Manmohan Singh stood firm on Telangana formation not succumbing to political pressures
The Hindu
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's pivotal role in the formation of Telangana State, facing protests, and assuring special package for Andhra Pradesh.
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has played a pivotal role in the formation of separate Telangana State, trying to assuage the hurt feelings of the Seemandhra people and at the same time, standing firm on the passage of the State bifurcation bill.
The announcement on commencement of process for formation of separate Telangana was made by P. Chidambaram, then Home Minister in Dr. Singh’s Government, on December 9, 2009, which was a defining moment for carving out separate Telangana State. But this has resulted in wide spread protests across Seemandhra region prompting the Central Government to work out modalities to evolve consensus.
Dr. Singh took the initiative of constituting the Justice B.N. Srikrishna Committee in 2010 tasking it with holding consultations with stakeholders across the erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh in this direction. The committee gave six options including creation of separate Telangana with Hyderabad as its capital and keeping united Andhra Pradesh with statutory measures for empowerment of Telangana region.
The extensive ground work done by the committee during its 11-month study subsequently paved the way for drafting the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 (popularly known was Telangana Bill) overseen by senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, then a member of Dr. Singh’s government. Dr. Singh took the initiative to hold discussions with top BJP leaders at a luncheon meeting with Telangana as the main agenda ahead of the introduction of reorganisation bill in the Lok Sabha which yielded positive results with both the sides reaching a near consensus.
The Reorganisation Act was passed by the Lok Sabha on February 18, 2014 amid ruckus created by some members, MPs from Seemandhra region in particular, that witnessed the infamous pepper spray incident on the floor of the House by the then Vijayawada MP Lagadapati Rajagopal.
Dr. Singh gave additional assurances to Andhra Pradesh when the Bill was introduced in Rajya Sabha on February 20, 2014 which included the special category status to the successor State for receiving Central assistance. He recalled that the Bill already stipulated the Centre to take appropriate fiscal measures including offer of tax incentives to promote industrialisation and economic growth of the two successor states and a special development package for the backward regions of successor State of Andhra Pradesh, in particular for the backward districts of coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema regions.
The development package would be on the lines of K-B-K (Koraput-Bolangir-Kalahandi) special plan in Odisha and the Bundelkhand special package in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. He assured the Centre’s commitment to execute the Polavaram project besides announcing that amendments, if needed, to facilitate smooth and full rehabilitation and resettlement for Polavaram project affected families will be given effect to at the earliest.
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