Very happy to see A.P. govt. gazette notification dated today about formation of SRI SATHYA SAI DISTRICT AT PUTTAPARTHY from tomorrow, 4th April 2022

Last updated on 4th April 2022

Firstly I want to share my happiness at Bhagavan's holy name being name of the new district to be created tomorrow, 4th April 2022. I think that is a great recognition from Andhra Pradesh government of the wonderful work done by Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba for the people in this area and beyond.

I will be very happy to write 'Sri Sathya Sai district' as part of my address from tomorrow.   

I thank Hon'ble Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Sri Jagan Mohan Reddy garu, and other ministers and government officials involved in this matter, who have provided this great recognition to Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, my beloved and revered Gurudev. I also thank all the persons of the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust (SSSCT) including the Managing Trustee, Sri R.J. Rathnakar, who interacted with the A.P. government on this matter, and helped to make this happen. I thank M.L.A. of our Puttaparthi assembly constituency, Sri Duddukunta Sreedhar Reddy, for helping to make this happen.

I was forwarded a PDF having the above mentioned notification which is stated as the final notification. While I am sure it is a genuine document, I could not get a public link for it in Google search.

But I thought I should share some of its key details with readers, and have given them below.

District name: Sri Sathya Sai District at Puttaparthy

HQ (Headquarters): Puttaparthy

(Date of formation): With effect on and from 4th day of April 2022

Sri Sathya Sai district will have four revenue divisions: Dharmavaram, Kadiri, Puttaparthy and Penukonda

Mandals in (newly created) Puttaparthy revenue division: Bukkapatnam, Kothacheruvu, Puttaparthy, Nallamada, O.D. Cheruvu, Gorantla. 

[Ravi note: Full form of O.D. Cheruvu seems to be Obula Devara Cheruvu.]

=== end of some key details in gazette notification ====

My comments on the above key details:

Very interesting! Not only was Puttaparthy part of Anantapur district earlier, it was part of Kadiri revenue division and so both Anantapur and Kadiri govt. officials together were in charge of govt. managed matters in Puttaparthi.

From tomorrow 4th April 2022, Puttaparthi (Puttaparthy) will manage its own district and its own revenue division.  Puttaparthi revenue division mandals list is interesting. Barring O.D. Cheruvu (Obulu Devara Cheruvu) and Nallamada, I have visited/been in other 4 mandals - Puttaparthi, Bukkapatnam, Kothacheruvu and Gorantla. So Puttaparthi revenue division seems to be something that I, who have been living in Puttaparthi from Oct. 2002, personally can relate to.

Hmm. I think with these changes, from tomorrow Puttaparthi really acquires a lot of government power & authority,  reporting directly to A.P. cabinet & bureaucracy in A.P. capital(s). That is a major development, IMHO.

Providing livelihood which includes self-run small businesses and regular jobs, for the large population of Puttaparthi town and surrounding areas, including many youngsters, has been a major development issue for this area for many years now. This got exacerbated by the COVID pandemic which has badly hit the local (Puttaparthi) economy. I think these changes done by A.P. government will be good for local Puttaparthi economy. So I welcome the formation of this new Sri Sathya Sai district and new revenue division of Puttaparthi, even from perspective of local economy. 

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4th April 2022: The A.P. government gazette notification for formation of Sri Sathya Sai district is available here: https://cdn.s3waas.gov.in/s3647bba344396e7c8170902bcf2e15551/uploads/2022/04/2022040376.pdf .

Given below is a comment from associated Facebook post:  https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/3357437911139429 :

[In response to a comment I wrote (slightly edited):] I think you are referring to possibility of district HQ work disturbing peace and tranquility of Prasanthi Nilayam ashram. I think that is a fair point to raise.

What I have been informed is that the permanent government administrative headquarters will come up around 10 or so KMs away from Prasanthi Nilayam, near Mamillakunta. I was also informed that Puttaparthi town area will be treated as a temple town area by the government with restrictions on political activities.

If the above is how it eventually works out then I think a right balance would be struck between livelihood needs of Puttaparthi town locals and peace & tranquility of Prasanthi Nilayam ashram and even Puttaparthi town as a whole.

However, in the interim period before the permanent government administrative headquarters is built and made operational, some of the temporary arrangements for these govt. offices are in Puttaparthi town and so there will be some govt. related activities and work in Puttaparthi town which will have to be accepted. I think if this interim period is a year or two then it should be fine.

The impression I have about Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba is that he was always concerned about livelihood and other living related needs of locals of Puttaparthi. I think one cannot ignore such livelihood and other living related needs of locals of Puttaparthi town and focus only on peace & tranquility of the ashram. A balance has to be struck, IMHO.

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