Irrational reorganizations of District Administrative Units done in 1979/2007 need be undone in 2024

Daya Sagar

It has to be kept in focus that Rajouri and Poonch are two Districts in Jammu Region of Indian State of Jammu & Kashmir that have a reasonably large part of Indo-Pak LOC as it exists in two regions of UT of Jammu and Kashmir. And to add to all that ‘they’ have been victim of regular LOC disturbances as well as infiltration attempts from the across the LOC. The areas of these two districts have lesser geographical compactness, have comparatively bad terrain & lesser facilities of communication.
Education, agriculture, horticulture, tourism and local crafts of the people there too have not received the needed attention from the governments and in addition they have been victim of displacements due to disturbances engineered from across the LOC as well as attempts made by ‘separatist’ from across the valley for cultivating their ideologies through emotional exploitation. So, under the circumstances J&K cannot afford to see more of civic disturbances / agitations and that too also outside Kashmir Valley. The large commercial tourism potential there too has remained unexploited more so because the demands for seeking required attention have remained feeble since the common people there have not been politically and administratively empowered duly. People there have lived & are still living in educational as well as administrative backwardness even after 7 decades of Independence.
No doubt present Government / leadership in Delhi has since day one expressed strong commitment towards mission peace & stability in J&K for ensuring equitable development of all regions/ sub regions of J&K including meeting any shortfalls anywhere by pumping in additional material / human resources.
To quote , in 2017 /18 the people of Nowshera, Sunderbani, Kalakote held demonstrations /candle marches demanding atleast one more new District Administrative Unit for them by reorganizing the existing revenue district of Rajouri and adjoining areas. Some locals in their eighties had offered to lead a hunger strike in case the district status was not granted to Nowshera. Any how the demands then did not receive adequate attention and support from the political parties. People still have hopes.

In the interest of ‘preserving’ peace and stability in J&K the agitations like the one that had been started in Rajouri District for carving out atleast one more district out of the erstwhile ( as exited before 2014 reorganisation) Tehsils of Surankote, Nowshera, Kalakote , Rajouri, Kotranka/Budhal, Thanamandi and Darhal must not be allowed to seed again since there is all justification in making atleast two districts out of present Rajouri District that in 2006 itself already had 7 Tehsils spread over 2630 sq Km area (Digest of statistics 2007-2008 mentions it as 2727 Sq. km ) but instead of bifurcating a district like Rajouri a new district of Shopian was made in Kashmir Valley in 2006 with just one Tehsil and a meager area of 312 sq km as per 2011 Census ( Digest of statistics 2007-2008 mentions it as 313 Sq. km and District website on 16 Jan 2024 mentions it as 612.87 sq.km).The present Union Government holding reins both in Center as well as in UT should have applied corrections immediately after 2018,any how still it is high time to do so .
After the irrational reorganization of district administrative units was once again done in 2006 (Congress – PDP Government SRO 185 of 22 May 2007 ) by Ghulam Nabi Azad ( when through reorganization districts in Jammu Division were increased from 6 to 10 as against 9 recommended by Wazir Commission in 1984 and districts in Kashmir Division were also increased to from 6 to 10 as against only 7 recommended by Wazir Commission in 1984) and to some extent in view of creation of new Tehsils in 2014 by the BJP-PDP Government some more demands for new district status from areas like Akhnoor, R. S. Pura, Bani, Basohli, Billawar, Ramnagar and like have started mushrooming. Earlier in 1979 Sheikh Mohd Abdullah lead Government had divided the 3 Valley districts of Baramulla, Anantnag, Srinagar, in Valley to make 6 districts there (SRO 306 of 6/6/1979 Baramulla, Kupwara, Anantnag, Pulwama, Srinagar, Badgam) but the already existing 6 districts of Jammu, Kathua,Udhampur,Doda, Rajuri and Poonch outside in Jammu Division were not split further.
The ground realities do justify for acceptance of demands being raised by some people like that of Rajouri district could be well sensed from a brief information as contained in Table – A.
It is true that creating ‘tiny’ districts like Shopian would be of no much meaning a purpose than that of simply creating posts DDCs and ADCs where as administration could still be brought more near to the people only by providing more tehsils/ niabats/ patwars where ever needed. But no doubt demands for more district administrative units would still be coming quoting Shopian like district but since wrongs as repeated in 2006 cannot be reversed so wisdom lies in accepting genuine demands like that came from some people of Rajouri district since government can only defer the decision for accepting such demand but cannot logically turn it down. As already suggested , without waiting for more agitations , it will be wise to immediately appoint a high power Reorganisation Commission (with private members also) for recasting some more district administrative units so as to correct the wrongs done over as opined by the people of the backward areas like that of Bani/Basoli/ Billawar, Nowshera/ Sunderbani/ Kalakote, Akhnoor ; Rajouri, Buddal/Mendar; Mohore/Gool, Ramnagar; Bhaderwah / Thathri/ Gandoh, Gulabgarh/Paddar, Hiranagar, R.S.Pura; Ramban, Kargil , Zanskar, Leh, Nubra, Changthang , Sha, Dhahan, Doda, Kishtwar and like. The discriminations must be addressed by those in government well in time before they flare up as disturbing resentments since the policies held so far have helped only a few where as the common man in Kashmir valley too is still socially, administratively and politically weak enough to stand against the ideological exploitation being done by the ‘people’ ‘one’ believes in.
(The author is Sr Journalist and social activist & analyst J&K affairs)