Sambalpur: Question Arises !! How many districts in Odisha by 2023?
Sambalpur: By the end of 2023, Padmapur subdivision of Bargarh district will be recognized as a separate district. Chief Minister Naveen Pattnaik made such a promise to the people of Padamapur first through a press release and then directly in the election meeting. Even after winning the referendum, he reiterated that all promises will be fulfilled. In other words, by December 2023 or within another year, Padmapur must be a district. But now the biggest question is whether only Padmapur will be a new district or many more eligible subdivisions claiming for the district will get this recognition. Because it is unacceptable that the government will make Padmapur a district just because of electoral promises and ignore the bigger and more deserving regions from geographical, political, administrative and economic point of view. Because in this case, the government will lose its credibility with the people of the said region and the ruling party may have to pay a heavy price in the 2024 general elections. Therefore, without making such a mistake, the government will start planning for the reorganization of districts across the state, there is no doubt.
According to the information obtained from the official data, there have been demands for the formation of about 15 new districts in the state at different times before the Padmapur by-election and the district assembly. After the talk of becoming Padmapur district, some other new areas have also joined the district race. As a result, the number of claimants has increased. During the reorganization of districts in 1993, it is natural to demand for a separate district in those districts which were not geographically divided. In terms of size and population, the demand of dividing Mayurbhanj, which is one of the largest in the state with 26 blocks, and forming a separate Rairangpur district is justified and reasonable in all respects. Similarly, there are long-standing demands for dividing Keonjhar into a separate Anandpur district, Sundergarh into a tribal-dominated Bannai district and a separate Rourkela district. Besides, even after the separation of Gajapati district in 1993, the remaining Ganjam district remains the largest district in Odisha in terms of population. The demand to divide Ganjam and form separate Brahmapur district and Ghumusar district is very old. Similarly, Balangi in West Odisha was a large district, while Titilagarh has been demanding and agitating for special district status for a long time. This claim is also justified from the geographical and economic point of view. Apart from this, the capital Bhubaneswar has been separated from Khordha and given the status of a separate district, and Talcher, which is rich in minerals, has been separated from Angul.
Apart from this, demands are being raised in the respective areas to divide the industrially rich Jajpur into a separate Chandikhole district, Baleswar into New Jaleshwar district, Gunupur district from Raigarh, Dharmagarh district from Kalahandi and Kuchinda district from Sambalpur. Apart from Titilagarh, there is a demand to give separate district status to Kantabanji in Balangir. In many places, action committees have been formed for this and agitations, protest of ideas etc. are going on. If the government accepts these demands, the number of Odisha districts can increase from 30 to 45 in 30 years. According to the RTI information obtained by the RTI officer of Kabisuryanagar, Ganjam district, B. Shankar Pange has been officially admitted in connection with the claims for 15 new districts in different areas.
