Proposal to create more than a dozen new blocks in insurgency-hit Bastar region have been sent to the State Government by the Block Reconstitution Commission, said top sources in the commission.
Chief of Block Reconstitution Commission SK Mishra had visited Bastar on December 3. The proposal has been prepared on the basis of population and geographical conditions. The commission has recommended division of large blocks.
It is likely that the newly-elected state government will stall the process of reconstitution of blocks till June as code of conduct would come into effect in late March month for general elections which is due in April-May 2014. Reconstitution of block will help the local administration to keep a tab on the rising Naxal activity in the region.
The Bastar region is made up of seven districts and is spread out in about 40,000 sq km areas which is bigger than Kerala state. Presently, there are 32 blocks in Bastar region and a proposal of four new blocks in Bastar, four in Kanker, two in Dantewada, three in Sukma, two in Bijapur, two in Narayanpur and two others. If the proposal is accepted, the number of blocks in the divisions will reach 51.
The proposal to form new blocks here are intended to decentralise the administrative functions and accelerate development works. When the BJP government came to power in 2003, it announced to reconstitute districts, blocks and tehsils in phases to decentralise power and make smaller units more efficient. In its first term, the government reconstituted Bastar division and formed two new districts. Nine more districts were constituted during the party's second term in Sarguja, Raipur, Bilaspur and Durg divisions. Presently, there are 146 blocks and 148 tehsils in the State.