Rajnath assures support to implement APRA

Hyderabad, March 19 (INN): Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday assured a BJP delegation from Andhra Pradesh that he would do the needful to speed up implementation of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act,2014 in its entirety and for helping the successor state of Andhra Pradesh in view of the problems being faced by the state after bifurcation.

On the request of Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, the Home Minister held detailed discussion with a BJP delegation led by Andhra Pradesh Unit President K HariBabu in the office of Naidu.

Venkaiah Naidu recounted the circumstances of bifurcation of the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh and made out a strong case for assisting the successor state of Andhra Pradesh. He said that the state is facing several problems having lost substantial revenue and resource base to Hyderabad and the new state of Telangana. Naidu urged Rajnath Singh to ensure that the Home Ministry, being the nodal ministry for AP Reorganisation Act should take a more pro-active role in ensuring early implementation of the Act which will benefit both the states. He further said that early decisions and actions are required in respect of Special Category status for AP, division of assets and liabilities between the two states, division of officers, proper re-allotment of Rajya Sabha members to both the states, execution of various projects as mentioned in the Act etc.

Naidu has particularly suggested that a senior officer of Home Ministry be appointed as a Nodal Officer to coordinate with the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for resolving various issues between them and also with concerned ministries of the central government for execution of different projects in both the states.

Rajnath Singh also listened to the members of the delegation who insisted that Special Category status to Andhra Pradesh needs to be accorded on priority.

Rajnath Singh has agreed to appoint an Additional Secretary (A.K.Singh) in his ministry as the Nodal Officer for coordinating with AP and Telangana and concerned central ministries for speedy implementation of the provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act. A team of officers led by A.K. Singh will be visiting Hyderabad on 20th March to hold discussions with both the Chief Secretaries to resolve the pending issues. In addition Union Home Minister agreed with the suggestion of Naidu that in certain cases pending issues can be resolved by using removal of difficulty orders in the APR Act and has directed his officers to expedite the matter in this regard also.

The Union Home Minister has also assured the delegation that he will discuss the issue of Special Category status with the Finance Minister Arun Jaitely. The Home Minister asserted that central government is committed to help both the states.

Non-inclusion of Special Category status for Andhra Pradesh in the Reorganisation Act by the then UPA Government , subsequent demands for similar status, Congress leaders speaking in different voices in this regard also came in for discussion during the meeting.

Delegation has pointed out to the Union Home Minister that the Congress is resorting to cheap tactics and carrying out a disinformation campaign. The delegation also quoted Moily's observations as below:

'There will be a flight of capital from neighboring states like Karnataka, Kerala and Bihar. There should be a method followed while giving such incentives to one state. All of them will go and invest there and nothing wrong in it. But the question is how can you create this kind of inequality and inequity between one state and the other. It is a major issue. It is a thoughtless decision. It is not a reasonable decision.'

The BJP delegation comprised of Ministers Dr.Kamineni nivas, Manikyala Rao, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh G.Ganga Raju MP Challapalle Narasimha Reddy, Bhanu Prakash Reddy, Smt Santha Reddy , Ramboophla Reddy, Vishnuvardhan Reddy, Parthasarathi , K.Satyanarayana Raju MLC, Ramakrishna Reddy , Ankal Reddy, Ramesh Naidu, NT Chodwary, Smt Uma & Sunil Isaka that met the Union Ministers.