The Andhra Pradesh government’s decision to go for reorganisation of districts by adding 13 new ones, seems to have stirred up a hornet’s nest.
While the ruling YSR Congress Party justifies the move on the ground of decentralised administration as promised before polls, the opposition parties and civil society organisations see no justification behind the move to carve out new districts with Lok Sabha constituencies as basis for division as the delimitation of parliamentary constituencies is likely to be taken up by the Centre every decade or so. The move by the Jagan Mohan Reddy government is largely being seen as alleged diversionary tactics from the growing agitations over various burning issues, including the pay hike demanded by the State government employees.
The State government has opened a pandora’s box through the ‘unscientific’ trifurcation of the district by clubbing the Assembly segments of Chirala, Parchur and Addanki with Bapatla headquartered new district and by reuniting Kandukur revenue division with truncated SPSR Nellore district after formation of new ‘‘Balaji district’‘ and retaining a truncated Ongole district without enough resources, feels Ongole Citizens’ Forum president Madhu Kolla.
The government has always been receptive to suggestions. Conceding the demand of Ongolites, S.N. Padu Assembly segment has been retained with the Ongole headquartered district, explains YSRCP MLA T.J.R. Sudhakar Babu. The Jagan Mohan Reddy government had given a month's time to receive objections and suggestions before deciding on the contours of the new districts.
‘Better option’
The expansive Prakasam district, the 10th largest in the country with an area of 17,626 square km, formed in 1970 by bringing together the most backward parts of Kurnool, Nellore and Guntur districts for focussed development certainly needs to be bifurcated for better governance of underdeveloped western parts by forming a new one with Markapur as headquarters, opines TDP Ongole Lok Sabha unit president N. Balaji.
The Assembly segments of Giddalur, Yerragondapalem and Markapur can be better administered by forming a new district with Markapur as its headquarters, feels former Markapur MLA Kandula Narayana Reddy who leads Markapur District Sadana Samiti to spearhead a struggle for the cause. No purpose will be served by retaining far-flung areas like Yerragondapalem, Pullalacheruvu and, Dornala abutting the Nallamala forests with Ongole, which are about 150 km away from Ongole in the residuary Prakasam district and severing Kandukur, just 50 km away from the headquarters, and clubbing it with Nellore headquartered district, about 90 km away, remarks former Giddalur MLA M. Ashok Reddy.
Every nook and corner should be within 50 km radius from the district headquarters for better administration, opines Prakasam District Development Forum president Ch. Ranga Rao.
People in the Santamagalur region of the Addanki Assembly segment prefer to remain with the Ongole headquartered district instead of the new Bapatla district. If division is inevitable, the region should be clubbed with the new Palnadu district being carved out of the neighbouring Guntur district, feels former Addanki Agriculture Market Committee chairman N. Ramakrishna.
Retaining Kandukur in the Ongole headquartered district after retaining S.N. Padu with the residuary Prakasam district will make it unwieldy and hence the decision to reunite it with SPSR Nellore district after an indepth study of various socio-economic and cultural aspects, explains State Planning department Chief Executive Officer G.S.R.K.R. Vijaykumar, who has earlier served as Prakasam Collector.
However, Ongole Town Development Committee secretary Marella Subba Rao fears that Prakasam people will not benefit from port-led economic growth with Ramayapatnam clubbed with neighbouring Nellore district.
