Panchayat Secretaries have their task cut out

Medak: Villages, even after 70 years of independence, suffer from backwardness and lack of even basic amenities. Driven by rural distress and growing unemployment, people are migrating to cities for children education and employment. Even though villages are more populous, they are far away from development compared to towns. 

In order to progress, village local bodies need to find out ways to increase income sources besides ensuring proper utilisation of funds from the government. Panchayat Secretaries have a key role in developing the villages. Problems of people will be easily solved if they work properly. The State government has framed new duties and responsibilities for them under the new Panchayat Raj Act.

There are 469 panchayats in the district, of which 157 are newly formed. However, only 122 panchayats have secretaries in the district as against the need for 352 posts. Among them, as many as 14 members under suspension due to some irregularities. Given the scenario, the government has decided to allot one secretary to each panchayat and completed recruitment process also. But the process has been delayed due to court cases.