The Tamil Nadu government is undertaking an “exploratory process” to ascertain the possibility of merging village panchayats with nearby urban local bodies (ULBs).
Explaining the rationale behind the move, a senior official referred to the present term of a number of rural local bodies (RLB) in 28 districts coming to an end in a year, and the need to hold election, perhaps in December this year.
It is against this backdrop that officials of two departments in charge of rural and urban local bodies - Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, and Municipal Administration and Water Supply - have begun the exercise of gathering inputs to find out the feasibility of merging village panchayats with nearby ULBs or the transfer of some village panchayats from one panchayat union to another or the bifurcation of larger panchayat unions. Such an exercise is normally carried out before holding polls to RLBs.
On Thursday, January 11, 2024, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami alluded to the possibility of a fall in the inflow of Central funds in the event of the reduction in the number of rural local bodies and emphasised that the views of people of the areas concerned, political parties and non-governmental organisations must be heard before effecting any change.
Explaining that laws with regard to rural and urban local bodies have laid down procedures in this regard, and the authorities will follow them, the official said that if proposals for such changes have been received based on representations from the public or elected representatives, they will be examined across different parameters on their suitability.
District Collectors concerned will issue the first notification, seeking comments and objections from people. This will be followed by public hearings, after which the government will take a call. Once that decision is made, the Collectors will come out with the final notification, the official said.
“We have not started any of these steps,” observed the official, adding that in case any village panchayat gets merged with a ULB, the State Delimitation Commission will undertake an elaborate process of redrawing the boundaries of wards of the expanded ULB, during which also, views of the public will be sought.
Village panchayats close to municipal corporations
It is possible that certain village panchayats, given their proximity to municipal corporations such as Chennai, Tambaram or Coimbatore, may be witnessing development in some fields - say real estate - in the way the ULBs are doing. They may not be able to handle such developments on account of their limited manpower and other resources.
Also, in some village panchayats that are adjoining ULBs, there may not be any work undertaken under schemes including the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. This will also call for merger of such village panchayats with the appropriate ULBs.
The official added that the government will analyse the matter in a comprehensive manner and there is no guarantee that the government will approve of the proposals for changes on village panchayats even if the parameters are fulfilled.
