more-inAnother row seems to be in the offing with the State Government moving to integrate the Panchayat, Urban Affairs, Rural Development and Town Planning Departments into a unified Local Government service. These details have been sought to enable the commission to formulate the principles of integration while formulating the special rules. The departments are required to submit all the details in the proforma given by the commission. The move to integrate the departments is likely to be opposed by the Opposition unions. Contrary to the UDF government which had to bifurcate various departments for political reasons, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had allocated all the subjects related to local administration to K.T.

Source: The Hindu February 20, 2017 15:33 UTC