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Business News/ Politics / Policy/  Telangana Bill before govt term ends: Shinde
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Telangana Bill before govt term ends: Shinde

Home minister says the GoM will take the final call on the status of Hyderabad and make a recommendation to the Union cabinet

Home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde. Photo: Hindustan TimesPremium
Home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde. Photo: Hindustan Times

Hyderabad: The group of ministers (GoM) looking into the splitting of Andhra Pradesh will take the final call on the status of the state’s capital Hyderabad and make a recommendation to the Union cabinet, home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said on Monday, adding that a Bill on Telangana will be prepared before the tenure of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government ends.

Hyderabad, proposed as a joint capital of the two Telugu-speaking states for a 10-year period, is one of the sticking points in Andhra Pradesh’s proposed bifurcation, with the separatists pitching for a Telangana state with Hyderabad as its capital, while people from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema want Hyderabad to be made a permanent joint capital, or accorded union territory status. Some have even suggested that Hyderabad be made a separate state.

“There are so many recommendations," Shinde told reporters at a news conference in New Delhi. “But every matter is being examined before the group of ministers, and whatever group of ministers properly understands, that thing will be recommended to the cabinet," he said.

“Hyderabad being the bone of contention, they are examining various issues related to education, law and order, revenues," said K. Nageshwar, a journalism professor at Osmania University. “I don’t think they will make Hyderabad a union territory because it will be a bone of contention forever."

The GoM, which has been tasked with finalizing the terms of the division of the state of 84 million people, will decide on the division of natural resources, allocation of state government personnel, and sharing of revenues from Hyderabad, which generates about 52% of the state’s tax revenues.

Of late, some Telangana politicians also aired concerns on whether revenues from Hyderabad district alone will be shared between the two states, or if revenues from Medak and Rangareddy districts, which adjoin Hyderabad and house a number of industries including its airport, will also be included in the revenue-sharing agreement.

“Only Hyderabad revenue district should be considered as the joint capital," Union minister for science and technology S. Jaipal Reddy said after meeting Congress leaders from the Telangana region in Hyderabad. “We will not accept if a greater burden is placed on Hyderabad on the pretext of a joint capital. We will protest," Reddy said in Telugu.

“Some people say it should be restricted only to the revenue state of Andhra. Some people say it should be extended beyond the revenue district and should be given to commissionerate," Shinde said in televised remarks on regional news channels. “No decision has been taken. The matter is under discussion of the group of ministers," said Shinde, who heads the GoM on Telangana.

The GoM is deliberating on what functions the Union government will take over from the state government during the 10-year period, according to Article 258A of the Indian Constitution, Nageshwar said.

The high-level panel is working with a sense of urgency to wrap up its task ahead of the winter session of Parliament next month, the last time the upper and lower houses of Parliament will meet before the general election in 2014 to decide the next government.

The GoM will hear the views of various political parties from Andhra Pradesh on 12-13 November, and hold its next meeting, its fifth, on 14 November. On 18 November, it will meet 11 Union cabinet ministers from Andhra Pradesh—eight from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema and three from Telangana, according to a timeline put out by Shinde earlier.

At its fourth meeting on Monday, which lasted over four-and-a-half hours, the GoM, which includes Union ministers P. Chidambaram (finance), Ghulam Nabi Azad (health and family welfare), A.K. Antony (defence), M. Veerappa Moily (petroleum and natural gas), Jairam Ramesh (rural development) and V. Narayanasamy (minister of state for personnel and the Prime Minister’s office), met the secretaries of various Union departments. It sought explanations on reports submitted by the departments of natural resources, power, mines, water resources, law, railways, oil and gas, health, education, personnel, coal, home, and the Planning Commission, among others.

“The Bill on Telangana will come. I cannot tell when, but it’ll be prepared before our period in the government ends," said Shinde. At its third meeting on 7 November, he said the GoM will target to complete its work by the month-end.

The recommendations of the GoM will be included in the final Telangana Bill, which will be submitted to the Union cabinet, which will then forward it to President Pranab Mukherjee. He will then refer the Bill to the Andhra Pradesh assembly before it is tabled in Parliament.

With things gathering pace in New Delhi, ministers from Seemandhra, as coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema are called, are stepping up lobbying efforts. Union ministers M. Pallam Raju (human resources development), K. Chiranjeevi (tourism with independent charge), D. Purandeswari (state for commerce and industry), K. Suryaprakash Reddy (state for railways), J.D. Seelam (state for finance ), and K. Sambasiva Rao (textiles) met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Antony on Monday to lobby against dividing the state.

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Published: 11 Nov 2013, 10:25 PM IST
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