Districts in TN up to 35 : Tenkasi, Chengalpet to emerge as new district

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu will soon have two more districts added to its list of existing 33 districts. The new districts — Tenkasi and Chengalpet — will be carved out of Tirunelveli and Kancheepuram districts, respectively, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami announced in the Assembly on Thursday.

The decision was taken following requests from Ministers, MLAs and the general public that newer districts should be created out of bigger districts to facilitate better administration.

Accordingly, Tirunelveli would be bifurcated to create a new district with Tenkasi as the headquarters.

Similarly, Kancheepuram district would be bifurcated to create a new district. Chengalpet would be the new headquarters, the Chief Minister said while making a suo motu statement in the Assembly.

The new districts would have separate IAS officer as a special officer and other officers would be appointed to govern the district, he said.

With this, the number of districts in Tamil Nadu has increased to 35.

The previous occasion when a new district was created was in January 2019 when Kallakurichi was carved out of Villupuram district.

According to 2011 Census, Tenkasi municipality with 33 wards, has population of 70,545 of which 34,920 are males and 35,625 are females.

While Hindus constitute 62.26 per cent, Muslim comprise of 34.79 per cent and Christians constitute 2.79% of the population. Schedule Caste (SC) constitutes 14.16% while Schedule Tribe (ST) are 0.47% of total population in Tenkasi.

Tenkasi, an Assembly constituency, will have control over Sivagiri, Ambasamudram, Kadayanallur, and Sengottai taluks.

Actor and Samathuva Makkal Katchi leader R. Sarathkumar who took to Twitter expressed that his long-standing appeal has been finally answered.

“New districts Tenkasi & Chengelput announced today. Developmental projects will reach the deserving public faster and more effectively. I am personally happy as Tenkasi has been in my appeals to the former CM & the present CM for a long time, [sic]” he tweeted.

Chengalpet, also a municipality, has a population of 62,569 (30,982 are males while 31,597 are females) and has 33 wards.

Hindus account for 85.33, while Muslim comprise of 6.09% and Christians: 6.48 % of the population.

SC constitute 15.55% while ST populace account for 1.44% of total population in Chengalpet.