New talukas, new districts, new promises &ndash; yet the same old misery for ordinary citizens. The Gujarat government&rsquo;s grand announcement of 17 fresh talukas, taking the tally to 265, sounds like a feast of development. Add to that 34 districts and 17 municipal corporations &ndash; a true banquet of governance, we are told. But let&rsquo;s be honest &ndash; these goodies are not served on the citizens&rsquo; plates, rather on the dining tables of politicians, bureaucrats, and contractors.
We are constantly told that creating a taluka here, a district there, or a municipal corporation somewhere is akin to delivering government &ldquo;at your doorstep&rdquo;. In reality, citizens only end up at the government&rsquo;s doorsteps, shuttling from counter to counter. If multiplying districts and talukas truly improved services, then why not declare all of Gujarat&rsquo;s 18,584 villages as districts at once? That would, at least on paper, make everyone feel like royalty.
Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel proudly declared this as his government&rsquo;s biggest achievement so far. But every regime plays the same game: outdo the predecessor with &ldquo;record-breaking&rdquo; announcements. During Vijay Rupani&rsquo;s tenure, the claim was approving the highest number of town planning scheme and the grandest farmer relief package. Patel&rsquo;s government boasts of catching the most drugs in history. Everyone wants their name etched in golden letters, yet none bothers to ensure quality governance where citizens can live with minimal state interference.
Does service really improve when new administrative boundaries are carved? Ask Bhavnagar, a municipal corporation since 1982. Four decades later, are the residents basking in prosperity? Hardly. Or take Porbandar, turned into a district under Shankarsinh Vaghela. Nearly three decades later, its civil hospital still pales in comparison to other district hospitals. Education lags, jobs are scarce, and migration is on the rise. As one local cynically quipped: &ldquo;We are given khichdi to eat, while governments keep promising pizza.&rdquo;
Mahisagar district was created in 2013 with a brand-new civil hospital building. Yet even today, there are no specialist doctors beyond a gynaecologist and a physician. The district headquarters has grand offices for police chiefs and district service commissions, but the actual services have only deteriorated. Ironically, even ruling party MLAs themselves occasionally admit as much.
The truth is simple. Without an administration genuinely committed in mind, word and deed to citizen welfare, no amount of new talukas, districts or corporations will bring change. What we get instead are grand buildings, riverfronts, flyovers, and gardens &ndash; projects that fill the bellies of contractors and bureaucrats, not the needs of the public.
So yes, Gujarat now has more talukas and more districts. But unless services improve, all this remains little more than political fireworks &ndash; dazzling for headlines, hollow for the people.

Past experience shows: more talukas, poorer services for citizens

More Talukas, More Districts – Poor Service?

Past experience shows: more talukas, poorer services for citizens

September 25, 2025 | 17:10 IST