There seems to be light at the end of the tunnel for resolution of bifurcation issues between the two Telugu States — Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has asked the officials to submit a comprehensive report on the pending issues between the two States following his A.P. counterpart N. Chandrababu Naidu’s letter evincing keenness in resolving the pending issues at least now. Mr. Naidu is likely to meet Mr. Revanth Reddy here on July 6 to discuss about the pending issues and resolve them amicably.
This brings to the fore the issues between the two States that remained unresolved for over a decade. Division of assets and liabilities of the Schedule IX and X institutions has been the bone of contention between the two States. There are 91 institutions under Schedule IX and 142 under Schedule X listed in the A.P. Reorganisation Act in addition to 12 other institutions that were not mentioned in the Act.
The total fixed asset value of these institutions has been estimated at ₹1.42 lakh crore by the A.P. government, but the Telangana government terms it notional claiming the actual value would be much lower. The high power committee headed by retired bureaucrat Sheila Bhide made recommendations on division of assets and liabilities pertaining to 89 of the 91 institutions but the two States are at loggerheads on these recommendations.
While Andhra Pradesh insists on their implementation in toto, Telangana maintained that the recommendations were against the interests of Telangana as well as the spirit of the Reorganisation Act. Apart from the Schedule IX and X institutions and 12 institutions that did not find a mention in the Act, the two States are at loggerheads over the power dues payable by one another. The issue was represented to the Union Home Ministry who directed the Telangana government to pay dues amounting to ₹6,740 crore to the neighbouring State.
The direction had however been quashed by the High Court after the Telangana government took to legal recourse to settle the matter. The stalemate over the sharing of Krishna and Godavari waters between the two States continues even as the two governments have taken the initiative to resolve some issues amicably with mutual consent.
These include the A.P. government’s decision to handover the buildings under its possession in the State Secretariat to Telangana much ahead of the expiry of common capital status of Hyderabad. The stalemate over the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh Bhavan in New Delhi too was resolved after the Union Home Ministry intervened.
But for a few employees, the bifurcation of over 12.5 lakh employees between the two States has been peaceful after they decided to follow the guidelines of Kamalanathan Committee.
Published - July 02, 2024 06:14 pm IST
