VIJAYAWADA: With just a week left for 13 new districts to come into existence, the State government has expedited the exercise to complete the process by effecting some marginal changes before issuing the final notification.The new district administrations are expected to begin functioning on April 2, coinciding with the Telugu New Year, Ugadi.
The government, however, may spring a surprise by announcing Kuppam—Opposition leader N Chandrababu Naidu’s constituency—as a revenue division. The government may also opt to rename the proposed Sri Balaji district as Tirupati. West Godavari district headquarters could be Narsapuram, instead of the earlier announced Bhimavaram.
YSRC MLA Prasad Raju representing Narsapur had submitted a memorandum favouring Narsapur as the headquarters of the district.A final notification on the reorganisation is expected on March 31. Meanwhile, officials are completing the works of buildings for accommodating offices. Simultaneously, allocation of employees to districts is also being done.
As per sources, over 11,000 objections and suggestions came from the public on the reorganisation of districts. Majority of them are related to change of district names, change of new district headquarters, and change of revenue divisions. It is learnt that the government may consider some of them.
Several YSRC representatives also objected to changing revenue divisions and including their constituencies in other districts. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has directed officials to go through the representations thoroughly and make necessary changes.
Though there may not be any change regarding the proposed 26 districts, sources said the government may increase the number of revenue divisions considering the demand from the public and people’s representatives.
Former chief minister and TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu had urged the government to establish Kuppam as the revenue division headquarters. The government is expected to heed to his demand.
Stating that the exercise is expected to be completed in a day or two, Deputy Chief Minister (Revenue) Dharmana Krishna Das told TNIE that the process was aimed at ensuring the convenience for the public.
“For instance, Etcherla Assembly constituency in Srikakulam district, which comes under Vizianagaram Lok Sabha segment, was likely to be brought under the proposed Vizianagaram district. However, following request from the representations of the people of Srikakulam district, the chief minister considered our appeal and decided to retain Etcherla in Srikakulam district,’’ he said. As a majority of educational institutions, including Dr BR Ambedkar University, RGUKT-Srikakulam and also several major industries are located in the constituency, people of the district do not wish to lose them, he added.
In Prakasam, there is a strong demand for creating Markapur revenue division. When contacted, Giddalur MLA Anna Rambabu said he has urged the government to make Markapur revenue division, comprising Yerragondapalem, Markapur and Giddalur, as a district.
“During British rule, Markapur division was in Kadapa district. Later, it was made part of Kurnool and finally merged with Prakasam with Kandukur and Ongole divisions, and Ongole as its headquarters. Though the Markapur division was part of Prakasam district as per the draft notification, we are appealing to the government to consider notifying Markapur division as a separate district as a special case for the convenience of the public,’’ he said.
When asked how the chief minister responded to the request, Rambabu said as a policy maker, the Chief Minister will keep in mind the convenience of the majority of people and take decisions accordingly. “In fact, more than 95 per cent of the people are welcoming the new districts. In some cases, like ours, we are hoping that the government may consider our plea,” he said.
A gazette notification was issued in lines with the poll promise made by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy to increase the number of districts to 25 by making every Lok Sabha segment as a district.
Once YSRC came to power, the government took up the exercise and formulated a proposal to increase the number of districts to 26. While Araku Lok Sabha constituency - which is spread over four districts from Srikakulam to East Godavari districts - will be divided into two districts, all the remaining 24 Lok Sabha segments would form one district each.
The government has ensured that none of the Assembly segments would be spread over two districts. While the existing districts would have the same district headquarters, some of the newly proposed districts would have nearby towns as their seat of administration.While many welcomed the formation of new districts, change in headquarters like in the case of announcing Bhimavaram as the headquarters of West Godavari instead of Narsapur (Lok Sabha segment), Rayachoti instead of Rajampet and Puttaparthi instead of Hindupur have invited protests.Though Hindupur TDP MLA Nandamuri Balakrishna welcomed the formation of new districts, he resented over declaring Puttaparthi as the district headquarters instead of Hindupur and organised a silent protest.
25 LS segments proposed as new dists
A gazette notification was issued to create 13 more districts in the State. Araku constituency—which is spread across 4 districts—will be divided into two districts.
Changes expected in final notification
Govt may revise name of the proposed Sri Balaji district as Tirupati. WG headquarters could be Narsapuram, instead of earlier announced Bhimavaram
Gazette notification issued in lines with poll promise
A gazette notification was issued in lines with the poll promise made by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy to increase the number of districts to 25 by making every Lok Sabha segment as a district. Once YSRC came to power, the government took up the exercise and formulated a proposal to increase the number of districts to 26.