Demand for 25 districts in AP

By SNV Sudhir

Visakhapatnam, May 28, 2014:  As the appointed day of Telangana state is nearing, several groups are demanding reorganization of districts in the successor state of Andhra Pradesh state for administrative convenience. 

For implementation of any development or welfare programmes of either Central or State government, as the area of the present districts is large, overseeing these programmes by the respective collectors is becoming extremely difficult.

There is a demand to make a parliamentary constituency with 7 Assembly segments area, into one district, which will be an ideal unit for better administration and for co-ordination with the peoples’ representatives. Currently Seemandhra has 13 districts- 9 in coastal Andhra region 4 in Rayalaseema.  Now there is a demand to reorganize these 13 into 25 districts.

In some cases one parliamentary constituency is spread over two or three districts, coordination with MP and MLAs has also become increasingly difficult. For instance, area coming under Araku Parliament constituency is spread in Vizag, Vizianagaram, Srikakulam and East Godavari districts.  

There is a situation where one MP has to attend three district Zilla Parishad meetings which is very difficult. At present, there are more number of districts than the number of parliamentary constituencies in the states such as Odisha, Karnataka and Kerala.

“As such, the divided Andhra Pradesh should have 25 districts with the area of jurisdiction coinciding with one parliamentary constituency and 7 assembly segments which will help in effective implementation of government programmes. Neighbouring Odisha has 21 lok sabha segments  30 revenue districts and Karnataka has 28 lok sabha seats and 30 districts,” Vizag MP, Kambhampati Haribabu told this correspondent.

Haribabu added that he had already explained the concept to the chief minister in the waiting N Chandrababu Naidu when he met him at Delhi recently. The local MP added that he would take up the issue as and when the new state government is formed.

He also said that decentralised development across Seemandhra region should be planned when the decision on new capital is to be taken in view of the difficult situation arised due to the concentrated development in and around Hyderabad.  

Administrative structure such as legislative assembly, secretariat, ministers and legislators quarters can be at the place of political capital and High Court can be at another city or region. While secretaries of the different departments stay at capital, all other different Heads of Departments can be located at different places. For example, the head quarters for endowment can be at Tirupathi, fisheries at Kakinada, agriculture at Anantapur, and ports at Visakhapatnam.