Govt appoints special officers to 86 ULBs
Vijayawada: With the tenure of elected bodies of urban local bodies (ULBs) set to expire on March 17, the state government appointed special officers to administer 86 civic bodies across the state until elections are conducted and new councils assume office.
The temporary arrangement has been made to ensure the smooth functioning of municipal governance in municipal corporations, municipalities and nagar panchayats, as elections to these local bodies have not yet been conducted.
According to official sources, the state government has appointed special officers for 86 ULBs, including 11 municipal corporations and 75 municipalities and nagar panchayats. The special officers will oversee civic administration, public services, and ongoing development works during the interim period.
To facilitate the transition, municipal administration and urban development (MA&UD) principal secretary S Suresh Kumar issued GO Rt No 284 on Tuesday authorising the appointments.
The decision was taken following a request from the commissioner and director of municipal administration (C&DMA), who sought the appointment of special officers to manage the civic bodies once the terms of the current elected councils come to an end. The new administrative arrangement will come into effect from March 18.
As per the government order, district collectors, joint collectors, revenue divisional officers (RDOs), and other senior officials have been designated as special officers to oversee the administration of the respective civic bodies. District collectors will function as special officers for all 11 municipal corporations, while joint collectors, RDOs and deputy collectors will take charge of municipalities and nagar panchayats. The order states that the special officers will administer the ULBs for a period of six months or untilnewly elected councils assume office, whichever is earlier. The appointments have been made under the provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Municipalities Act, 1965, and the AP Municipal Corporations Act, 1994.
In the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation, the NTR district collector has been appointed as the special officer. Similar arrangements have been made for other major municipal corporations, including Greater Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, Machilipatnam, Guntur, Ongole, Tirupati, Chittoor, Anantapuramu, YSR Kadapa, and Kurnool, where the respective district collectors will assume charge as Special Officers.
The government stated that the arrangement would ensure continuity in civic administration, uninterrupted municipal services, and smooth implementation of ongoing development works until elections are conducted and new municipal councils are constituted.
The C&DMA has been directed to take the necessary steps to implement the order and coordinate with district administrations across the state. The notification will also be published in an extraordinary issue of the Andhra Pradesh Gazette, the government said.
