In a major administrative overhaul aimed at making governance faster and more citizen-centric, the Delhi government on Thursday approved the reorganisation of its 11 districts into 13, with revenue boundaries
now fully aligned with municipal limits.
The decision, cleared at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, is being described as a significant reform to streamline service delivery and improve coordination across departments.
Shahdara, which was part of the earlier list of 11 revenue districts, has been removed in the new structure. Three new districts have been added – Old Delhi, Central North, and Outer North.
The 13 new revenue districts are: South East, Old Delhi, North, New Delhi, Central, Central North, South West, Outer North, North West, North East, East, South, and West.
The gazette notification is expected within the next two weeks, and the government aims for full operationalisation by December 2025. An initial budget of Rs 25 crore has been sanctioned for the current financial year.
13 Mini Secretariats in Each District
Under the new structure, the number of districts will increase from 11 to 13, and the number of sub-divisions from 33 to 39. This is expected to help balance the workload of officials and ensure quicker delivery of services to citizens. Delhi currently has 12 MCD zones, in addition to the NDMC and the Delhi Cantonment Board.
To make property registration smoother and more transparent, the number of Sub-Registrar Offices will be increased from 22 to 39. Their jurisdictions will be fully aligned with the new sub-division boundaries.
The Delhi Government will establish modern, multi-departmental ‘Mini Secretariats’ in all 13 districts, enabling citizens to access multiple services — including Revenue Offices, SDM, ADM, Tehsil, and Sub-Registrar Offices — at a single location.
At present, with various departments operating from different buildings, citizens often face inconvenience.
“The creation of Mini Secretariats will ensure that services are available under one roof, improve coordination, and make monitoring and review by district officials more effective,” the government said.
Decades-Old Issue Resolved in 10 Months
In a statement from the Chief Minister’s Office, the government said it had resolved a decades-old issue in just ten months. It added that no previous administration had addressed this long-pending decision to strengthen Delhi’s administrative framework.
“In a major and historic move aimed at making administrative work in the capital more efficient, smoother, and citizen-centric, the Delhi Government has approved the reorganisation of the existing 11 revenue districts into 13 new revenue districts,” the statement said.
Calling the district administration the “backbone of any governance system” and the “closest interface between the government and citizens”, Gupta said that in a metropolis like Delhi, smaller, balanced, and administratively empowered districts are essential for improved coordination of services, quicker delivery, faster grievance redressal, and effective monitoring.
With Delhi’s rapidly growing population, construction activity, urban expansion, and increasing complexity of civic services, it has become essential to make the district administration more organised, effective, and accountable.
The Chief Minister explained that for many years, the boundaries of revenue districts did not align with those of the Municipal Corporation zones, the NDMC, and the Delhi Cantonment Board. This mismatch repeatedly caused delays in service delivery, confusion in handling complaints, difficulties in land-record management, and inconsistencies across departmental jurisdictions, she added.
“After the reorganisation, the boundaries of all 13 districts will fully align with those of the Municipal Corporation, NDMC, and the Delhi Cantonment Board, bringing clarity to governance and improving inter-departmental coordination,” she said.
This alignment, she added, will eliminate long-standing jurisdictional confusion and make service delivery significantly smoother.
/images/ppid_a911dc6a-image-176547803659152032.webp)
