Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday formally inaugurated 13 new districts in the state, doubling the number to 26 in a major administrative change that, according to him, aims to bring decentralization and governance closer to the people. is aimed at. However, the opposition parties did not agree that the reorganization of the districts was done for the welfare of the people.
Issuing a gazette notification on Saturday, the YSRCP-led Andhra Pradesh government had said that all new districts would come into existence from April 4.
Soon after the notification was issued, the state government reshuffled IAS and IPS officers and appointed collectors and superintendents of police in the newly-created districts.
What are the new districts?
The new districts are: Parvathipuram Manyam, Alluri Sitaramaraju, Anakapalli, Kakinada, Konaseema, Eluru, NTR, Palanadu, Bapatla, Nandyala, Sri Sathya Sai, Annamayya and Tirupati.
Inaugurating the districts virtually, CM Jagan Reddy said that his government would continue with the decentralization policy and the new districts would provide better administration, transparency and the delivery mechanism of welfare would be smooth and effective.
Comparing it with other states of India, he said that even small states like Arunachal Pradesh have 25 districts for better administration and out of all 727 districts in the country, Andhra Pradesh is the only state with a high average of 38.15 lakh people each. . District. He said that with the creation of new districts, the average population density has come down to 19.07 lakhs.
a tribute
Jagan Reddy named a district after Telugu Desam Party (TDP) founder Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (better known as NTR). Another existing district is already named after another former CM YSR.
One tribal area, along with Parvathipuram Manyam, is named after a tribal leader, Alluri Sitaramaraju, who fought the British during the independence movement, which also has a history of rebellion. Palanadu and Bapatla have their own historical significance during and before the freedom struggle. Keeping in mind the sentiments of the people, the districts have been named Tirupati, Annamayya and Sri Sathya Sai.
Anakapalle, Kakinada and Eluru are parliamentary constituencies which were earlier in Visakhapatnam, East and West Godavari districts, while Konaseema is an extended district of East Amalapuram constituency.
When and how was this plan made?
Jagan Reddy had promised during the election campaign for the 2019 assembly elections that his party would make every Lok Sabha constituency a district if voted to power. There are 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state. A district was also carved out of tribal areas in East Godavari and Visakhapatnam.
Thus, the state government, in January, issued a draft notification to create 26 districts out of the existing 13 and invited suggestions and objections.
After some time, the officials informed Chief Minister Jagan Reddy that the state government had received 16,600 suggestions and objections from the public regarding the new districts and that they were considered and that the district collectors held discussions with the people and public representatives. After making recommendations.
The officers prepared proposals for the formation and reorganization of the new district administration, keeping in mind all the issues including the staff division, six-point formula and the President’s order.
The officials also said that they have prepared a checklist to ensure that all arrangements are on track and have created new websites and new mechanisms for the new districts and added that they have completed changes in the software accordingly. He also said that a handbook containing the information of new districts has also been prepared.
The Chief Minister was informed that the offices and camp offices of the District Collector and SP in the new districts have been finalized and as far as possible government buildings have been selected and private buildings have been taken on lease where government buildings are available. are not.
Opposition calls new districts ‘politically motivated’
The main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) led by former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and the Jana Sena Party (JSP) led by actor-politician Pawan Kalyan have criticized the way the YSRCP-led Andhra Pradesh government has reorganized the districts. criticized. The opposition alleges that the government did not pay heed to the opinion of the people.
Naidu termed the creation of new districts as “unscientific” and “politically motivated”. He said the TDP would definitely come to power in the next elections when it would rectify all such mistakes being committed by the present government.
Naidu alleged that the government did not pay heed to the objections and protests raised by the people against the new districts and revenue divisions.
Jagan Reddy, however, said he accepted the request of opposition leader Naidu and granted revenue division status to Kuppam on the latter’s request. “On the appeal made by Kuppam MLA (Chandrababu Naidu), we have included Kuppam in the list of 21 new revenue divisions,” he said.
At the same time, Pawan Kalyan said that the district reorganization has been done ignoring the opinion of the people. Terming the reorganization as “unilateral”, he said, “In the process of reorganization of districts in the state, the rulers proceeded as per their perception without considering and evaluating public opinion.”
He asked why the government did not take into account the aspirations of the people, issues of distance in new districts and other constraints. “Similarly, there is not even a proper story on the long pending demands for the districts. The tribal people of the submerged mandals in the district formed with the Paderu headquarter will have to face many obstacles. The people of Atapaka and Kukunuru mandals have to travel at least 300 km to reach the district headquarters.
(with inputs from agencies)
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