Amaravati, Dec 29 The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet, on Monday, approved formation of two new districts, taking the total number of districts in the state to 28.
The Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu approved formation of Polavaram and Markapuram districts.
Polavaram district will have Rampachodavaram as its headquarters.
Briefing the media on the Cabinet decisions, state Revenue Minister Anagani Satya Prasad said that the Cabinet approved proposals for changes in 17 out of the total 26 districts.
A total of 25 changes were made in these 17 districts, Minister Satya Prasad added.
He said that there were no changes in the remaining nine districts -- Vizianagaram, Parvathipuram Manyam, Visakhapatnam, Eluru, NTR, Krishna, Guntur, Palnadu, and Anantapur.
These changes were made based on the requests received from the public after the gazette notification was issued on November 27, 2005, he added.
He said the decision to reorganise the districts was done as per the aspirations of the people.
Final notification will be issued immediately, and all the changes will come into effect from December 31, 2025.
There were some emotional moments during the Cabinet meet over the contentious issue of shifting Annamayya district headquarters from Rayachoti.
Transport Minister Mandipalli Ramprasad Reddy, who represents Rayachoti Assembly constituency, reportedly broke down after the Cabinet approved the proposal to make Madanapalle the headquarters of Annamayya district.
Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu intervened immediately to console the Minister and explained the technical and administrative challenges involved in retaining Rayachoti as the district headquarters.
The Chief Minister said that the reorganisation was necessary due to "unavoidable circumstances and in the larger public interest".
He added it was not viable to create a district around a single Assembly constituency.
He reassured Minister Ramprasad Reddy that the state government would address all concerns relating to the town's future development.
Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu assured the Minister that the Rayachoti Assembly constituency would be developed as a major district-level growth centre.
As per the decisions taken by the state Cabinet, Rajampet will be integrated with Kadapa district while Railway Koduru will become part of Tirupati district.
Gudur will be transferred from Tirupati district back to Nellore district.
Five new revenue divisions were also approved by the Cabinet.
After bifurcation in 2014, the truncated Andhra Pradesh was left with only 13 districts. The previous YSRCP government doubled that number to 26 in 2022.
The current Telugu Desam Party-led state government had promised during last year's election that districts would be reorganised and new revenue divisions would be formed to correct the unscientific formation of new districts during the previous YSRCP government.
Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu had said that the ill-conceived decision of the previous YSRCP government on the formation of new districts caused regional differences, as it had not taken into account the aspirations of the people.
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