HYDERABAD: As a damage control measure after Telangana and Andhra Pradesh expressed unhappiness over the Centre’s failures to implement assurances in the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba met officials from the two states in New Delhi on Monday.In the meeting, the Home Secretary assured Telangana that the periodical wagon overhauling workshop at Kazipet would be sanctioned by the Centre once the State handed over the land for the same.
He also promised that work on horticulture university will be started soon at Mulugu in Gajwel Assembly segment. Telangana officials informed the Union official that they had identified 160 acre land for the wagon workshop, but it belonged to the Endowments department. They have to seek permission from the high court to take the land over. The officials also said that they had identified land for the horticulture university.
As Chief Secretary SK Joshi’s presence was required at the Budget session of the State Assembly in Hyderabad, Telangana Bhavan Resident Commissioner G Ashok Kumar attended the meeting on behalf of Telangana. Sources said that besides the above two assurances, Telangana had also asked to set up Bayyaram steel plant and tribal university in Mulugu.
State officials said that they had already identified 200 acres of land out of 512 acres needed for the tribal university, and they had to obtain permission for another 200 acres of land as it was forest land. However, the Home Ministry officials informed that the Centre has constituted a committee on finding whether iron ore is available at Bayyaram. Once the report was out, the Centre could take a decision on the steel plant, they said. “We have discussed four assurances in the meeting. There is no major decision on the issues relating to IX and X Schedules of AP Reorganisation Act,” Ashok Kumar told Express.