The Directors of the erstwhile APSRTC representing Telangana boycotted the board meeting at Vijayawada on Friday as their AP counterparts refused to concede the demand that the notes prepared by two sides on de-merger of “headquarters” of the corporation here be referred to the Union Home Ministry which actually defined the headquarters.
In the absence of a consensus on headquarters, TS insisted that the Home Ministry look into the two notes but AP wanted to go ahead with voting on its proposal which was not acceptable, TSRTC MD G.V. Ramana Rao told The Hindu .
He said AP came up with a note listing 14 properties as part of headquarters but Telangana submitted a plan in tune with the clarification given by the Home Ministry stating that the building of Bus Bhavan alone need be divided between the two States on population basis (58:42 for AP and Telangana respectively). The land of the building was Nizam property which was transferred to the erstwhile AP government at no cost. Therefore, the liability of Telangana in the building as payable to AP worked out to ₹8.39 crore.
However, AP insisted that headquarters included the corporation’s 13 properties in Hyderabad comprising Kala Bhavan, Kalyana Mandapam, bus body building and printing press at Miyapur, training academy at Hakimpet, chairman’s bungalow, officers guest house, staff quarters at Chilkalguda, hospital at Tarnaka, and headquarters depot. Incidentally, AP also laid claim to another wind energy project at Ramagiri in Anantapur district, he added.
He also said the definition of headquarters was arrived at after much brainstorming and directive given by Supreme Court. The Solicitor-General of India laid down the definition and submitted to the Home Ministry which gave the clarification to two States on May 15 last. But, Directors from AP turned up for the meeting with a clear agenda to counter the claims of TS with a view to stalling the process of de-merger as the contention was only about headquarters. All other properties were to be divided location-wise to the respective states in accordance with AP Reorganisation Act, which was not ambiguous. The Board had no authority to pass any resolution against the clarification given by the Ministry.
The Directors from TS who attended the meeting included GHMC Commissioner B. Janardhan Reddy, Transport Secretary Sunil Sharma, Mr. Ramana Rao, Principal Labour Secretary Sashank Goel and Principal Finance Secretary K. Ramakrishna Rao.
