Hope revives for Nurpur district status after govt plans reorganisation panel

The long-pending demand for granting district status to Nurpur has regained momentum after the state government decided to constitute a commission for the reorganisation of administrative units, including districts, subdivisions, blocks and tehsils.

The state Cabinet, at its meeting on Friday, approved the formation of the commission, reviving hopes among residents of the lower Kangra region, particularly in Nurpur subdivision, who have been pressing for the demand for more than two decades.

The demand dates back to March 2003, when the then BJP government, led by former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, established the office of the Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) at Nurpur. However, the subsequent Congress government shut down the office after assuming power, a move that residents said left them feeling politically betrayed.

Former local MLA Rakesh Pathania had made sustained efforts to secure district status for Nurpur by proposing the inclusion of Nurpur, Jawali, Indora and Fatehpur subdivisions of lower Kangra, along with the neighbouring Bhatiyat Assembly segment of Chamba district, in the proposed district.

Pathania had also spearheaded an agitation under the banner of the “Nurpur Zila Banao Sangharsh Samiti” in 2012 during the BJP government headed by Dhumal, a few months ahead of the Assembly elections. Although the Dhumal government had reportedly considered carving out new districts, including Nurpur, the proposal was eventually shelved amid opposition and lack of political consensus.

Notably, no new district has been created in Himachal Pradesh since the reorganisation of districts in 1971. Nurpur is among the oldest subdivisions in the state and was notified as a tehsil in 1898 alongside Hamirpur, Una, Kullu and Lahaul and Spiti. While all the other tehsils were subsequently upgraded into districts, Nurpur remained unchanged.

The previous Congress government led by former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh later carved out new subdivisions — Jawali, Indora and Fatehpur — from the larger Nurpur subdivision, but no move was made to grant district status to the region.

Residents and social organisations, including Nagar Kalyan Sabha, Nurpur Sudhar Sabha and Free Thinkers Club, have reiterated the demand for a full-fledged district headquarters at Nurpur, citing administrative necessity and the long distance to the existing district headquarters in Dharamsala.

Residents from mand areas in the Indora and Fatehpur subdivisions reportedly have to travel nearly 200 to 220 kilometres for a round trip to Dharamsala to complete administrative work.

Meanwhile, owing to initiatives taken earlier by Rakesh Pathania, several institutions, including a police district, two additional sessions courts and a revenue (excise and taxation) district, have already been established in Nurpur.

Residents are now hopeful that the region may finally secure the long-awaited status of an administrative district.