Hyderabad: There is a new move to `divide`
Andhra Pradesh.
It is, of course, not to carve out any new state but to
form new districts by splitting some of the existing 23
districts for "administrative convenience".
State Rural Development Minister Dokka Manikya Varaprasad
came up with the proposal of creating new districts as the
existing set up had become "too unwieldy".
The minister, in a proposal submitted to Chief Minister N
Kiran Kumar Reddy, suggested that at least seven to 10 new
districts need to be created in the state for administrative
convenience and effective delivery of welfare schemes.
Since creation of new districts is within the domain of
the state government, it is for the state Cabinet to take a
call on this, government sources said.
However, it is unlikely that the proposal to carve out new
districts will be accepted anytime soon by the government
given the hostile situation prevailing in the state, they
said.
It was way back in 1978 that Ranga Reddy district was
formed (the state`s 23rd district) out of Hyderabad and since
then no move was made to create any new district though there
have been demands from people of different regions, the
sources said.
"Some of the districts in AP are larger in size than some
smaller states in the country. This is causing many problems
for the administration as well as the people as the service
delivery mechanism is failing," a Cabinet minister told news agency.
Kurnool district in Rayalaseema region is spread over an
extent of 17,600 sq km; Kadapa 15,379 sq km and Chittoor
15,152 sq km.
In Andhra region, districts like Visakhapatnam and East
Godavari are spread over 11,161 sq km and 10,807 sq km
respectively.
In Telangana too the geographical area of some districts
is high with Warangal spread over 12,846 sq km and Karimnagar
11,823 sq km.
PTI
