New Delhi: Delhi govt is expected to soon issue orders appointing 13 IAS officers as district magistrates (DMs) and 39 senior officers as sub-divisional magistrates (SDMs) across the capital’s newly notified administrative units, officials said. The appointments follow the recent notification regarding the reorganisation of Delhi into 13 districts and 39 sub-divisions, replacing the earlier structure of 11 districts and 33 sub-divisions. Lieutenant governor VK Saxena has approved the Cabinet decision on the restructuring.
Officials said the appointments will be made shortly, though it is not yet clear whether existing DMs and SDMs will be retained in their current roles, reshuffled across districts or replaced by new officers. “The final decision will be known only after the orders are issued. Many existing officers may be retained, as several have not completed two years in their current postings,” an official said. Another official said that the mapping of office spaces for all 13 DMs and 39 SDMs has already been completed. “The officers will initially function from the existing office complexes that currently house the 11 DMs. Space has been identified within these premises until new offices are set up,” the official said. Once the appointment orders are issued, the officers will assume charge and start functioning in line with the newly redrawn district boundaries. To ensure uninterrupted public services, particularly for document registration, the existing sub-registrar offices (SROs) will continue to function under an interim jurisdictional arrangement. The govt said the Cabinet-approved expansion of the existing 22 sub-registrar offices into 39 new SROs will be implemented through a separate notification at a later stage.The need for the reorganisation arose because of long-standing mismatch between the boundaries of revenue districts and those of municipal zones, often causing delays and confusion in redressing complaints and difficulties in coordinating land records.As part of the reorganisation, three new districts — Old Delhi, Central North and Outer North — have been created, while 10 existing districts have been retained with revised boundaries. The exercise aims to improve coordination, speed up service delivery and grievance redressal, enhance monitoring and resolve long-standing jurisdictional issues.
