India's youngest state, Telangana, now has 33 districts as two new districts; Narayanpet and Mulugu, became functional from Sunday. This, after the state government appointed a Collector and Superintendent of Police for both revenue districts along with other officials in the administration on Saturday.
Mahabubnagar Collector Ronald Rose and Superintendent of Police Rema Rajeshwari have been given additional charge of Narayanpet district, while Jayshankar Bhupalapally District Collector Vasam Venkateshwarlu and Superintendent of Police R Bhaskaran will be overseeing affairs in Mulugu district.
In December, days after he took over the reins of the state for a second term, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had spoken to Principal Secretary (Revenue) Rajeshwar Tiwari and asked him to take necessary steps for the formation of the new districts.
In an official release at the time, the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said that KCR also asked officials to initiate the process of formation of a new revenue division at Korutla and Ghattuppal mandal in Nalgonda District. The CM also said that Mallampally mandal in Bhupalapally District should be formed besides suggesting that the existing Gundala Mandal in Jangoan district be merged into Yadadri Bhuvangiri District. In Bhanswada constituency, KCR suggested that Chanduru and Mosra divisions should be carved out, besides Ingurthy in Mahabubabad constituency.
With the formation of the two new districts, Telangana's total count will go up to 33, from the 31 districts at present. KCR had promised to create the districts of Mulugu and Narayanpet while addressing campaign rallies in the state, ahead of the polls held on December 7. The CM had said that the process would be completed within three months of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) coming to power.
Telangana was formed in 2014 with 10 districts. In 2016, the TRS government decided to split it into 31 districts, with KCR saying that it would enable better governance. While only 17 districts were planned initially, massive public protests broke out and the state government decided to increase the number of new districts to 21.
The new districts carved out were Siddipet, Jayashankar Bhupalapally, Jangaon, Jagtial, Yadadri Bhuvanagiri, Warangal, Pedapally, Sangareddy, Kamareddy, Mancherial, Bhadradri Kothagudem, Vikarabad, Rajanna-Sircilla, Asifabad, Suryapet, Wanaparthy, Nirmal, Mahabubabad, Nagarkurnool, Jogulamba Gadwal and Malkajgiri.