The Andhra Pradesh government has requested the Union Home Ministry which is dealing with the reorganisation issues between the two Telugu States to treat the entire recommendations made by expert committee headed by Shila Bhide as one lot for bifurcating the Schedule IX institutions rather than dealing them on case by case basis.
AP Chief Secretary Nilam Sawhney is learnt to have addressed a communication to Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla asking the Union Ministry to take necessary action in treating the recommendations at one go rather than “a piecemeal approach of looking at the recommendations pertaining to each institution separately. The request was made on the ground that piecemeal approach could take a very long time to reach any meaningful conclusion and several institutions could remain in a state of uncertainty or protracted litigation.
The development assumes significance in the light of the Union Home Ministry’s direction that in respect of institutions where there are disagreements between the two States, both States could give their views and counter comments so that “such cases can be considered on a case to case basis by it”. The Union Ministry made this observation during the meeting of the Chief Secretaries of the two States it had convened on October 10 last year.
The expert committee had made recommendations relating to division of assets, liabilities and employees in respect of 80 institutions. Recommendations on division of only assets and liabilities of nine institutions were also made while the issue relating to the State Finance Corporation and Singareni Collieries Company Limited is pending with the Central government.
The Telangana government had conveyed its acceptance for recommendations made in respect of 68 out of the 91 institutions listed under Schedule IX and handed over the list of these institutions to the neighbouring State.
The Andhra Pradesh government, however, gave its agreement in respect of 53 out of the 68 institutions without clarifying its stand on the remaining 15 institutions.
Senior officials said the AP government’s request comes in the light of objections raised by Telangana where the definition of headquarter was not followed by the expert committee.
“We are objecting to the expert committee recommendations on de-merger of some corporations in a unilateral way that is not in the interest of Telangana,” a senior official said.
