Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday to initiate steps for sorting out the pending issues between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, while pointing out that the dispute resolution panel set up by the Union Home Ministry was yet to make substantial progress.
Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy appealed for the grant of Special Category Status (SCS) which, he insisted, was essential to mitigate the impact of bifurcation.
The Chief Minister told the Prime Minister that more than eight years had passed since bifurcation, but several irritants between the two States remained and the assurances given to Andhra Pradesh both in Parliament and outside were not fulfilled.
“The A.P. Reorganisation Act has not been implemented in totality,” Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy told Mr. Modi.
Resource gap
He further told the Prime Minister that funds due to be sanctioned to Andhra Pradesh for bridging the resource gap for the FY 2014-15 were not fully released, and other receivables from the Centre stood around ₹32,626 crore.
He sought Mr. Modi’s intervention with regard to the limits imposed on the State’s borrowings and the adjustment of loans not repaid by the previous (TDP) government in the books of accounts of the present dispensation which, he said, was harsh on the State, especially at a time when yet another wave of coronavirus loomed.
Polavaram project
As far as the Polavaram project was concerned, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy expressed regret that its revised cost (₹55,558 crore) had not been approved long after a recommendation to that effect was made by the technical advisory committee, and about ₹2,938 crore Andhra Pradesh had spent on the project was not reimbursed so far.
The Chief Minister appealed to the Prime Minister to consider drinking water as an integral part of the project, and not to take a component-wise view of the expenditure incurred on the dam construction as it was causing inordinate delay in the clearance of bills.
The Chief Minister also wanted that the rehabilitation package for the Polavaram Project Displaced Families (PDFs) be delivered through the Direct Benefit Transfer in order to save time.
Further, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy requested Mr. Modi to provide an ad hoc assistance of ₹10,486 crore to facilitate speedy land acquisition and evacuation of PDFs who would be affected with the project’s height being 41.15 metres.
The Chief Minister also urged Mr. Modi to ensure that the Telangana power distribution companies paid arrears to the AP-Genco amounting to ₹6,886 crore. He also sought supply of 77,000 tonnes of rice from the Central pool to Andhra Pradesh to enable the State provide food grains to the BPL families in compliance with the Food Security Act.
Medical colleges
Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy requested Mr. Modi to sanction medical colleges for 12 districts, allot adequate iron ore mines for Kadapa steel plant and to provide financial and logistical support for the construction of the proposed 76.9-km-long Metro Rail corridor in Visakhapatnam by taking into consideration the DPR that had already been submitted.
