K Chandrasekhar Rao hints at formation of more districts and mandals

HYDERABAD: Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Friday hinted at creation of some more districts and mandals in the state in the coming days. “The administrative reforms have not ended but will continue. There is a possibility in future for new districts and a couple of mandals,” he  said in the state legislative Assembly in reply to a short discussion on ‘Administrative reforms: Emergence of new establishments in the state”.  Rao said they had not bifurcated the Hyderabad district due to its global image.

“Except Hyderabad, Ranagareddy and Medchal, all other 28 districts have fewer than four lakh families. This will help the administration serve every family in order to eradicate poverty,” he  explained.

Admitting that there were demands for creation of Bhadrachalam, Narayanpet and some other districts, the chief minister said the  administrative reforms did not end and would continue. “The government is working out the modalities for paying house rent allowance (HRA) to government employees in the headquarters of new districts. 

“We urged the Centre to depute more number of all- India service (AIS) officers to the state.”
Referring to the demand of Congress member SA Sampath Kumar, the chief minister clarified that there was no need for the central government to publish in its gazette the names of the new districts of the state. “The Centre does not notify but only recognises new districts. We have sent the list of new districts to all the Union ministries. Even the Reserve Bank of India recognised the new districts and decided to set up 31 lead banks in all the districts,” he said. 

CM moots smaller LS constituencies
 The chief minister said that there was a need for delimitation of the Lok Sabha constituencies in the country. “The present number was fixed when the country’s population was 33 crore. The population now is 120 crore. One Lok Sabha member cannot serve a population of 40 lakh people. There is need for delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies. I am appealing to the Centre from this House to take up delimitation of the constituencies for an increase in the number of Lok Sabha seats,” he said while underscoring the need for smaller administrative units.

When some members wanted to know the status of zonal system in the wake of the reorganisation of districts, Rao said the zonal system continued to exist. “We will have a threadbare discussion during the current session of the Assembly. We will take suggestions from all the parties before arriving at a decision on how to implement the zonal system in the new state,” he added.

TS budget to touch `5 lakh crore in 2024
The state’s annual budget size will touch the `5 lakh crore mark by 2024 as the state is number one in the country in terms of economic growth. “Our economic strength is good. We will wipe out poverty with small administrative units,” chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said.
Bill on panchayat raj after team’s SA visit
“A new panchayat raj bill will be introduced in the Assembly after the team of officials submits its report after visiting South Africa. The officials are studying the Panchayat Raj Acts of all states including Kerala,” KCR said. As per sources, as many as seven officials will visit SA along with functionaries of some NGOs and submit a report to the government.