Kishan Reddy opposes appointment of special officers for gram panchayats

Kishan Reddy said the five-year tenure of gram panchayats in Telangana ended on Wednesday and now reports were coming that the State government, instead of conducting elections, was planning to appoint special officers to run gram panchayats

Hyderabad: Opposing the State government’s proposal to appoint special officers for gram panchayats, union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy alleged that the Congress government was planning to postpone the gram panchayat elections to delay the implementation of the Six Guarantees.

Addressing a press conference in Delhi on Wednesday, Kishan Reddy said the five-year tenure of gram panchayats in the State ended on Wednesday and now reports were coming that the State government, instead of conducting elections, was planning to appoint special officers to run gram panchayats. As per 73rd Amendment of the Constitution, it was the duty of the State government to hold elections to gram panchayat whenever their tenure completed, he said, adding that sarpanches should be allowed to continue in their post till the election takes place.