The Congress government has decided to form a judicial commission headed by a retired Supreme Court or High Court judge to reassess the district and mandal reorganisation done during the BRS regime. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy Monday announced that the commission will gather inputs from the people and make recommendations, followed by a detailed discussion in the state Legislative Assembly as well. Currently, the state has 33 districts following a reorganisation exercise undertaken by the then chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.
Speaking at the release of the new calendar and diary of the state’s gazetted officers, the Chief Minister said, “In the past, districts and mandals were divided according to their whims and fancies. The Telangana government will appoint a commission headed by a retired High Court or Supreme Court judge for district and mandal reorganisation.” He added that the government has received several representations about the reorganisation exercise of mandals, districts and revenue divisions done in the past. “Justice will not be done if we take decisions just on the basis of political considerations,” said Reddy.
He said that the commission will tour the state, seeking suggestions from the public, and submit its report within six months. Finally, there will be a discussion with all political parties in the Legislative Assembly during the Budget session. He also urged the people not to believe in any rumours about any district or mandal reorganisation. Reddy pointed out that they have already redrawn the boundaries of the police commissionerates in the greater Hyderabad region recently.
At the time of the formation of Telangana, there were ten districts along with Hyderabad. However, during the BRS regime, the number of districts was increased to 33. At present, there are 74 revenue divisions and 612 mandals in the state. However, according to Congress, the entire exercise was done unscientifically, without following any rationale and in some cases, the decisions were even made politically. Some mandals were divided under two constituencies, while some constituencies were spread over three districts, causing administrative complications at the ground level. However, the BRS is unhappy with the government’s decision to relook at the reorganisation of districts and mandals.