CHANDIGARH: In the first major administrative reorganization exercise in Himachal Pradesh in 54 years, a four member commission headed by retired Himachal Pradesh High Court judge Dharam Chand Chaudhary has been constituted to examine the contentious issue of the reorganization, creation, merger and bifurcation of districts, subdivisions and tehsils that can have serious political ramifications in view of the upcoming assembly elections next year.
The last reorganization occurred on September 1, 1972, when three new districts were carved out of Kangra, increasing the total from nine to 12.
Approved by the state cabinet on May 22 for the setting up of a commission, the decision reopens a politically sensitive issue as the hill state prepares for assembly elections in December 2027.The commission, with its headquarters in Shimla, will function for six months from the date of notification and submit its final report to the state government. The report of the commission is expected to come well before the next Assembly elections.
The commission has been tasked with examining the existing administrative structure of districts, sub-divisions, tehsils, sub-tehsils, development blocks and other divisions of various departments in Himachal Pradesh. The panel will assess current structures based on population, topography, local accessibility, and administrative demands and will also calculate the financial implications, focusing on infrastructure and manpower costs, while identifying redundant or underutilized offices to streamline operations without placing an additional burden on state finances. It will also consult public representatives and local stakeholders before submitting its recommendations.
Sources added that the administrative Secretaries of the departments of Revenue, Finance, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Forest, Public Works, Jal Shakti and General Administration will be special invitees, as and when required, to ensure effective inter-departmental coordination and provide expert inputs. The Department of Revenue and the Deputy Commissioners concerned will provide the necessary secretarial assistance, records and demographic data to facilitate its work.
Besides justice Chaudhary, the panel includes advocate Vishal Panwar and retired Indian Forest Service officer Rajesh Sharma, with the director of land records serving as member secretary.
There has been a talk of the creation of new districts, especially in the biggest district of Kangra having 15 assembly segments, for the past two decades. Successive governments had dabbled with the idea of carving out new districts out of Kangra such as Palampur, Dehra and Nurpur. After Kangra, Mandi has the second highest number of Assembly segments with ten assembly seats, followed by eight in Shimla district. Then Solan, Una, Hamirpur, Sirmaur, and Chamba hold five seats each, while Bilaspur and Kullu have four. The sparsely populated tribal districts of Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti have one seat each.
There are 81 sub-divisions, 92 blocks, and 193 tehsils and sub-tehsils across the state. Officials indicate the government may windup underperforming administrative units created by previous regimes on political considerations to curb wasteful expenditure amid an ongoing financial crunch.
In the past there have been proposals for carving out Mahasu district from Shimla comprising of Theog, Chopal, Jubbal-Kotkhai, and Rampur, along with Anni from Kullu district and merging the remote Pangi region of Chamba with Lahaul and Spiti and reorganisation of Kinnaur district and the creation of Sundernagar district by splitting Mandi.
Before the 2022 assembly elections, the then Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur of BJP considered creating up to five new districts; Nurpur, Dehra, and Palampur from Kangra, Sundernagar from Mandi and Mahasu from Shimla.
In prior BJP government when Prem Kumar Dhumal was Chief Minister he had also explored similar proposals, but dropped them following pushback from senior party leaders, including former chief minister Shanta Kumar, who publicly opposed splitting Kangra.
