The Indian state of Kerala borders with the states of Tamil Nadu on the south and east, Karnataka on the north and the Lakshadweep Sea coastline on the west. Western Ghats form an almost continuous mountain wall, except near Palakkad where there is a natural mountain pass known as the Palakkad Gap. When the independent India amalgamated small states together Travancore and Cochin states were integrated to form Travancore-Cochin state on 1 July 1949. However, Malabar remained under the Madras province. The States Reorganisation Act of 1 November 1956 elevated Kerala to statehood. The state of Kerala is divided into 14 revenue districts. On the basis of geography the state's districts are generally grouped into three parts :- The North Kerala districts of Kasaragod, Kannur, Wayanad, Kozhikode, Malappuram ; the Central Kerala districts of Palakkad, Thrissur, Ernakulam, Idukki, and the South Kerala districts of Kottayam, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Kollam, Thiruvananthapuram. Such a regional division occurred being part of historical Kingdoms of Kochi, Travancore and British Province of Malabar. The Travancore region was again divided into three zones as Northern Travancore , Central Travancore and Southern Travancore . The districts in Kerala are often named after the largest town or city in the district. The 14 districts are further divided into 75 taluks, and 941 Gram panchayats. Some of the districts were renamed in 1990 from the anglicised names to their local names.
Administrative structure
Kerala State has been divided into 14 districts, 77 taluks, 152 community development blocks, 941 Gram panchayats, 6 corporations and 87 municipalities. A district is governed by a District Collector, who is an officer from Indian Administrative Service of Kerala cadre and is appointed by the State Government of Kerala. Functionally the district administration is carried on through the various Departments of the State Government each of which has an office of its own the district level. The District Collector is the executive leader of the district administration and the District Officers of the various Departments in the district render technical advice to him in the discharge of his duties. The District Collector is a key functionary of Government having large powers and responsibilities. He has a dual role to both as the agent of the Government of the state and also as the representative of the people in the district. He is also responsible for the maintenance of the law and order of the district. Other than urban units such as town municipalities and rural units called Gram panchayats, other government administrative subdivisions includes taluks and 'community development blocks'. A taluk consists of urban units such as census towns and rural units called gram panchayats. The Tahsildar in charge of each taluk is primarily the Revenue Official responsible for the collection of revenue of the taluk, but he is also expected to be in direct contact with the people at all levels and to have first hand knowledge of the conditions of every village under his jurisdiction. The Tahsildar is assisted in each village by village officers and village assistants. A block also consists of such as census towns and Gram panchayats. A block is administered by a Block Development Officer, who is appointed by the Government of Kerala. A gram panchayat, which consists of a group of villages, is administered by a village council headed by a Gram Panchayat President. A District Superintendent of Police, better known as a Superintendent of Police, heads the District Police organization of Kerala Police. This is as per the Police Act of 1861, which is applicable to the whole of India. The Superintendents of Police are officers of the Indian Police Service. For every subdivision, there is a Subdivision Police, headed by a Police officer of the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police or Deputy Superintendent of Police. Under subdivisions, there are Police Circles, each headed by an Inspector of Police. A Police Circle consists of Police Stations, each headed by an Inspector of Police, or in case of rural areas, by a Sub-Inspector of Police. The Kerala High Court has the jurisdiction of the state of Kerala. Each of the districts has a District Court.
History
At the time of formation, Kerala had only five districts: Malabar, Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Kottayam and Thrissur. On 1 January 1957, the Malabar district was divided into the districts of Kozhikode, Palakkad, and Kannur. Alappuzha district was carved out of erstwhile Kottayam and Kollam districts on 17 August 1957. Ernakulam district was formed on 1 April 1958, carving out of parts of erstwhile Thrissur and Kottayam districts. Malappuram district was formed on 16 June 1969 with Ernad and Tirur taluks of the erstwhile Kozhikode district and Perinthalmanna and Ponnani taluks of Palakkad district. Idukki district was formed on 26 January 1972 with Devikulam, Udumbanchola and Peermedu taluks of the erstwhile Kottayam district and Thodupuzha taluk of the erstwhile Ernakulam district. Wayanad district was formed on 1 November 1980 as the 12th district in Kerala by carving out areas from Kozhikode and Kannur districts. Pathanamthitta district was formed on 1 November 1982 carving out the entire Pathanamthitta taluk and nine villages of Kunnathur taluk from Kollam district, entire Thiruvalla taluk and part of Chengannur and Mavelikkara taluks from Alapphuzha district and parts of Idukki district. Kasaragod district was formed on 24 May 1984 as the 14th revenue district by carving out a major portion of the erstwhile Kannur district.
