Amendments to Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act Likely: Venkaiah

HYDERABAD: The AP Reorganisation Act 2014 is riddled with loopholes and the Narendra Modi-led government is likely to make amendments to plug them, said Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu here on Sunday.

He claimed the Act was  hurried up at the fag end of the UPA regime. “It (AP Reorganisation Act 2014) has many loopholes and amendments would be brought to check the anomalies in the Act in the Parliament soon,” Venkaiah said.

The minister said he was in consultation with all political parties to elicit their views with regard to the changes. “The issue is being dealt with by the law department. They are examining as to whether these proposed changes require any constitutional amendment or whether an amendment to the Act in the Parliament would be enough,” he added.

Venkaiah said the Bill was drafted in such a haste that the number of legislative council members belonging to Telangana and residuary AP had been given incorrectly. “Had it been drafted properly by taking enough time, such mistakes would not have crept in. So there is a need for a relook at the Act to make it more effective,” he observed.

As the bifurcation process was clumsily handled by the then UPA Government, he said the Rajya Sabha MPs were not allotted between Telangana and AP, based on their nativity. “Take for example the case of MP K Keshav Rao, who hails from Telangana. He has been allotted to Krishna district,” he added.

The Union Minister said such issues have created a dilemma in the minds of MPs on how to use their MPLADS fund. “There is a mixed opinion on how to use the MPLADS. Some want the MPs to spend their amount in the region they are allotted to. Others say the MPs should spent their funds in their native state. There is a lot of confusion,” Venkaiah said.