Administrative vacuum: Himachal’s new civic bodies lack key officials

Despite launching a spree last year to create new Nagar Panchayats (NPs) and Municipal Councils (MCs) across Himachal Pradesh, the state government has failed to provide the basic infrastructure and administrative manpower needed to run these urban civic bodies efficiently. The acute shortage of key officials — particularly Executive Officers (EOs) in MCs and Secretaries in NPs — has severely hampered day-to-day operations.

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In Kangra district alone, two out of six MCs are functioning without a regular EO, while four of the five NPs are operating without Secretaries. Statewide, 11 of the 28 MCs lack regular EOs and 13 of the 34 NPs have no Secretary posted, exposing a glaring administrative vacuum.

To keep things afloat, the Urban Development Department has handed multiple additional charges to existing Eos — often across districts — creating a patchwork of makeshift arrangements. In a striking example, the EO posted at Kangra MC had also been managing duties for Nalagarh MC in Solan district and Bilaspur. Most recently, this official was given the additional charge of Nurpur MC. In a chain reaction, the EO of Nurpur was transferred to Nalagarh but managed a posting at Nagrota Bagwan MC by displacing its current EO to Paonta Sahib in Sirmaur district.

The crisis stems from a lack of recruitment. Inquiries reveal that no fresh hiring of EOs or Secretaries has taken place in the last four years. Instead, secretaries of various NPs are being given EO responsibilities, often without sufficient experience or support staff. For instance, the Secretary of the former Jawali NP, now upgraded to an MC (and notably the hometown of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Minister Chander Kumar), has been given charge as EO. Similarly, the Secretary of Talai NP in Bilaspur has been appointed as EO of Ghumarwin MC.

In many newly created NPs, the Secretarial responsibilities have been handed over to Sub-Divisional Magistrates (SDMs) stationed nearby. This arrangement has drawn criticism for being both unsustainable and ineffective in addressing grassroots administrative needs.

Adding to the complexity, the government created several new NPs last year by merging existing gram panchayats — Nagrota Surian, Kotla and Khudian in Kangra; Kunihar in Solan; Shillai in Sirmaur; Jhandutta and Swarghat in Bilaspur; Bangana in Una; Bhoranj and Barsar in Hamirpur; Banikhet in Chamba and Sandhol, Dharampur and Baldwara in Mandi district. However, the mergers have sparked opposition from residents of several affected panchayats.

When contacted, Dr Neeraj Kumar, Director of the Department of Urban Development, admitted the shortage of administrative officers and stated that the government is planning to fill some of the vacant posts this year through fresh recruitment.

Until then, however, the state’s ambitious push toward urban expansion remains undermined by its own inability to staff and manage the new civic bodies effectively.