By issuing a preliminary notification for the creation of new districts, the Andhra Pradesh government ventured to implement a concept which no political dispensation had done after the combined A.P. came into existence way back in late 1956 with 23 districts. The bottomline is to have one revenue district for each of the 25 Lok Sabha constituencies.
In rehashing the boundaries, the present government headed by the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) has essentially stirred up a hornet’s nest, given the deep differences over the manner in which the existing boundaries were restructured, notwithstanding the justifiable claim that the exercise is aimed at facilitating better administration notwithstanding the likely political ramifications which are anybody’s guess.
The government has, in exercise of its powers under Section 3 (5) of the A.P. Districts (Formation) Act, 1974, notified the formation of 13 new districts for the sake of administrative efficiencies and achieving balanced development.
As of now, the government appears to be keen on giving the new districts a tangible shape from the new financial year, according to Secretary Planning G.Srkr. Vijay Kumar, who was at pains the other day to explain that attention had been paid to every minute detail lest the plan should fail.
He maintained that an in-depth study of a variety of geographical, demographic, logistical and socio-cultural factors and the people’s aspirations was done in the process of identifying the new districts.
On the political front, the YSRCP and the BJP are like in the same boat, having espoused the cause of smaller districts while the TDP faulted the government for being in a hurry to reorganise the districts, but it did not oppose the idea per se. The Jana Sena Party has not opened up its mind yet.
The new districts are so designed that a particular Assembly constituency will be entirely in a single district while the number of revenue divisions has gone up. However, there are many anomalies in the merger of some places and in giving names to the new districts.
Speaking to The Hindu , a retired IAS officer who had worked as a District Collector and in higher positions in the combined State of A.P. and in the TDP government, said that in spite of teething problems, creation of new districts would be definitely helpful in taking governance closer to people.
He pointed out that Tamil Nadu had done it in the past, Telangana too followed suit more recently, and Uttar Pradesh has close to 80 districts. All this lends credence to the theory that small districts enable the officers to be more focused in their approach.
Those who might dispute the theory that it is a futile exercise from the standpoint of increasing penetration of digital and electronic governance should remember that there will be some areas where IT and IT-enabled services can never be a substitute for human interface.
Of course, the whole project of creating new districts requires careful resource planning including manpower and it will take some time to stabilise. “Telangana had a few issues to grapple with the new districts initially, but now the problems are almost gone. Andhra Pradesh too will eventually fall into the groove,” he observed.
