The Hindu 30.07.2009

Reorganisation of urban mandals in offing

Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD: Revenue Minister Dharmana Prasada Rao said the State government has decided to reorganise mandals in urban areas and appoint additional Joint Collectors in districts as part of steps to streamline Revenue administration.

He informed the Legislative Council during question hour on Wednesday that Collectors were given guidelines to carve out new mandals in urban areas on the basis of population. In municipalities with a population of more than one lakh, it was proposed to have one new urban mandal by bifurcating the rural and urban areas. It meant that the existing mandal became the rural mandal and a new urban mandal was created.

One new urban mandal would be created by bifurcating urban and rural areas in municipal corporations with population below three lakh. Two new urban mandals for each half of municipal corporation area would be created in municipal corporations with population between three and six lakh. One new urban mandal for every three lakh population would be created in municipal corporations like Greater Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada with population above six lakh, he added.

He maintained that the government felt the need to reorganise mandals in urban areas to ensure hassle free revenue services. The last two decades witnessed a heavy rural – urban shift of people which resulted in unequal distribution of workload in revenue offices. He felt no useful purpose would be served by increasing revenue divisions. It would only burden the government financially.