Here’s a detailed overview of Panchayat Secretaries in Telangana:
🧑💼 Appointment & Cadre
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Appointed by: Commissioner of Panchayat Raj, with state government approval, either to individual Gram Panchayats or clusters of them (indiankanoon.org).
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Subordinate to the Gram Panchayat and under the administrative control of the Sarpanch (indiankanoon.org).
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Junior Panchayat Secretaries (JPS): Many initially onboarded on a temporary basis by district authorities. As of mid‑2023, a state‑level initiative is underway to regularise these JPSs based on performance evaluations (telanganatoday.com).
🎯 Key Duties & Responsibilities
Outlined under Section 43 of the Telangana Panchayat Raj Act, 2018, and subsequently elaborated by GO MS No. 108 (26‑09‑2018), duties include:
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Convening meetings: Alerting Sarpanch/members about scheduled Panchayat and Gram Sabha meetings; preparing agendas (indiankanoon.org).
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Meeting participation: Attending but not voting; responsible for issuing meeting resolutions to higher officials within three days (indiankanoon.org).
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Sanitation oversight: Daily monitoring of village sanitation, supervising staff, arranging dustbin services, pit desilting, mosquito control measures, and garbage disposal (indiankanoon.org).
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Tree plantation/forestry: Distributing saplings, maintaining nurseries, ensuring at least 85% survival of plantation (indiankanoon.org).
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Asset management: Maintaining registers of all movable/immovable assets, overseeing their proper use and protecting public land .
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Revenue functions: Assessing and collecting taxes/non‑taxes; ensuring demand notices are served within 15 days and collections completed in the first quarter; failures may trigger disciplinary action or dissolution of the Panchayat (indiankanoon.org).
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Record-keeping: Maintaining household statistics (e.g. births, deaths, marriages), attendance registers, daily logs ("Roznamcha"), street-light status, and computerising records for weekly updates on the state portal (indiankanoon.org).
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Emergency response: Coordinating measures during disease outbreaks, disasters, water issues, or sanitation emergencies .
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Financial oversight: Preparing budgets/accounts, reconciling, filing audit reports, safeguarding funds and property (teachernews.in).
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Compliance & reporting: Issuing permits/orders promptly; updating performance reports monthly and publishing them publicly; non-performance may result in removal .
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Extending government directives: Implementing all instructions issued by the government in a timely manner .
🎓 Qualifications & Selection (Junior Posts)
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Education: Graduation in any discipline (teachernews.in).
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Age criteria: 18–39 for general candidates; age relief up to 5 years for SC/ST/BC and up to 10 years for persons with disabilities (teachernews.in).
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Locality clause: Recruitment carried out across all 30 districts (excluding Hyderabad urban), with local residency requirements (teachernews.in).
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Selection process: Conducted via written examination (two papers: general awareness/mental ability and Panchayat Raj/local governance) by agencies such as JNTU, Police Recruitment Board, TSBIE, or others (teachernews.in).
✅ Regularisation Efforts
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As of May–July 2023, Chief Minister KCR initiated performance-based regularisation of JPSs, with district‑level committees evaluating those who completed at least two-thirds of set targets (telanganatoday.com).
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Over 9,300 Junior Panchayat Secretaries are expected to be regularised through those reviews (newindianexpress.com).
🔍 Summary Table
| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| Appointment | Commissioner-appointed, government-approved |
| Subordination | To Sarpanch/Gram Panchayat |
| Core Duties | Meetings, sanitation, records, finances, assets, and statutory compliance |
| Selection | Graduation + Age limit + Local recruitment through exam process |
| Regularisation | Underway via performance evaluation of ~9 k temporary JPSs (as of 2023) |
In a Nutshell
Panchayat Secretaries in Telangana act as the administrative backbone of village governance. Even though they are non-elected, their responsibilities span crucial areas like sanitation, public health, finance, records, and implementation of government policies. The state has also taken steps toward regularising the service of thousands of junior secretaries, integrating them into the formal cadre based on performance.
If you need further details—like salary ranges, current openings, or how to apply for a junior position—just ask!