AP Govt inaugurates 13 New Districts: Know Why They have been created and what will be its impact?

26 districts of Andhra Pradesh: The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh YS Jagan Mohan Reddy inaugurated the 13 new districts of Andhra Pradesh on April 4, 2022. Andhra Pradesh now has 26 districts, double the earlier number of 13. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister has always maintained that the state should have more districts. He had even promised the creation of new districts before the Assembly election in 2019 if YSRCP came to power. The southern state has 25 Lok Sabha Constituencies.

Read more to understand why the Andhra Pradesh government has created and inaugurated 13 new districts and what will be the impact.

Andhra Pradesh new districts names list 2022

AP govt creates 13 new districts: How the idea was originated?

The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh has long maintained his demand for the creation of new and smaller districts in Andhra Pradesh.

AP Governor, Biswabhushan Harichandan, in his Republic Day 2022 address had also referred to the proposal of new districts and had said that they may be created by the Telugu New Year in April's first week.

Soon afterward, Andhra Pradesh Government issued a draft notification under The Andhra Pradesh District Formation Act, 1974. It stated that the boundaries of existing districts will be redrawn to double the number of districts to 26.

AP new districts: Why 13 new districts have been created and what will be the impact?

Andhra Pradesh govt has created 13 new districts for the following reasons:

1. The decentralization and the smaller administrative units will bring better transparency, administration, and more smoother and effective delivery of welfare in Andhra Pradesh.

2. With the creation of 13 new districts in Andhra Pradesh, the number of people living in each district has been brought down to 19.07 lakh. Earlier, 38.15 lakh people were living in 13 districts. It will further facilitate better administration and complete focus on each district.

3. The roles and responsibilities of collectors have also widened from merely collecting revenues to heading the delivery mechanism of the welfare schemes.

4. Along with the outreach to people, the focus of all the 26 district collectors will be now on meeting the sustainable development goals (SDGs). It will help in bringing the administration closer to the people.

Why AP Govt has been facing criticism?

After the inauguration of 13 new districts in Andhra Pradesh, the NGOs, Human and Civil Rights Activists, as well as other organisations, have argued that there are issues around the way the AP Government has gone about implementing it.

As per the Human Rights Forum, the division of the districts must be carried out after meaningful and wide-ranging public discussion, however, there has been none of these. The new boundaries will also put considerable distance between the district headquarters and several placed across the state.

There has also been an argument that the bifurcation of the areas with tribal populations in Andhra Pradesh is a violation of tribal rights.