- India
- International
Since January this year, the AIADMK-led Tamil Nadu government has created five additional districts in the state. On Thursday, the government trifurcated Vellore to create two additional districts, Tirupattur and Ranipet. In July, the government had notified two new districts Chengalpattu and Tenkasi, carved out of Kancheepuram and Tirunelveli districts respectively. In January this year, the district of Kallakurichi, carved out of Villuppuram district, was created.
With the internal map of Tamil Nadu redrawn, the state now has 37 districts in all.
When Tamil Nadu was founded in 1967, it had 13 districts including Chingleput, Coimbatore, Kanyakumari, Madras, Madurai, Nilgiris, North Arcot, Ramanathapuram, Salem, South Arcot, Thanjavur, Tiruchirappalli, and Tirunelveli.
Since then, 24 additional districts have been created. The state has a history of creating smaller districts for better administration and governance. In most cases, it follows a norm of keeping the borders of the district around 100 km from the district headquarters. The necessity has stemmed from demands by the local people, who otherwise have to travel from remote areas to the district headquarters.
YEAR | DISTRICT | CARVED OUT OF | CHIEF MINISTER | PARTY |
1965 | Dharmapuri | Salem | M. Bakthavatsalam | Congress |
1974 | Pudukkottai | Tanjavur, Tiruchirappalli | M. Karunanidhi | DMK |
1979 | Erode | Coimbatore | M. G. Ramachandran | AIADMK |
1985 | Virudhunagar | Ramanathapuram | M. G. Ramachandran | AIADMK |
1985 | Sivaganga | Ramanathapuram | M. G. Ramachandran | AIADMK |
1985 | Dindigul | Madurai | M. G. Ramachandran | AIADMK |
1986 | Thoothukudi | Tirunelveli | M. G. Ramachandran | AIADMK |
1989 | Tiruvannamalai | North Arcot district (ceased to exist) | M. Karunanidhi | DMK |
1989 | Vellore | North Arcot district (ceased to exist) | M. Karunanidhi | DMK |
1991 | Nagapattinam | Thanjavur | J. Jayalalithaa | AIADMK |
1991 | Tiruvarur | Thanjavur | J. Jayalalithaa | AIADMK |
1993 | Cuddalore | South Arcoddistrict (ceased to exist) | J. Jayalalithaa | AIADMK |
1993 | Viluppuram | South Arcoddistrict (ceased to exist) | J. Jayalalithaa | AIADMK |
1995 | Perambalur | Tiruchirappalli | J. Jayalalithaa | AIADMK |
1996 | Karur | Tiruchirappalli | J. Jayalalithaa | AIADMK |
1996 | Theni | Madurai | M. Karunanidhi | DMK |
1997 | Namakkal | Salem | M. Karunanidhi | DMK |
1997 | Kancheepuram | Chengalpattu (ceased to exist) | M. Karunanidhi | DMK |
1997 | Tiruvallur | Chengalpattu (ceased to exist) | M. Karunanidhi | DMK |
2004 | Krishnagiri | Dharmapuri | J. Jayalalithaa | AIADMK |
2007 | Ariyalur | Perambalur | M. Karunanidhi | DMK |
2009 | Tiruppur | Coimbatore, Erode | M. Karunanidhi | DMK |
2019 | Kallakurichi | Viluppuram | Edapaddi K Palaniswami | AIADMK |
2019 | Tenkasi | Tirunelveli | Edapaddi K Palaniswami | AIADMK |
2019 | Chengalpattu | Kancheepuram | Edapaddi K Palaniswami | AIADMK |
2019 | Ranipet | Vellore | Edapaddi K Palaniswami | AIADMK |
2019 | Tirupattur | Vellore | Edapaddi K Palaniswami | AIADMK |
With Tamil Nadu oscillating between AIADMK and DMK governments, both parties have heeded to the peoples’ demand to create smaller districts for effective governance. Nine districts were created by the DMK government, while 16 were created during AIADMK’s time. The year 2019, however, has seen the largest number of districts created, at five, with EPS at the helm of the government.