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Shinde: Telangana Before 2014 Polls
Shinde: T Before 2014 Polls, Process of Creating Telangana. General Election in 2014.Signalling the Centre’s resolve to press ahead with the process of creating Telangana, Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde on Monday declared that Telangana would be a reality before the upcoming General Election in 2014.
REFUSES TO SET DEADLINE FOR PASSING THE BILL
- Winter session cut short, to be held from December 5 to 20
- GoM meets Secretaries on AP bifurcation
- Will have another meeting on Thursday
- No decision on contentious issues like Hyd, Article 371-D
- Several proposals on the future of Hyd
- Shinde hopes to sort out differences with Kiran
Signalling the Centre’s resolve to press ahead with the process of creating Telangana, Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde on Monday declared that Telangana would be a reality before the upcoming General Election in 2014. Shortly, the State Reorganisation Bill would be taken up by the Union Cabinet, which would approve the same and forward it to President Pranab Mukherjee.
The President would refer it to Andhra Pradesh Assembly. “The Bill will be ready as early as possible,” Shinde remarked. Addressing a media conference, Shinde refused to set a deadline for parliament to pass the Telangana Bill. Noncommittal, when asked whether the Telangana Bill would be passed in the Winter Session of parliament, Shinde, however, declared that it would be passed before the General Election in 2014.
The winter session of parliament has been drastically curtailed owing to the Assembly elections, and is now slated to meet from December 5 to 20. The schedule was finalised by the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA) earlier in the day. The GoM chaired by Shinde reviewed the Telangana process with Secretaries belonging to various Union Ministries. In the day-long meeting, the Union Secretaries of Water Resources, Power, Coal, Petroleum, Health, HRD and Planning Ministries were asked to submit their views on various terms of reference of the GoM and the meeting was called for greater clarifications.
“The meetings are in the final lap,” stated Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, after the meeting. It is learnt that the GoM will have yet another round of meetings on Thursday with the Secretaries of Law, Railways, Finance and Personnel Ministries.
Shinde, it was attended by Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh and Minister of State for Personnel, V Narayansamy Shinde pointed out that the GoM was looking into the overall problems arising out of the decision on the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. This includes, water, power, education and finance, among other issues.
The GoM will go into the details to find solutions. On Hyderabad, he said the matter was under the consideration of the GoM. There were suggestions to limit Hyderabad to the municipal limits, while another view wanted that it should include the GHMC limits, when it is made the joint capital. There is no decision yet on contentious issues like the status of Hyderabad and Article 371-D. Shinde said there are a number of suggestions on taking the revenue district, or the area of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, comprising the Police Commissionerate of Hyderabad and Cyberabad or the area of Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority. There are also recommendations of Justice B N Srikrishna Committee Report and suggestions received from other quarters. All such recommendations and suggestions are under the consideration of the GoM, which will take the call.
On whether deletion of Article 371-D would require Constitution Amendment, he said the matter was under the consideration of the GoM and it would take the decision on it. Asked why Antony Committee set up by Congress president Sonia Gandhi did not visit Hyderabad, Shinde said it had invited various groups to submit their views. “I have, myself, invited the political parties meetings for a number of times earlier. On Tuesday, I have invited them again for a meeting,” he said. When told that while the Centre is fast-tracking the process on Telangana, but Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumr Reddy has reasserted that he has not changed his views on keeping Andhra Pradesh united, Shinde said he has not met the Chief Minister and when they meet, things will be sorted out.
