VIJAYAWADA: The Central government has asserted that it has no role to play in determining the capital of Andhra Pradesh. “The capital city of a state is decided by the respective state government. The Centre has no role in it,” the Central government said in a counter-affidavit filed before the High Court. The court was hearing a petition filed by Poluri Srinivas Rao directing the Centre to grant Special Category Status (SCS) and implement the provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act.
Additional Solicitor General of India N Harinath, on behalf of Lalitha T Hedaoo, under secretary, Union Ministry of Home Affairs, on Thursday filed the counter affidavit.Making a mention of Section 6 of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, the Centre said it had formed an expert committee chaired by retired IAS officer KC Sivaramakrishnan to study alternatives for a new capital for AP.
The committee submitted its report on August 30, 2014, and it was sent to AP on September 1, 2014. “Subsequently, the government of AP notified that the capital city be named as Amaravati. It may further be mentioned that the capital city of a state is decided by the respective state government. Central government has no role it,” the counter affidavit said.
The counter also mentioned that the state government, through the AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of all Regions Act, 2020, provided for three seats of governance — Amaravati, Visakhapatnam and Kurnool.
Outlining the status of assurances made by the then PM in the Rajya Sabha during the discussion on the AP Reorganisation Bill, 2014, the Centre said grant of SCS to AP was considered keeping in view the larger interest of the nation. “The 14th Finance Commission did not make a distinction between special and general category states. Its approach was to fill the resource gap of each state to the extent possible through tax devolution, and if such devolution could not cover the assessed gap, for certain states, a revenue deficit grant was provided. Assessing the revenue deficit gap, the Finance Commission recommended for Rs 22,113 crore to be paid for five years. Of this, Rs 22,111.88 crore has been provided to AP during 2015-20,” the Centre said.
I-Day to be celebrated in V’wada
Independence Day celebrations will be held in Vijayawada — not Visakhapat-nam — this year. Arrangements for this will be made at the Indira Gandhi Municipal Stadium