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Hingoli district by May 1

Maharashtra Revenue Minister Narayan Rane has disclosed in the legislative council that a new district of Hingoli would be created by bifurcating the present Parbhani district.

He said a formal announcement on creating Hingoli district would be made on the Republic Day next year but its actual functioning as a district would be effective on May 1, the anniversary of the formation of Maharashtra.

Rane made the statement in response to a calling attention notice on the issue by Vyankappa Patki (Janata Dal) and three others. In their notice, the members pointed out that Chief Minister Manohar Joshi had assured the fasting Rajni Satav, member of the house and former minister, in August this year that her demand for carving of Hingoli district would be accepted.

Asked by Satav about the difficulty of Hingoli, a tehsil town, operating as a district from the Republic Day itself, Rane said it would take some time to create the infrastructure and provide funds for the same.

Rane recalled that the state government had decided in January 1994 to create seven new districts by bifurcating districts of Thane, Nashik, Dhule, Ahmednagar, Parbhani, Akola and Bhandara.

He said it was difficult to implement this decision simultaneously due to paucity of funds. Hence the government created two districts of Nandurbar and Washim by bifurcating Dhule and Akola respectively,and shifting the office of additional collector from Bhandara to Gondia this year, he added.

When Satav said she was still not sure whether the government would keep its word, Rane retorted that the present Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party government was doing what her Congress party's government, in which she was a minister, failed to do.

He pointed out that the process of creating Hingoli district had already started with the drafting of a resolution for cabinet approval. Patki thanked Rane for his announcement.

UNI

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