internet connectivity.

Division of work:

Selvan also pointed out, "Now, the VAOs will have to cover welfare schemes and village accounts. Because of the work burden, completing the regular tasks on time is a huge question mark. Hence, this section (VAO) should be divided into two departments such as village accounts and welfare schemes. This will help serve the people as early as possible."

Concurring, Tamil Nadu VAO Munnetra Sangam state president R Alagirisamy also reiterated his demand to the State government to construct sufficient toilets for women VAOs in their offices across the State.

He added, "Most of the VAO offices are functioning in rental buildings. Sometimes, we have to provide the rent. So, there is an immediate need to construct separate buildings for VAO offices."

When contacted, Commissioner of Revenue Administration (CRA) K Phanindra Reddy said the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) has been apprised of the vacancies.

Further, he said the department has placed a request before the government for laptops to replace the old ones. “All networks are not available in rural areas. Hence, network connectivity is also to be improved," he noted.

When asked about issued in e-adangal software, the CRA replied, "It is not a question of whether the software is the problem. The trouble is server capacity. We have installed an additional server that is being tested for certification. By this month, the testing would be over."  The CRA also said that steps were taken to complete e-adangal work and said there would not be any delay in giving compensation to the farmers.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com