Garhwa district comprises three subdivisions: Garhwa, Shree banshidhar nagar and Ranka which are further divided into 20 blocks. At the time of creation, this district comprised only eight blocks: Bhandaria, Bhawanathpur, Dhuraki, Garhwa, Manjhiaon, Meral, Nagar Untari and Ranka. Later, eleven more blocks were created by reorganizing the existing blocks. These are: Chiniya, Dandai, Kandi, Kharaundhi, Ramkanda, Ramuna, Sagma, Bardiha, Danda, Bishunpura and Ketar. This district comprises 156 gram panchayat and 916 villages. It has three police sub-divisions: Garhwa, Shree banshidhar nagar and Ranka with 18 police stations in Bhandaria,Ramkanda,Chinia,Dandai,Danda,Kandi,Bardiha,Ketar,Kharaundhi,Bhawnathpur, Dhurki,Ramna,Bishunpura,Garhwa, Majhiyaon, Meral, Shree banshidhar nagar and Ranka.