YSR Congress party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy had announced the commencement of functioning of Village Secretariats and Ward Secretariats with effect from January 1 in a big way.
Even a couple of days back, there was announcement that the village secretariats would start functioning from the New Year Day and all the public services, including electronic services that were hitherto being provided by Mee Seva Centres, would be extended through Village Secretariats.
However, on Tuesday night, there was a communication from the government that the launch of Village/Ward Secretariats has been postponed for now. In all probability, they would be functioning from next month.
So, what is the reason for this sudden decision?
According to reports, many of these secretariats have still been lacking basic infrastructure. Except painting of the gram panchayat buildings with the YSRC party colour, the authorities have not provided infrastructure.
Apparently, the contractors were not paid yet for providing infrastructure and other amenities. In addition to it, in several gram panchayats, the panchayat secretaries who joined the job have already quit. As a result, a few thousand vacancies are still remaining to be filled.
Sources said the government would have to issue a fresh notification to fill up these posts.
“Unless all the staff vacancies the village secretariats are filled up, it is not possible to bring them into functioning,” sources said.