VIJAYAWADA: Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan has suggested a population-based division in the panchayat cluster grades along with the existing income-based cluster grade divisions.
On Monday, he chaired a review meeting with the principal secretary and commissioner of Panchayat Raj and Rural Development, the two entities that he looks after.
The discussions centered around the challenges being faced by the panchayats in staff appointments due to the cluster grade divisions, which follow the old income-based system. Issues related to coordination between the gram panchayat and secretariat staff, as well as the appointment of staff based on the proposed new cluster grade division system, were also discussed.
Pawan said that the proposed population-based cluster grade division of panchayats will ensure sufficient staff availability in all panchayats and enable them to deliver better citizen services. These include the provision of primary amenities like drinking water, streetlight maintenance, sanitation services, and the implementation of developmental and welfare programmes for citizens, he said.
The Deputy CM said he would form a committee to give recommendations for streamlining the administration in the panchayats and propose new cluster divisions and grade allocations in the state.
The committee will consist of four senior officials from the Panchayat Raj department. They would submit a report to the government after considering the inputs provided by the 26 district collectors, taking into account both the income and population of the panchayats.