T Bill to AP by Nov-end

T Bill to AP by Nov-end
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Highlights

Telangana Bill To Andhra Pradesh Assembly By November End. The Union Government has set the deadline of November-end for sending the Telangana Bill to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly.

  • MHA calls Secy-level meet on Nov 5
  • Secys have been asked to hasten the process
  • Water sharing top on the agenda
  • Capital for new state will be taken up later
New Delhi: The Union Government has set the deadline of November-end for sending the Telangana Bill to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly. The Bill will be taken up for debate and passing in the winter session of parliament. Highly-placed sources in the government confided that the Bill, and not a Resolution, would be sent to the State. The Bill will be given a “time-limit” with the direction that it should be “debated and the feedback” should be sent to the Centre.
Whatever the feedback, the Centre is determined to go ahead and pass the Telangana Bill in the winter session. In a bid to fast-track the whole process of Telangana formation, the Union Home Ministry has convened a meeting of Union secretaries on Friday to give their inputs on the bifurcation of the state.
The issues of water-sharing, electricity distribution and revenue-sharing will be addressed, before the drafting of the Bill, besides forming a view on dealing with the issue of Article 371-D in the Constitution. The secretaries will be asked to complete their homework and give their report by November 5, ahead of the November 7 Group of Ministers (GoM) meeting.
Sources stated that a couple of more GoM meetings would be required to finally resolve all the contentious issues.
As was the case with Hyderabad, the Centre is facing difficulty in settling the issue of water-sharing between the two states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
“Water war has already broken out between the two regions,” stated a Union Minister. Sharing of Krishna and Godavari rivers for irrigation has become a bone of contention, which has to be amicably settled. However, irrespective of the rigid stands taken by both the regions, the Centre will be asking the secretaries to hasten the whole process, in order to place their recommendations before the Group of Ministers, post-Diwali.
Interestingly, though the Bill has to identify the capital of the residuary state, the GoM, sources stated, was likely to ignore the issue for the present, as it might reopen another pandora’s box. Several places are being suggested like Vijayawada, Prakasham and Vishakhapatnam, but the GoM is steering clear of the issue. It first wants to go into the core issues, rather than address the problem that has to be decided after 10 years, when Hyderabad will finally be handed over to Telangana.
Besides the inputs given by the Ministries and Departments, the GoM will also take into consideration the Antony Committee Report, which is yet to be submitted to them. The Antony Committee Report is expected to recommend a series of measures like the IIT, IIM, super-speciality hospital, Central University and International Airport in the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh.

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