The Tamil Nadu Government has revised its recruitment process for Village Panchayat Secretaries for the Rural Development Department to select candidates through an “open competitive recruitment process”. They are to reside in the respective village panchayats.
According to the Tamil Nadu Village Panchayat Secretaries (Conditions of Service) Rules, 2023, the appointments to these posts shall be made by direct recruitment. However, the recruitment is to be made by a district-level committee chaired by the Collector.
Earlier, the appointments to these posts were to be made through a direct recruitment, but through the District Employment Exchange. A list of suitable candidates from the District Employment Exchange was to be considered, as per the Tamil Nadu Village Panchayat Secretaries (Conditions of Service) Rules, 2013.
Ten years since, the State Government has revised the selection process as well as the age limit for the candidates. As per the latest decision, the maximum age for candidates stands 32 years and in case of certain categories, the age limit shall be 34 years and for those with benchmark disabilities, the age limit is relaxable by 10 years.
As of March this year, Tamil Nadu has a sanctioned strength of 12,525 panchayat secretary posts.
