Andhra Pradesh will be partitioned to create a new State of Telangana. Hyderabad, the crown jewel, will become the shared capital of both, the new Telangana State and the yet, officially unnamed Seemandhra region, for 10 years from the day the partition comes into effect.
The Union Cabinet on Thursday formally approved Congress’ political decision to divide Andhra Pradesh into two states. By all accounts, it held a yet another nervy meeting, like when it decided on withdrawing the Ordinance on convicted lawmakers. But the Congress-majority Cabinet stuck to the party’s Telangana political script.
The Cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, also approved the proposal to set up a Group of Ministers (GoM) to work out modalities of creating the new state, which will be the 29th state. The GoM will comprise ministers from home affairs, finance, human resource development, health, irrigation, power, environment and forests, railways; the deputy chairman of planning commission will go into the economic issues on creation of the new State.
Emerging from the Cabinet meet, Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde announced that the Cabinet had cleared the resolution for carving out a separate State out of Andhra Pradesh.
“GoM to look into special financial disbursement for the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh and meet the special needs of backward regions of the state. Hyderabad to be common capital of Telangana and Seemandhra for 10 years,” he said. “After the creation of the new state, the security and guarantees including fundamental rights of the people of coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema and Telangana will be ensured,” he said. The State of Telangana will have 10 districts out of the 23 districts of Andhra Pradesh.
The Cabinet decision is on the lines of the July 30 Congress Working Committee (CWC) resolution which said, “It is resolved to request the Central government to take steps in accordance with the Constitution to form a separate State of Telangana within a definite timeframe.”
Cabinet Minister from Telangana region S Jaipal Reddy congratulated the people of Telangana and hoped that the Telangana Bill would be introduced in winter session of Parliament.