The Central government filed a counter affidavit in the Supreme Court on Wednesday expressing its inability to give Special Category Status (SCS) to Andhra Pradesh and said all commitments under the A.P. Reorganisation Act (APRA), 2014 had been addressed.
It furnished details in the form of an annexure, listing out the financial and other forms of assistance given to the State since bifurcation. The affidavit was in response to a writ petition filed in the apex court by Telangana Congress leader Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy, who pleaded for clarity on issues concerning his State and Andhra Pradesh post-bifurcation, setting up of a steel plant at Bayyaram and the extent of submergence likely to be caused by the Polavaram project.
Mr. Reddy told The Hindu that it was the bounden duty of the Centre to implement the APRA in toto, and that was what he prayed for. The Centre said in the affidavit that ₹15,970 crore had been released to the successor State of A.P. for three years (2015-18) out of the post-devolution revenue deficit grant of ₹22,113 crore for 2015-20 on the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission.
The Centre reiterated its stand vis-a-vis the SCS and sought to support its position on the special financial assistance (package) which was offered by it in lieu of the SCS, with data from its correspondence with the State earlier.
The Centre said of the State’s revenue gap, which stood at approximately ₹4,120 crore, it released nearly ₹3,970 crore and the balance was being paid.
It said ₹2,500 crore was given towards the construction of capital city Amaravati and another ₹1,000 crore would be sanctioned in the coming three years at ₹333.30 crore per year.
Ministers Kalava Srinivasulu, Kollu Ravindra and K.S. Jawahar took strong objection to what they described as lies spread by the BJP-led NDA government through its affidavit and that the State would fight back legally.
