Telangana govt firm on creation of 27 new districts; 64 depts to be revamped
Hyderabad: The Telangana state government on Tuesday decided to go ahead with the formation of 27 districts besides new revenue divisions and mandals simultaneously from Dasara with appropriate changes as “desired by the people”. It was also decided to revamp 64 departments by amalgamating common departments and bring some of them under a single official for better administration. The idea is to bring all welfare departments under one head. The plan will also cover medium and minor irrigation; agriculture, horticulture and sericulture; education, forests, social forestry and wildlife departments which currently function independently.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao held a meeting with energy minister Jagdish Reddy, transport minister Mahender Reddy, Chief Secretary Dr Rajiv Sharma, DGP Anurag Sharma, senior officials and district collectors in this regard at MCRHRD. An all-party meet will be convened soon. The Chief Minister asked officials to make necessary changes in tune with the exercise and public suggestions thereafter after release of the draft notification.
Stating that some departments should be need-based, he said the focus should be on the Industries department in Hyderabad and its surroundings where a large number of units were located, sericulture in Khammam, horticulture in Ranga Reddy etc. The Chief Minister said Adilabad district, where contagious diseases were rampant, should have more medical facilities while more agriculture officials should be posted in rural areas.
“From day one of formation of the new districts, revenue and police departments should function in every mandal. There should be a three-tier administrative set up. Other departments and appointments should be subsequently organised,” he said. “The problems a family faces in shifting to a house are seen in the new district set up. These problems need to be identified and solved,” the Chief Minister added.
Mr Rao revealed that there was a demand for 75 new mandals out of which 45 were notified and feasibility of 30 others was being studied. On an average, each mandal will have populations of 35,000 and above, he said. He also asked officials to relax rules with regard to forest, remote areas and Chenchu habitations for the new mandals. Senior officials, collectors and police officers put forth their administrative proposals at the meeting. “New districts are carved out for administrative convenience. The onus is on you to provide efficient service to people,” Mr Rao said.
