India, Aug. 22 -- The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has approved a major overhaul of its organisational structure, introducing age and tenure limits for party functionaries and increasing the number of organisational districts from 77 to 110. The decisions were taken at the party's executive committee meeting chaired by DMK president M.K. Stalin in Chennai. The restructuring comes after the party's performance in the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly election and is aimed at strengthening its organisational machinery and providing greater opportunities to younger leaders. Under the new framework, branch secretaries will have a maximum age limit of 45 and will be allowed to serve for only two terms. In Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchirappalli and Salem, new branch-level units will be created within municipal areas. Similar arrangements may be introduced in other corporations depending on local requirements.
The maximum age for ward-level secretaries in municipal, town and other urban party units has been fixed at 50, with a two-term limit. For town panchayat, area, town and union-level secretaries, the upper age limit will be 60, and office-bearers at these levels will also be restricted to two terms. The party has also decided to reorganise its district structure around revenue districts, broadly creating one party district for every two Assembly constituencies. If a revenue district is left with only one Assembly constituency after the reorganisation, that constituency will be attached to another suitable party district within the same revenue district.
The maximum age for district secretaries has been fixed at 70. However, unlike most lower-level posts, district secretaries will be permitted to hold the position for up to three terms. The number of organisational districts will consequently rise from the existing 77 to 110. With the expansion of district-level units, the party has decided that the separate post of city secretary will no longer be required. The restructuring will also involve reorganising union, town, area, ward and branch units according to voter strength and Assembly constituencies. Union units are proposed to cover an average of 30,000 voters, while town units will generally cover around 40,000 voters. Once the 110 new district units are announced, district executive committees will be asked to complete the restructuring of their lower-level units within 15 days, following guidelines issued by the party headquarters. The changes are intended to bring greater uniformity to the DMK's organisational structure, strengthen its grassroots network and create more avenues for younger functionaries to take up leadership responsibilities.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.