New districts turn a new chapter

Hyderabad: No one in his/her wildest dreams would have imagined that one day smaller towns like Sircilla, Bhupalpally etc would become districts. Thanks to the administrative reform brought in by the State that catapulted the governance to new levels, this despite the establishments are still bereft of adequate manpower and infrastructure even after the turn of a year.

While some Opposition leaders equated smaller districts idea as an act of Muhammad-bin Tughlaq, the others launched a broadside against Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao accusing him of carving out districts to give undue advantage to his party leaders dismantling the base of their opposite numbers. Whatever the agenda may be, the truth is that the administration is able to reach every nook and corner of its command area, a key component in dispensing good governance.

Since the formation of new districts exactly this day last year, the collectors have been in total command of what really was happening in their region. Hitherto it was virtually impossible for a collector to travel farthest corners of his districts to reach out the people and return to headquarters where they had to attend ‘N number’ of meetings a routine in the administration.

Take the case of erstwhile district of Adilabad, very rarely collector or higher officials used to visit Vemanapally mandal which is 225 kilometers east of headquarters. Moreover, always there was a conception among the people of eastern part of the district that administration never seriously focused on the development of their region. With the formation of Mancherial and Asifabad districts, the administration has come to the doorsteps of the people living in the eastern part.

Speaking to The Hans India, Mancherial collector RV Karnan said: “Since the formation of the new district, people started to believe that there was someone to listen to their grievances. Besides giving impetus on healthcare, the administration is able to focus on issues related to land, revenue and others.”

The formation of new districts majorly benefitted towns like Sircilla, the smallest of all the districts, and the nondescript coal town Bhupalpally. The other windfall of the split is that realty business has picked up leaps and bounds in medium and smaller towns.

Sircilla collector Krishna Bhaskar said: “After facing initial hiccups such as infra and staff crunch, the administration is now able to dispense speedy and good governance.”

Warangal Urban collector Amrapali Kata said: “The administration has come close to people. It allows me to make a round of all 11 mandals within no time. As a result, the level of governance has gone up.”

On the flip side, there was discontent among the employees as they are still dispensing duties under ‘order to serve’. “With the ‘order to serve’ still in force even after one year of the formation of new districts, there is a decrease in the HRA from 20 per cent to 12 percent. This apart, we are also a confused lot as the Central Government is yet to accept the formation of new districts,” a senior class one official said.