Hyderabad:
Gram panchayats in Andhra Pradesh will continue to be ruled by special officers for another sixmonths as the Congress government seems to be in no mood to incur any political risk by conducting elections to thelowest-tier of Panchayat system.
The state government issued an order extending the term of special officers for a further period of six months"to exercise the powers, discharge the duties and perform the functions of the Gram Panchayats".
The respective district collectors have to appoint an officer from the rank of Tahsildar/Mandal Parishad DevelopmentOfficer/Mandal Educational Officer/Extension Officer of PR&RD Department or of similar or higher rank as Special Officersfor a Gram Panchayat or a group of Gram Panchayats, according to the order issued by Principal Secretary (Panchayat Raj) C R Biswal.
The five-year term of the gram panchayats in Andhra Pradesh ended on August 22 last year but the Congressgovernment did not conduct the elections fearing an adverse political fallout as the party was facing rough weather acrossthe state.
Interestingly, the government has repeatedly claimed that it was ready to conduct the polls soon.