Lucknow, May 25 (PTI): The Uttar Pradesh government on Monday announced that the outgoing gram pradhans (village heads) will be appointed as the administrators of the gram panchayats until the formation of the new village panchayats, or for a maximum period of six months.

The tenure of the state's gram panchayats is set to expire on May 26, 2026. The last panchayat polls happened in 2021 and are expected some time this year.

All district magistrates have been authorised to designate the outgoing pradhans as the administrators who will continue to handle the general administrative affairs of the panchayats as per the directives of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the UP government said in a statement.

Their tenure as administrators begins from May 27. The administrators will be permitted to discharge only general and routine duties and they do not have the power to take any policy-related decisions, the government said.

The government has also clarified that should the need arise to take a policy-related decision under urgent or special circumstances, the relevant proposal must be submitted to the district magistrate through the district panchayat raj officer.

Such a decision may be taken only after obtaining the DM's approval, the statement said.

The tenure of a gram panchayat spans for five years. Upon the expiration of this tenure, the state government holds the authority to appoint an administrator to oversee affairs until the formation of the new panchayats.

The National Panchayati Raj Gram Pradhan Sangathan has expressed its delight over the appointments.

Conveying the organisation's gratitude, its president Akhilesh Singh has also pledged to offer a "return gift to the government in the upcoming legislative assembly elections".

This move has "significantly enhancing their credibility and has paved the way for the continuity of development works within the villages, he said.

"On December 15, 2021, during the 'Gram Utkarsh Samaroh', Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had promised the village heads that he would establish a 'triple-engine government', and he has now fulfilled that pledge," Singh said.

He also said that under the state unit president Lalit Sharma, the organisation's UP unit engaged in periodic dialogue with the Panchayati Raj Department, the Government of Uttar Pradesh and the Bharatiya Janata Party, the statement said. PTI NAV SKY SKY

(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)