BHUBANESWAR: The state government is seriously considering creation of more blocks in the state for better administration, effective delivery of social welfare programmes and timely execution of development activities, Revenue and Disaster Management minister Suresh Pujari said on Saturday.
Pujari said two rounds of discussions have already been held with the Panchayati Raj department on the issue and if necessary, the state government will set up a commission for this purpose.
“I personally feel the need for more blocks to deliver good governance to the people and meet the needs of the society by making the best use of available resources. The public also wants smaller administrative units for better administration,” Pujari told TNIE.
There are about 60 blocks in the state which cover a huge number of panchayats. In some of these blocks, people have to travel 45 to 50 km to reach to the block headquarters for their official works. These blocks need to be bifurcated to smaller units so that the administration can reach the people at the right time for basic services, said a senior officer of the Panchayati Raj department.
The block reorganisation was done last time in 1984 when 10 new blocks were created taking the total number to 314. No new blocks have been created during the last 40 years despite rapid population growth and addition of workload in view of the creation of additional administrative departments and introduction of new schemes in the state, the officer added.
Bhograi block in Balasore district has the highest 50 gram panchayats under it followed by Barchana block in Jajpur district with 43. Balasore, Jaleswar and Khaira blocks in Balasore district have 37, 37 and 35 panchayats respectively.
Similarly, Mohana block of the tribal-dominated Gajapati district has 39 panchayats. Lakhanpur of Jharsuguda district is another large block with 33 panchayats. People of Borigumma and Dasmantpur blocks in Koraput district face difficulty in travelling long distance to visit block offices for their works, the officer cited.
The state had 124 blocks in 1958 which increased to 214 in 1961. The government created new blocks in 1963 and the number rose to 304. Another 10 blocks were added in 1984 taking the number to 314. The population of the state was 1.46 crore in 1951 which has increased to about 4.6 crore in 2024.