HYDERABAD: Telangana state may have new districts before the creation of new Assembly constituencies.
As the reorganisation of Assembly constituencies, a central subject, is likely to take some more time, the state government does not want to wait till the Centre completes its task. The reorganisation of districts is within the purview of the state and has nothing to do with the central government.
Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has announced that administration will start functioning from new districts either on August 15 or from Dasara. The state is to create 14 or 15 more districts to take the total number districts to 24 or 25.
According to sources, if the state creates new districts, it will have an advantage, politically. New Assembly constituencies should be created within the district. Once the state bifurcates a district, the Centre has to adhere to the same boundaries, according to sources.
However, a senior official said that they would go by the Andhra Pradesh Districts (Formation) Act, 1974. "Our aim is to decentralise administration and public convenience," he said.
PROCEDURE: The chief minister will make a formal statement on June 2 on formation of new districts. Then the boundaries of new districts will be decided and the officials concerned will issue notifications. The public will be given 30 days' time to submit their objections, if any. Later, if the Assembly is in session, the government will place it before both Houses of the Legislature.
"Any person affected by the proposal may, within thirty days from the date of publication of the notification, communicate objections or suggestions to the secretary to the government in the revenue department or to the commissioner of land revenue, as the case may be, through the collector of the district concerned, who shall forward the same with his remarks to the government or the commissioner of land revenue as the case may be."
Every notification under the Act shall, immediately after it is made, be laid before each House of the State Legislature if it is in session and if it is not in session, in the session immediately following, for a total period of fourteen days.
Besides creation of new districts, the state will also create 40 new revenue divisions. In Telangana, the new revenue divisions created last time were Devarakonda, Malkajgiri and Rajendranagar.
SHORTAGE OF OFFICERS: When the new districts start functioning from Dasara as per the plan of the chief minister, the state will need around 50 IAS and IPS officers. Selection and training of such a huge number of All India Service (AIS) officers will not be possible for the central government in the short period of six months.
Even if the Centre allocates young officers immediately to TS, the officers should get promotion to handle a district. But, senior officials in the revenue department are clueless to how the state could manage with the shortage of officers.