The State informed the court about the State Election Commission’s suggestion to hold the elections after three months. The local body elections have not been held from 2016. In its reply affidavit, the Tamil Nadu government said it had never shied from its constitutional responsibilities. Refutes claimsThe State denied claims by advocate Jaya Sukin that lack of local body representatives had crippled development works in rural Tamil Nadu. The government said it had appointed Block Development Officers as special officers of village panchayats for uninterrupted discharge of civic maintenance responsibilities under the Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act 1994.

Source: The Hindu May 04, 2019 19:18 UTC