JK News Today
Jammu, March 23: Waheed Para, a legislator of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), has introduced a private member’s bill in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly seeking to establish a statutory framework for the reorganisation of administrative divisions, districts, sub-divisions, and tehsils across the Union Territory.
The proposed legislation, titled The Jammu and Kashmir Territorial Administrative Reorganisation Bill, 2026, envisages the creation of new administrative divisions, including a Chenab Division with headquarters at Doda and a Pir Panjal Division with headquarters at Rajouri, in addition to the existing Jammu and Kashmir divisions.
As part of the proposed reorganisation, the bill outlines the creation of several new districts in the Kashmir division:
• Tral–Awantipora Hill District
• Ashmuqam–Hill District
• Beerwah District
• Sopore District
• Handwara District
• Gurez District
• Tangdhar–Karnah Hill District
• Norabad Hill DistrictIn the Jammu division, the proposed districts include Nowshera, Bhaderwah, Banihal, Thathri, Akhnoor, Billawar, Kotranka, and Mendhar, many of which are designated as hill districts to facilitate focused administrative planning and governance in geographically challenging areas.
According to the draft bill, the government will be empowered to assign districts to Jammu, Kashmir, Chenab, or Pir Panjal divisions through official notifications, while ensuring geographical continuity, administrative convenience, socio-cultural cohesion, and balanced regional development.
The bill aims to address administrative challenges arising from large geographical areas, difficult terrain, and regional imbalances, and seeks to establish a transparent legislative mechanism for the creation of new administrative units to strengthen decentralised governance and improve public service delivery.
The proposal has been submitted to the Assembly Secretariat for consideration during the ongoing Budget Session, which will resume on March 27 after a five-week recess following its first phase held from February 2 to 20.
During the initial phase of the session, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah presented the Budget on February 6, and the House passed departmental grants after detailed deliberations.
As per the notified business schedule, March 30 and April 1 have been earmarked for private members’ bills, while March 31 and April 2 are reserved for private members’ resolutions. The session is scheduled to conclude on April 4.
