Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s government on Tuesday redrew the map of Telangana state by adding 21 new districts.
With this move, Telangana, the 29th state of India, will have a total of 31 districts in place of the original ten.
Coinciding with Dussehra, the Hindu festival, all the new districts became functional from Tuesday.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao formally inaugurated the new district of Siddipet in his hometown, which was carved out of Medak at the auspicious time of 11.13am.
Addressing a public meeting KCR said he was happy that, in one stroke, the administration all over the state had now gone to the doorsteps of the people.
“The smaller districts will enable the administration to work more effectively to serve the people”, he said describing it as an “unforgettable day”.
KCR announced a slew of development plans to develop Siddipet, 100km away from Hyderabad in to a an attractive and big city. He announced an assistance of Rs1 billion (Dh55 million) for the development projects and promised a medical college and a university in the proposed city.
Earlier the chief minister inaugurated the new district collectorate building in the presence of ministers, including major irrigation minister T. Harish Rao and top officials by unfurling the national flag and performing religious rituals. Later he reached Ambedkar Cross Roads in a big rally.
He reminded the people of Siddipet that he was their own child. “I am your son, nourished and brought up by you. I could achieve Telangana state due to your blessings”, he said. “You had sent me to achieve Telangana and I have done it”.
Other ministers inaugurated the new districts at different places. KCR’s son and a key minister K. Taraka Rama Rao inaugurated the neighbouring Siricilla district carved out of Karimnagar. Siricilla has the distinction of being the smallest district with only 13 mandalas or blocks.
“Formation of the smaller districts will make faster development of the state possible”, he said.
Speaker S. Madhusudhana Chary and chairman of the state legislative council K. Swamy Goud inaugurated the Jayashankar and Janagaon districts respectively. The deputy Chief Minister Kadiyam Srihari inaugurated the Warangal rural district. All the three were carved out of Warangal district.
Elsewhere, Deputy Chief Minister Mahmoud Ali inaugurated Jagtiyal district carved out of Karimnagar. Except the state capital Hyderabad, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti government has divided all the 9 districts, each being divided into three-to-five districts.
The state cabinet had put its stamp of approval on the list of new districts and the redrawn map at a special meeting.
It also cleared the appointment of the new district collectors, district superintendents of police, district education officers and district medical and health officers for all the new districts. Nearly 20,000 employees from various departments have also been allocated to these districts by issuing “order to serve”.
Telangana, the newest state of India, was formed on June 2, 2014 with the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh state. While 10 districts including capital Hyderabad had gone to Telangana, residuary state of Andhra Pradesh had got 13 districts.
List of districts
After redrawing the map of Telangana, the 31 districts include Adilabad, Asifabad (Komaram Bheem), Nirmal, Mancherial, Nizamabad, Kamareddy, Karimnagar, Peddapally, Jagtiyal, Siricilla (Rajanna), Medak, Sangareddy, Siddipet, Warangal (Urban), Warangal (rural), Mahabubabad, Bhupalapaly (Jayashankar (, Janagaon, Khammam, Kottagudem (Bhadradari), Nalgonda, Suryapet, Yadadri, Ranga Reddy, Viqarabad, Medchal (Malkajgiri), Mahabubnagar, Nagarkurnool, Jogulamba (Gadwal), Wanaparthy and Hyderabad.