With the tenure of the existing sarpanches expiring, the rule of Special Officers is back in the Panchayat Raj system of Telangana again from today.
As the State government is not ready to conduct the sarpanch elections, after ten years, the rule of Special Officers has started again in all the villages, with the administration coming under their control.
There are a total of 12,769 Gram Panchayats in Telangana where the State government has appointed MPDOs, Tehsildars, MPOs, DTs, RAs, Engineers, MEOs and other gazetted level officers as Special Officers.
The Special Officers are authorised to exercise powers, discharge duties and perform the functions of the gram panchayat till new members and sarpanches for the respective villages assume office.