M A I N   N E W S

Cabinet clears Telangana Bill; no UT status for Hyderabad
Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service

The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill, approved in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at his residence, rejects the major demand of the Seemandhra region — to grant UT status to Hyderabad till the residual state builds its own capital. Hyderabad will be the joint capital of Telangana and residual Andhra for 10 years. Also, the Bill rejects the popular demand for including two districts of Rayalaseema — Anantpur and Kurnool — in Telangana. In the current form, there is no Rayala- Telangana and the new state will have 10 districts as originally approved by the Congress Working Committee resolution. Although top government sources insisted that most demands of Seemandhra region had been conceded, Cabinet ministers from Seemandhra rejected the claims. HRD Minister MM Pallam Raju and Textiles Minister KS Rao questioned the Bill cleared by the Cabinet and said “it simply window-dresses the concerns of Seemandhra region without offering any credible security cover to them”. In the Cabinet meeting, KS Rao questioned why no Cabinet note or agenda of the draft reorganisation Bill, cleared by the GoM a day before, was circulated among ministers before the meeting.

Talking to The Tribune after the Cabinet meeting, Pallam Raju said he would vote against the Bill whenever it comes up for voting in the Parliament. “There is no question of me supporting this Bill. We are thoroughly disappointed. The Bill as cleared today does not provide any credible security cover to the Seemandhra residents living in and around Hyderabad, doesn’t talk of protecting their employment opportunities most of which exist in Hyderabad and doesn’t ensure the rights of students enrolled in educational institutions situated in Hyderabad,” he said. “The Bill is ambiguous on revenue sharing between Hyderabad and residual Andhra. Let us not forget major revenue earner for the state currently is Hyderabad. When you take that away from Seemandhra, hardly anything remains,” said Pallam Raju.

No Rayala-Telangana

* The new state will have 10 districts; the demand for including two districts of Rayalaseema — Anantpur and Kurnool — in Telangana has been rejected

* Hyderabad will be the joint capital of Telangana and residual Andhra for 10 years.