Kiran seeks Prez, PM's intervention - TeluguPeople.com News

HYDERABAD: On a day when the Seemandhra Congress leaders came back to Hyderabad from Delhi in despair after failing to accomplish their mission of stalling the T-process, chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, who is projecting himself as a staunch integrationist, wrote letters to President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday, seeking their intervention to stall the process of state's bifurcation.

Kiran pleaded with the President and the Prime Minister to ensure that the T-resolution is sent to the Assembly prior to the reference of the T-bill as was done in the case of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand. He said the Centre added fuel to the fire by bringing the Cabinet Note for creation of T-state as a table item in a hurried manner. Here are excerpts from Kiran's letters:

In democratic India, established practices and conventions are treated on a par with rules and provisions incorporated in the Constitution and in accordance with other legislative references.

In the case of recently created three States of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand, the erstwhile States of Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh passed unanimous resolutions in their respective Assemblies. The Union Cabinet acted only after the receipt of such resolutions from respective State Assemblies.

Taking into account such conventions and practices, the then Union Home Minister P Chidambaram made a statement on behalf of the Union government on December 9, 2009: 'The process of forming the State of Telangana will be initiated. An appropriate resolution will be moved in the State Assembly'.

While referring to the Justice Sri Krishna Committee Report, again, Chidambaramji, Minister of Finance, made a statement on the Floor of Rajya Sabha on August 12, 2013: 'The Centre will take on board all views, including concerns on status of Hyderabad, before taking a decision on how to take forward the process. He also stated that the Government will go forward in accordance with the Constitution and past practices'.

The whole issue now boils down to addressing concerns expressed by the majority people in AP. A very major concern of the people is about sharing of irrigation water and management of major irrigation dams. This problem is unique to AP without any parallel or precedent.

State division vertically divides the irrigation structures (dams) and the river course into two halves. No state or country has ever faced such a piquant situation of dividing a dam or a river into two halves till date.

Accessibility to employment, education and medical infrastructure developed in the capital city of Hyderabad and the status of Hyderabad which got transformed into an island of opportunities for entire Telugu people are other major concerns that demand solutions.

There was also no precedent where an existing capital as such was given away to a newly-created State. The Centre so far has not listened to various stakeholders nor worked towards finding solutions to any of these issues.

Pursuing division process, without doing any homework by Government of India is creating apprehensions in the minds of majority of the population. Two illustrations strengthen this suspicion.

The Sri Krishna Committee Report was never discussed or debated in Parliament nor its recommendations considered. Second, the Antony Committee appointed by the party did not complete its task of consulting various stakeholders.

Why GoI is not willing to wait for the Committee's Report nor is open to debate and discussion in Parliament about such an important matter is something that we cannot understand.

Another peculiar issue that concerns government employees and students most is the fate of Article 371 (D) which was brought to provide equal opportunities in public employment and educational institutions to backward regions. Government employees and students are likely to face serious consequences if adequate homework is not done in this regard. Required consultations and legal examination has not been carried out so far on this special provision.

People are upset with the way decisions are being taken and the process being pushed through ignoring all conventions and procedures apart from official statements made by Union Ministers on behalf of the Government of India. Strong belief is gaining ground that the Centre is ignoring majority people's opinion.

The Centre has further added fuel to the fire by bringing Cabinet Note for creation of a new state as table item. An important item having serious implications on the lives of crores of people became a trivial item to GoI to be brought as a table item.

The note also was brought before cabinet meeting apparently waiving due consultation process with the related ministries in a hurried manner on the pretext that the composition of Group of Ministers covers all the important ministries that are expected to be consulted.

To our shock, the subsequent orders issued by the cabinet secretariat excludes the crucial ministries like water resources, urban development, power, HRD and Planning Commission that were listed in the Cabinet Note circulated. All these short-cuts are raising doubts in the minds of people about the fairness of the process and justness of actions.

The minimum we expect from the Government of India is for it to follow the established practices and conventions and as a first step, refer the matter to the State Assembly for appropriate resolution. After the resolution, building consensus among various stakeholders, the bill can be sent to the President for further reference to State Legislature.