Cabinet sub-committee concludes consultation on dist reorganisation

HYDERABAD: A cabinet sub-committee on formation of new districts concluded three-day consultation with the representatives of people from the existing ten districts on Sunday. Deputy chief minister and the sub-committee member Kadiyam Srihari said the panel would submit its report to the government shortly, following which chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao would convene an all-party meeting on the subject. On

Sunday, the cabinet sub-committee met the MLAs and MLCs from Mahbubnagar, Warangal, and Nalgonda districts and took their views on the proposed district reorganization. "The cabinet sub-committee completed the consultation process where we took the views of legislators from all existing districts. The report is ready and we will submit it to the chief minister, who will convene an all-party meeting. Schedule of the meeting will be announced shortly," Kadiyam Srihari told reporters after the meeting which was held at Dr Marri Channa Reddy Human Resources Development Institute. Indicating a rough road ahead for the government in creating the new districts, leaders from across the party lines dissented the government's proposed model.

For instance, the government has proposed to trifurcate Mahbunagar and carve out three new districts, namely, Mahbubnagar, Nagarkarnool, and Vanaparthy. However, a section of Congress leaders from Mahbubnagar demanded that Gadwal must be made a district.

"Nagarkarnool and Vanaparthy are just 20 km away from each other and it does not make sense to make them two districts. Gadwal with all infrastructure is suitable to be a district headquarter," said senior Congress leader and Gadwal MLA, D K Aruna.

The TDP working president and Kodangal MLA, A Revanth Reddy alleged that the government had no clarity over its plan for formation of new districts. "We are seeking clarity on the government's plan. They have not prepared guidelines for the division of districts and the cabinet sub-committee could not answer our questions," said Revanth Reddy.

In the case of Warangal, the government is proposing to divide the district into three including Warangal, Mahbubabad, and Bhoopalapally. However, the popular demand is for Janagaon. Senior Congress leader and former MLA from Janagaon Ponnala Lakshmaiah said people of his constituency were agitating for the status of district and the fight would be aggressive if the government deny their demand.

In Nalgonda, the government has proposed to create three new districts including Nalgonda, Yadadri, and Suryapet. However, the Telangana Congress president N Uttam Kumar Reddy, who represents Uzurnagar assembly constituency in Nalgonda district, said the government's proposal was impractical. He pointed out that the assembly constituency Nakrekal would fall into two districts Suryapet and Nalgonda, if the government's plan is to be followed, which according to him is not advisable.