Reappointed VAOs to get Rs 15k salary: Revenue dept

According to the letter addressed to all district collectors to fill the 2,896 VAOs posts currently lying vacant across the State, Revenue Secretary Atulya Mishra has said retired VAOs can be reappointed with a monthly salary of Rs 15,000.

The retired VAOs can serve for a period of one year or till the time when the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) recruits new VAOs by conducting an examination.

According to Revenue officials, of the total 12,616 VAOs posts in the State, 2,896 posts were lying vacant. The government was unable to speed up restoration efforts in the aftermath of Cyclone Gaja due to shortage of VAOs in delta districts.

“Inspection of cyclone-affected areas and damage assessment could not be carried out properly due to shortage of VAOs. Several persons did not receive their compensation due to the same reason,” anofficial said.

To overcome this problem, the State government passed a Government Order (GO) in March to appoint retired VAOs in the existing vacancies as they would have a working knowledge and would be handy for the higher officials.

“The district collectors have been instructed to recruit around 1,000 VAOs with a monthly salary of Rs 15,000 and to complete the pending works,” the official added.