Divide and Rule

Come Ugadi, the Telugu New Year on April 2, and Andhra Pradesh will double its number of districts to 26. The move is in keeping with Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s 2019 assembly election promise to improve governance. The advantages, the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) government claims, are plenty. For one, the reorganisation will bring district headquarters closer to the average citizen, except perhaps in the proposed Araku district. More districts also mean a greater share of Union government funds from programmes that take the district as a unit. “The reorganisation of districts is based on geographical boundaries and demographics and is not merely on the basis of parliamentary and assembly constituencies,” says G.S.R.K.R. Vijaya Kumar, planning secretary, Andhra Pradesh.

-  Amarnath K. Menon

To improve governance, the Jagan Reddy government has already launched the village and ward secretariat system—one for every 2,000 people—which tracks welfare schemes and delivers 545-odd government services. “There is no other instance of village self-government [in the country]. Four million people are constantly working to extend government services,” the chief minister said on January 27, at the launch of the updated AP Seva Portal, a digital platform to redress public grievances.