Formation of the Department The Town Panchayats were under the administrative control of Rural Development Department till 1981. During 1981, the Government had constituted a separate Directorate for the Town Panchayats vide G.O. Ms. 828 Rural Development and Local Administration Department Dt.7.5.1981 with the nomenclature of ‘Directorate of Town Panchayats’. In 1993, the 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution of India has stipulated and redefined the urban local governance and consequence to that all the Town Panchayats were reconstituted under the Tamil Nadu District Municipalities Act, 1920 and treated as transitional area. i.e. an area in transition from rural area to Urban area. Necessary amendments were brought to the Tamil Nadu District Municipalities Act, 1920 for this purpose and a separate chapter in respect of Town Panchayats was inserted in the said Act. Consequently, though the nomenclature ‘Town Panchayat’ remained unchanged, the administrative control of the Directorate of Town Panchayats was brought under the Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department at the Secretaria
