Andhra Pradesh: Amaravati is the state capital as per information available, clarifies Centre

Despite it has been eight years since the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh state, there is still confusion over the capital of Andhra Pradesh. Meanwhile, an interesting debate was held in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday on the capital of Andhra Pradesh. Union Home Minister Nithyananda Rai responding to a question by BJP MP GVL Narasimha Rao seeking clarification on the capital said that according to the information available, the capital of AP is Amaravati. However, Union Minister Nityananda Rai made clear that the decision on the capital belongs to the state and opined that the capital is Amaravati as per the information available.

The Amaravati region was decided as capital by the then TDP government after the bifurcation of the state. Later, the YSRCP government came to power in the 2019 elections and announced that it is setting up three capitals in the name of decentralisation of governance. The farmers of Amaravati were upset with this move and have been continuing the movement ever since. However, the YSRCP government has withdrawn the three capital bills the last November citin technical flaws.

Moreover, the letter written by the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) on capital has become interesting. The RBI in its reply to Jasti Veeranjane, chairman of the Amaravati Development Corporation and national secretary of the All India Panchayati Parishad letter seeking to set up an RBI office in the newly formed Andhra Pradesh said it will set up its office in Andhra Pradesh once the state capital is decided. RBI Deputy Manager MK Subhashree sent a letter to Veeranjane in response to this extent.

The RBI Deputy Manager Subhashree also replied on the issue of cash reserves and supply boxes. He said there are currently 104 currency boxes in the state and asserted that he had not received any complaints about the shortage of currency boxes at the state-level coordination committee and security committee meetings held every six months.