KADAPA: Quite contrary to the expectations that village administration would become better with special officers in the saddle, the situation in villages, particularly in respect of sanitation, is worse.
After the term of village panchayat sarpanches and ward members had ended on August 22, special officers were appointed for the villages to take over the administration till the panchayat elections are held and new sarpanches elected.The special officers are officials drawn from various departments, like revenue, health, agriculture, animal husbandry etc. All those officials were given training in the village administration for two days and were handed over the charge. This work is in addition to those they are executing in their parent departments.
In Kadapa, 376 special officers were appointed for 804 villages and some of them are of the rank of tahasildar, MDO, CDPO, veterinary doctors, agriculture officer, DLCO, etc. Given the conditions in the villages today, it can be assumed that a majority of them are considering their 'village special officer' job an additional burden and there some, who are considering it as an opportunity to set right the situation in villages and improve them. Given the shortage of staff in some departments, the special officers duty is an additional burden. Perhaps, for that reason, they are making former sarpanches do some work.Lack of proper supervision in sanitary conditions is creating problems in the villages. One could find stagnant pools of waters everywhere in the villages which have more or less become breeding grounds for mosquitoes, carrying different pathogens.Some sincere officials are utilising the BRGF funds and striving to develop the villages by taking advantage of NREGS. "It is a really good opportunity. There is lot we can do for the villages if we put our minds and time to proper use,'' says Muddanur MDO M Suresh, who is the special officer of Uppaluru, Kolavali, Madannagaripalle villages.
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