Tamil Nadu puts rural councils in 37 districts under special officers until April 2027
The state extended appointments in 28 districts and added nine more as boundary and reservation work delays rural local elections.
Tamil Nadu has extended special officers’ administration of rural local bodies in 28 districts and appointed officers in nine more until April 19, 2027, The Hindu reported. The decision leaves village panchayats, panchayat union councils and district panchayats across 37 districts under appointed administrators while election-related boundary and reservation work is completed.
The state’s Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department issued the government order, according to The Hindu. The arrangement excludes nine newly formed panchayat unions and 93 newly formed village panchayats.
How the 37 districts came under special officers
Terms for elected representatives in the first 28 districts ended on January 5, 2025. Special officers took over on January 6 for an initial six months, and their tenure has since been extended in six-month periods, The Hindu reported. The Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act, 1994, was amended during that period.
In the other nine districts, elected representatives’ terms ended on October 19, 2026, according to The Hindu. They include Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu, Villupuram, Kallakurichi, Vellore, Ranipet, Tirupattur, Tirunelveli and Tenkasi. The new appointments bring those councils under the same temporary administrative arrangement as the earlier 28 districts.
Why rural local elections are delayed
The Commissioner of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj told the government that elections could not be held in all 37 districts before October 19, The Hindu reported. A process to merge 46 rural local bodies with urban ones was being finalised; notifications expanding urban areas would change rural council boundaries.
The department then issued final notifications for nine new panchayat unions, 93 village panchayats and the amalgamation of one village panchayat, according to the report. The commissioner’s letter said delimitation and reservation exercises remain necessary in 23 districts and elections cannot proceed until that work is complete.
The Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department’s published Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act allows the government to appoint a special officer for a newly constituted panchayat for a specified period of no more than six months.
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Sources and context
- Special officers to administer rural local bodies in 37 districts till April 2027 in T.N.The Hindu
- Rural Development & Panchayat Raj Department — TN Panchayats ActGovernment of Tamil Nadu, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.