A district of an Indian state is an administrative geographical unit, headed by a district magistrate or a deputy commissioner, an officer belonging to the Indian Administrative Service. The district magistrate or the deputy commissioner is assisted by a number of officials belonging to different wings of the administrative services of the state.
A superintendent of police, an officer belonging to Indian Police Service, is entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining law and order and related issues.
The British province encompassed the central portion of the state, and was made up of three districts, Raipur, Bilaspur, and Durg, which made up the Chhattisgarh Division of the Central Provinces. In 1906, Durg District was created out of the western portion of Raipur District.[citation needed]
The northern portion of the state, comprising present-day Koriya, Surajpur, Surguja, Jashpur, and Raigarh districts, was divided among the six princely states of Chang Bhakar, Jashpur, Koriya, Surajpur, Raigarh, Surguja, and Udaipur. To the west, the states of Nandgaon, Khairagarh, Chhuikhadan and Kawardha comprised parts of present-day Rajnandgaon and Kawardha districts. In the south, the state of Kanker comprised the northern portion of present-day Kanker District, and the state of Bastar included present-day Bastar and Dantewada districts and the southern part of Kanker District.[citation needed]
1947-1999: Post-independence of India
After Indian Independence, the princely states were merged with the Central Provinces and Berar to form the new state of Madhya Pradesh. Present-day Chhattisgarh comprised seven districts of Madhya Pradesh. The former states of Kanker and Bastar formed the new Bastar District, the parts of Surguja, Korea, and Chang Bhakar formed the new Surguja District, and the states of Nandgaon, Khairagarh, Chhuikhadan and Kawardha formed the new Rajnandgaon District.[citation needed]
In 1998, the seven districts that make up present-day Chhattisgarh were reorganized to form 16 districts. Dantewada and Kanker districts were split from Bastar; Dhamtari District was split from Raipur; Janjgir-Champa and Korba districts were split from Bilaspur; Jashpur District was split from Raigarh; Kawardha District was formed from parts of Bilaspur and Rajnandgaon; Koriya and Surajpur District was split from Surguja; and Mahasamund District was split from Raipur.[citation needed]
2000: Chattisgarh as new state
On 1st November 2000, these 16 districts were split from Madhya Pradesh to form the new state of Chhattisgarh.[2]
2007 onwards: growth in number of districts
On 11 May 2007, two new districts, Bijapur and Narayanpur were carved out, taking the total number of districts to 18.[1]
On 1st January 2012, the Chhattisgarh government announced 9 new districts, for a total of 27,[3] including newly created Sukma, Kondagaon, Balod, Bemetara, Baloda Bazar, Gariaband, Mungeli, Surajpur and Balrampur districts.[4]
On 15th August 2019, the Chhattisgarh chief minister announced the creation of Chhattisgarh's 28th district, Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi,[3] which was formally inaugurated on 10 February 2020 as the new district.[5]
In September 2022, five new districts were inaugurated taking the total to 33 districts, including newly created Manpur-Mohla on 2 September, Sarangarh-Bilaigarh on 3 September, and Manendragarh and Sakti districts on 9 September,[6] Khairagarh-Chhuikhadan-Gandai on 3 September 2022[7]
Regions and divisions
Chattisgarh has 3 geographical regions:
North - Northern Hills Region: covered by Surguja division (HQ at Ambikapur).
Centre - Chhattisgarh Plains: covered by Durg, Raipur, Bilaspur divisions (each with eponymous HQ city).
South - Bastar Plateau: covered by Bastar division (HQ at Jagdalpur).
To bring the development for the least developed and to counter the LWE (left-wing extremism by Naxalite–Maoist insurgency) in the light of continuous surrender of Naxalites in South Chattisgarh and the ongoing anti-Naxal operations highlight the need for a stronger administrative presence and development in the Bastar division districts (Bijapur, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Sukma) to achieve government's stated goal of eliminating Maoism and make Bastar an industrial and tourism hub through development and peace. This requires shifting the Bastar division HQ closer to the core LWE areas and creating a new division and district HQ in "core insurgency areas" like Puwarti which directly align with the strategy of proactive governance and development-led counter-insurgency.
The creation of new districts like Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki was explicitly aimed at tackling insurgency and providing new opportunities for development in health, education, and connectivity in the region (Source 6.3). This supports the rationale for creating districts like Kothitola or Badna-Kukdur.
Raipur State Capital Region
There is a demand to officially create the Raipur State Capital Region (SCR), encompassing Raipur, Nava Raipur, Bhilai, and Durg, wih a unified regional development authority.[17]
Demand for new regional capitals
The proposal to create new regional capitals aims to decentralize power and spur regional growth, which is a common administrative reform objective.
Proposed new regional capitals, centrally located within the region, are:
Ambikapur for north Chattisgarh: a major city and centrally located divisional HQ.
Bilaspur for north-central Chattisgarh: a major city and centrally located divisional HQ.
Benoor for uppper-south Chattisgarh: centrally located.
Puwarti for lower-south Chattisgarh: centrally located, also a proposed district and divisional HQ, lies in the core Naxal area.
Demand for new divisions
Rajnandgaon division (relocate from Bhilai HQ): move the Bhilai divisional HQ to the under-developed aspirational HQ Rajnandgaon for equidistant efficiency. Besides, Bhilai is ery close to the state capital and also part of the SCR.
Divide Bastar division:
Bijapur division (create new division from Bastar division) with HQ at either Bijapur or new district Puwarti.
Benoor division (relocate Bastar division HQ to from Jagdalpur) to a more central location and closer to the Naxal problem, i.e. either Benoor, Kondagaon or Narayanpur.
Demand for new districts
The list comprises potential new districts, many of which are historically remote or Naxal-affected LWE areas, aligning with the state's ongoing policy of creating smaller districts for improved governance and development.
North Chhattisgarh
This region corresponds to the Surguja Division, which is in the northern part of the state.
Bharatpur (Bharatpur-Kuari-Janakpur-cluster, from Manendragarh-Chirmiri-Bharatpur): Located on SH8 near the remote MP border. Note: Bharatpur is already a subdivision of the recently created Manendragarh-Chirmiri-Bharatpur district.
Sanawal (from Balrampur-Ramanujganj): 75km away from district HQ, in the remote border area (on Renukoot-Bagharu-Sanawal-Ramjunganj Road).
Kusmi (from Balrampur): Half-way or 75 km in remote hilly area between Balrampur-Jashpur Nagar (140km).
North-Central Chhattisgarh
This region encompasses the northern and eastern parts of the Bilaspur Division.
Dharamjaigarh (from Raigarh, Jashpur, Ambikapur, etc.): 90-100 km from surrounding district centers. The area is a focus point for tribal rights and mining protests, currently a block in Raigarh district.[18]
Chotiya-Parla (central location among nearby districts): Likely from Korba/Janjgir-Champa area.
East-Central Chhattisgarh
This region covers the eastern edge of the Raipur Division and the southern Bilaspur Division.
Saraipalli (from Mahasamund): 90-100 km from Raigarh and Champa. A major Tehsil in Mahasamund district.
Pithora (from Dhamtari, Mahasamand): 90-100 km from Dhamtari, Mahasamand, and 60 km from Saraipali. A major Tehsil in Mahasamund district. Proposed to be carved out from Mahasamund district, a demand for a separate administrative unit has been raised by local public representatives and political parties.[19]
West-Central Chhattisgarh
This region covers the Durg and Raipur Divisions on the western side, often bordering Madhya Pradesh (MP).
Kothitola (from Rajnandgaon): Proposed to bring development to remotest Naxal areas and immediately develop the Pendrideed-Kothitola-Sakhritola Highway.
Badna-Kukdur (from Kabirdham): Proposed to bring development to Naxal areas and develop the Kukdur-Badna-Motinala Highway.
Gudru-Semara (Gudru HQ on river bank): Remote Naxal area. Bhatapara, for which demand exists for making a separate district headquarters or administrative entity,[20] will be better suited to become a subdivision of Gudru-Semara-Bhatapara with Gudru as district HQ for the district and Bhatapara as subdivisional HQ to better serves the bigger purpose of holistic development of remotest aspirant and LWE areas.
South Chhattisgarh
This region covers the entire Bastar Division, which is heavily LWE-affected.
Kakreli (from Bijapur): Proposed for administrative ease in a remote area. Amdikanda of Narayanpur for which demands have been raised for carving out a new district to improve accessibility to services,[21] would be ideal to become subdivision of Kakreli as Kakreli is better serves the bigger purpose of holistic development of remotest aspirant and LWE areas.
Pakhanjur (from Narayanpur-Mohla): Major town/Nagar Panchayat in the northern Bastar region, currently in Kanker district.
Bhanupartappur (from Kanker): Located on SH6 (State Highway 6) in a Naxal-affected area. Already a major administrative block/Vidhan Sabha constituency (Source 10.1, 10.2).
Bhopalpatnam (from Bijapur): Located at the tri-state border. Proposed for a joint development effort with Bhadrakali (Chhattisgarh), Somnoor Navin (Maharashtra), and Palmala (Telangana), with 33% cost share by all three states.
Puwarti (from Bijapur-Sukma): Located in the core Naxal area, split from two of the most LWE-affected districts (Source 2.1).
Konta (from Sukma): Major Tehsil in the core LWE zone of Sukma district (Source 1.2).
↑ "Dharamjaigarh district creation proposal under consideration", Patrika, 2024-03-15. Accessed 2024-11-08.
↑ "Pithora demands district status: CM Baghel's promise lingers", Times of India, 2023-11-20. Accessed 2024-11-08.
↑ "Demand for separate district for Bhatapara: Local MLA leads agitation", Dainik Bhaskar, 2023-12-05. Accessed 2024-11-08.
↑ "Tribal body urges CM to carve out Amdikanda district from Narayanpur", The New Indian Express, 2023-09-08. Accessed 2024-11-08.
Further reading
Alanga, Sanjaya (2011). छत्तीसगढ़ की पूर्व रियासतें और जमीन्दारियाँ[The former princely states of Chhattisgarh and Jmindariya] (in Hindi). Raipur: Vaibhav Prakashan. ISBN978-81-89244-96-5.
Alanga, Sanjaya (2011). Chattīsagaṛha kī janajātiyām̐ aura jātiyām̐[Tribes and castes of Chhattīsgarh] (in Hindi). Delhi: Mansi Publication. ISBN978-81-89559-32-8.
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