A district of an Indian state is an administrative geographical unit, headed by adistrict magistrate or a deputy commissioner, an officer belonging to theIndian 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 toIndian 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, andDurg, which made up theChhattisgarh 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 ofNandgaon,Khairagarh,Chhuikhadan andKawardha 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 ofBastar included present-day Bastar and Dantewada districts and the southern part of Kanker District.[citation needed]
After Indian Independence, the princely states were merged with the Central Provinces and Berar to form the new state ofMadhya 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]
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]
To bring the development for the least developed and to counter the LWE (left-wing extremism byNaxalite–Maoist insurgency) in the light of continuous surrender of Naxalites in South Chhattisgarh 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.
There is a demand to officially create theRaipur State Capital Region (SCR), encompassing Raipur, Nava Raipur, Bhilai, and Durg, wih a unified regional development authority.[17]
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.
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.
This region corresponds to the Surguja Division, which is in the northern part of the state.
Bharatpur (Bharatpur-Kuari-Janakpur-cluster, fromManendragarh-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 (fromBalrampur-Ramanujganj): 75km away from district HQ, in the remote border area (on Renukoot-Bagharu-Sanawal-Ramjunganj Road).
Kusmi (fromBalrampur): Half-way or 75 km in remote hilly area between Balrampur-Jashpur Nagar (140km).
This region encompasses the northern and eastern parts of the Bilaspur Division.
Dharamjaigarh (fromRaigarh,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]
This region covers the eastern edge of the Raipur Division and the southern Bilaspur Division.
Saraipalli (fromMahasamund): 90-100 km from Raigarh and Champa. A major Tehsil in Mahasamund district.
Pithora (fromDhamtari, 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]
This region covers the Durg and Raipur Divisions on the western side, often bordering Madhya Pradesh (MP).
Kothitola (fromRajnandgaon): Proposed to bring development to remotest Naxal areas and immediately develop the Pendrideed-Kothitola-Sakhritola Highway.
Badna-Kukdur (fromKabirdham): 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.
This region covers the entire Bastar Division, which is heavily LWE-affected.
Kakreli (fromBijapur): 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 (fromNarayanpur-Mohla): Major town/Nagar Panchayat in the northern Bastar region, currently in Kanker district.
Bhanupartappur (fromKanker): 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 (fromBijapur): 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 (fromBijapur-Sukma): Located in the core Naxal area, split from two of the most LWE-affected districts (Source 2.1).
Konta (fromSukma): Major Tehsil in the core LWE zone of Sukma district (Source 1.2).
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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