HYDERABAD: Telangana state, which was formed on the understanding that smaller districts would function more smoothly, would have as many as 31 smaller districts from Tuesday.
As part of his efforts to take the administration to the people’s doorstep, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will unveil as many as 21 new districts on the occasion of Vijaya Dasami.
Rao will unveil the new map of the state by officially inaugurating Siddipet district, which has been bastion of the TRS for many years. The chief minister is set to inaugurate the district at the auspicious time of 11:13 am on Tuesday in Siddipet town. The district is being carved out of Medak district. His cabinet colleagues will inaugurate the remaining 20 new districts simultaneously.
After almost 38 years, the revenue districts are being reorganised taking the total districts from the present 10 to 31. This will be a major administrative reform in Telangana after the then chief minister NT Rama Rao’s similar exercise of forming 1,100 mandals by splitting 280 blocks in the erstwhile united AP. “Introduction of mandal system by NTR brought about drastic changes at the grassroots level in terms of taking administration to people’s doorstep up to some extent. Though there was initial resistance from some leaders, it gradually won the hearts of the people as the administration went closer to the people. We are expecting similar success from the creation of smaller districts,” a senior minister told Express.
The minister said that the government expected three benefits from the formation of smaller districts: the administration will move closer to the people, second-rung leadership will emerge in new districts and dominance of certain people will be challenged with the emergence of new leaders. “The mandal system brought these three benefits to some extent,” a TRS leader said.
However, Opposition parties such as Congress and TDP continue to cry foul over the way the government divided the existing districts. They stuck to their argument that the new districts are being formed to derive political benefits.