Andhra Pradesh: Powers delineated between panchayat, villages secretariat staff

Amaravati: The state government on Thursday issued orders delegating powers to certain functionaries to improve coordination between gram panchayats and village secretaries.

It is observed that there is a need for proper coordination between the local gram panchayat and the village secretariat, which serves as an extension arm of the state government, since the secretariats provide 543 plus services relating to various state government departments. The roles and responsibilities of the various village secretariat functionaries need to be defined properly so as to ensure proper coordination between gram panchayats and village secretariats.

As part of the move the department of gram volunteers/ ward volunteers and village secretariats/ward secretariats conducted multiple deliberations with various departments and district collectors to ensure better convergence and coordination between panchayats and village secretariats.

As per the new orders, panchayat secretary shall act as executive officer of the gram panchayat and function as a link officer between gram panchayat and village secretariat. All the village functional assistants, including digital assistants, except panchayat secretary and existing panchayat staff, shall seek approval of casual leave from the respective head of the concerned department at the mandal level and the leave application should be routed through village revenue officers (VROs).

The VRO shall act as a drawing and disbursement officer for drawing and disbursing of honorarium to the gram volunteers. Special chief secretary Ajay Jain issued orders to this effect.