Local power: On Tamil Nadu government’s move  

Instead of signalling its intention to hold elections to rural local bodies, the Tamil Nadu government has appointed special officers for these bodies in several districts of the State. Elections were due in 9,624 village panchayats, 314 panchayat unions, and 28 district panchayats where the term of office of the RLBs came to an end on January 5. These government officers will function for the next six months. In support of its decision, the government has cited the ongoing re-organisation of rural and urban local bodies, which will result in a delimitation of wards of the local bodies — a step that the government considers a prerequisite to the conduct of polls to local bodies. It had given an undertaking to the Madras High Court in December 2024, that no poll notification would be issued without completing delimitation and putting in place a quota of seats and offices for women, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Apart from creating four more municipal corporations by accommodating village panchayats, the stage is set for the expansion of the limits of municipal corporations, municipalities and town panchayats by taking in other village panchayats. It has proposed the merger of least 140 village panchayats with municipal corporations. Though there is nothing final about the reorganisation, the government is of the view that rapid urbanisation in village panchayats adjoining bigger cities such as Chennai and Coimbatore necessitates a fresh look at the local bodies.

In Suresh Mahajan vs State of Madhya Pradesh, the Supreme Court had held that the delimitation or formation of ward “cannot be a legitimate ground to be set forth by any authority much less the State Election Commission — to not discharge its constitutional obligation in notifying the election programme” at an opportune time and ensure that an elected body was installed before the expiry of the five-year term of the outgoing body. It had also stipulated that in undertaking delimitation, which the Court regarded as a continuous exercise, it “ought to be commenced well-in-advance” so that the elections were notified on time. Sections of residents in a number of village panchayats have opposed the proposed reorganisation of local bodies as they are apprehensive of the cessation of rural development schemes such as the MGNREGA if there is a merger with urban local bodies. Tamil Nadu is not the only State that has failed to hold local body polls on time. Bigger cities such as Mumbai and Bengaluru are on the list. It is time that the States realise the importance of the space that local bodies occupy in the democratic structure. Despite shortcomings, local self-governments do make a qualitative difference to people’s lives.