Special Officers for the Administration of Rural Local Bodies in 37 Districts of Tamil Nadu till April 2027

Aerial view of Fort St. George, headquarters of the Tamil Nadu Secretariat in Chennai. | Photo credit: B. Jothi Ramalingam

The Government of Tamil Nadu has extended the tenure of Special Officers administering Rural Local Bodies in 28 districts by another six months, till 19 April 2027. It has also appointed Special Officers to administer Rural Local Bodies in nine other districts till the same date.

The Ministry of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj issued a government order to this effect. The term of elected representatives of rural local bodies in 28 districts ended on 5 January 2025. The state government subsequently appointed special officers to administer village panchayats, union panchayat councils and district panchayats in these districts for a period of six months from 6 January 2025.

Since then, the tenure of the special officers in these 28 districts has been extended every six months and the Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act, 1994 has been amended accordingly.

Similarly, the term of elected representatives of rural local bodies in nine districts like Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu, Villupuram, Kallakurichi, Vellore, Ranipet, Tirupattur, Tirunelveli and Tenkasi ended on October 19,

In a letter to the government, the Commissioner for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj said that it would not be possible to hold elections to rural local bodies in all 37 districts by October 19, 2026.

This was because the process of merging 46 rural local bodies with urban local bodies was being completed. The notification of expanded urban local bodies would also change the boundaries of village panchayats, union panchayat councils and district panchayats.

The Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj subsequently issued final notifications for nine newly formed panchayat unions, 93 village panchayats and the merger of one village panchayat. After these changes, delimitation and reservation exercise needs to be done in 23 districts. Rural local body elections cannot be held without completing these processes, the paper said.

In this context, the state government extended the tenure of special officers in 28 districts and appointed special officers in nine districts to administer village panchayats, union panchayat councils and district panchayats, excluding nine newly formed panchayat unions and 93 newly formed village panchayats, till 19 April 2027.

Published – 21 Oct 2026 10:31 IST