Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan inaugurated the DDO office near the Collectorate in Chittoor on Thursday. | Photo credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Deputy Chief Minister K. Pawan Kalyan on Thursday reiterated the NDA government’s commitment to realize Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of ‘Gram Swaraj’ through sweeping reforms in the Panchayat Raj and Rural Development systems.
Mr. Pawan Kalyan inaugurated a new District Development Officer (DDO) office near the Collectorate here, besides virtually launching 77 DDOs across the state to strengthen the two wings of the administration.
The Deputy Chief Minister said the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is implementing structural reforms inspired by the 73rd Amendment to ensure decentralized governance and stronger local institutions. With the creation of DDO offices, the Panchayat Raj Department would now have a divisional level structure comparable to the Revenue and Police Departments.
Mr. Pawan Kalyan noted that the new offices will streamline the oversight of development and social programs at the field level, enable continuous monitoring and faster service delivery. He said long-pending promotions and service issues in the PR&RD departments, some dating back more than two decades, have been resolved, benefiting nearly 10,000 employees.
The government also merged the Zilla Parishad and District Panchayat wings, upgraded the posts of DPOs to the level of Deputy Director and reorganized the Panchayat Secretary cadre from five grades to three. Panchayat Secretaries have been renamed as Panchayat Development Officers (PDO) and every large gram panchayat with a population of more than 10,000 would now have a published PDO.
Mr. Pawan Kalyan said that the government has abolished 7,244 clusters and converted 13,350 gram panchayats into fully autonomous local bodies, each with its own dedicated panchayat secretary. A special IT wing has been created to strengthen digital governance in Panchayat Raj institutions.
Panchayat Raj Commissioner VR Krishna Teja said that GO Ms 57 and 58 have facilitated restructuring and added that new divisional posts will also be open for Group 1 recruits, creating new opportunities for aspirants.
Chittoor Collector Sumit Kumar said DDOs will function at par with RDOs, equipped to check MGNREGS and PR department activities. Chittoor district would run these offices through G+1 structures funded from Zilla Parishad resources.
Ministers K. Atchannaidu (Agriculture), Nadendla Manohar (Civil Supplies), Anam Ramanarayana Reddy (Endowments) and S. Savitha (BC Welfare) participated in the program virtually from their respective districts. Local MLAs, officials and public representatives from Chittoor, Puthalapattu, Tirupati and Railway Kodur Assembly constituencies also attended the event.
Published – 04 Dec 2025 20:33 IST
