Guwahati, Sept 14: Assam Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday said the state’s administrative structure is being revamped to make it more people-friendly.
He said more powers are being delegated at the sub-district level to both civil and police administrations for efficiency.
Informing the assembly about the notification of 79 sub-divisions, which shall be known as sub-districts, Sarma said, “We are trying to give a new look to the administration.”
People will be able to get most of the work done at the sub-district level, for which they had to earlier travel to the district commissioner’s (DC) office, he said.
While an additional district commissioner (ADC) will deal with civil matters, an additional superintendent of police will be posted at the sub-districts to take care of the police side, he added.
The DCs and SPs will have more of a supervisory role, Sarma added.
An official notification had said on Tuesday that Governor Gulab Chand Kataria sanctioned the creation of 79 sub-divisions or sub-districts within their respective administrative districts.
The geographical limits of the sub-districts shall be co-terminus with the boundaries of the legislative constituencies, Sarma said, adding that the legislative constituencies as per the recent delimitation process have been taken into consideration.
He said different departments like water resources, irrigation and education will shortly notify the new sub-divisions as per the reworked boundaries.
The CM said construction of new buildings for the headquarters of the sub-districts will commence immediately in places where there is consensus on the location and Rs 5 crore each has already been sanctioned for the purpose.
“In sub-districts where there is dispute on the location of the headquarters, the office of the ADC will function from the DC’s office for the time being,” he added.
Sarma also said the ADC will be the signing authority as the ‘principal circle officer’ in land-related documents under his or her jurisdiction.
He said sub-districts have not been formed in the Sixth Schedule areas at present, but discussions are on how to take it forward.
In case of Bajali, which was initially announced as a new district but notified as a sub-district, Sarma said ‘some difficulties’ are there and work is on to declare it a full-fledged district within 15-20 days. (PTI)
