New districts hit by frequent shuffling

Adilabad: The frequent transfers of collectors, sometimes within months of their assuming charge, is adversely affecting administration and development activities in the newly-created districts like Kumaram Bheem Asifabad.

Tribals form over 35 per cent of the population in Kumaram Bheem Asifabad district and it is considered to be the most backward of all districts in the state.

The two previous collectors -- M. Champalal and Jeevan Prashanth Patil – were transferred quite quickly, before they could make a real difference to the district.

Mr Champapal was transferred on December15, 2017, barely a year after assuming charge, while Mr Patil was given just 9 months to prove his mettle. Mr Champalal was first collector after the district came into being.  

Officials say that for any collector, it takes some time to understand the district’s geography and social milieu before he or she can make a difference.

“Unfortunately, these collectors did not get the time required for them to ensure schemes introduced for the welfare of the various sections of the people are implemented properly. This was most important in a district as backward as old Adilabad,” said an official on condition of anonymity.  

Mr Patil was first appointed as assistant collector of composite Asifabad district before being transferred as collector of Warangal Rural and being shifted to Asifabad last December.

With the experience he gained as the assistant collector, Mr Patil tried his best to set the system right but he could do little due to his short tenure.

Now that Mr Patil has been shifted, his successor will have to deal with the poor road connectivity in the district. The situation is such that pregnant are literally dying while being shifted for delivery to hospital or due to lack of access to medical facilities, shortage of  doctors, specialised doctors and medical staff in the district headquarters hospital.

In a long list of such tragedies, a pregnant woman Kodapa Ganga, 24, of  Parsanambala RR Colony in Routa Sankapalli gram panchayat gave birth to a baby on the roadside on August27. Both the baby and mother died soon after.

Ganga’s husband Shankar was taking her in his auto rickshaw to Mancherial as the ambulance was not available at the district headquarters hospital.

This incident reflects the prevailing situation in Kumaram Bheem Asifabad district.