The Jaganmohan Reddy government has moved the Supreme Court for a “fair, equitable and expeditious division of assets and liabilities of the erstwhile State of Andhra Pradesh between the States of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, including 245 institutions and corporations specified under the ninth and tenth schedules of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.
“The total value of the fixed assets of the 245 institutions to be divided is about ₹1,42,601 crore. Non-division of the assets is clearly to the benefit of Telangana since about 91% of these assets are situated in Hyderabad [the capital of the erstwhile combined State] which is now in Telangana,” the Andhra Pradesh government, represented by advocate Mahfooz A. Nazki, submitted.
The State said despite the bifurcation on June 2, 2014, the actual division of assets and liabilities had not even commenced till date (despite repeated efforts by the Government of Andhra Pradesh seeking a speedy resolution).
“Despite a lapse of more than eight years, the Andhra Bhawan situated in Delhi has not been formally bifurcated,” the petition said.
Economic powerhouse
It said Hyderabad, now a part of Telangana, was the capital of the combined State of Andhra Pradesh. “Hyderabad was not only transformed into an economic powerhouse as a result of the ‘Capital Centric Development Model’ but also most of the institutions of governance [intended for the welfare of the people of all the regions of the State] including government infrastructure was exclusively centered in and developed around the city of Hyderabad by extensively investing resources of the combined State”.
The non-apportionment of the assets has led to a multitude of issues adversely affecting and violating the fundamental and other constitutional rights of the people of the State of Andhra Pradesh, including over 1.59 lakh government employees. The functioning of institutions, whose assets and liabilities have not been apportioned, are “severely stunted”. Without adequate funding and actual division of assets in terms of the apportionment made under the Act, the functioning of the said Institutions in the State of Andhra Pradesh has been severely stunted.
“These institutions are an extension of the State and perform a range of basic and essential functions in fields as diverse as agriculture, dairy development, education, medical services, minority and backward class development, industrial development, infrastructure development, social security, etc, and the fact that their assets have not yet been bifurcated has seriously debilitated their functioning which has a direct and adverse impact on the people of Andhra Pradesh, who they are intended to serve,” the petition said.
