AP, TG move forward to settle bifurcation issues

Hyderabad: In a step forward to resolve the inter-state issues relating to bifurcation between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh which have been hanging fire for over a decade, the first meeting of the official committee consisting of senior-most officers would be held here in December.

It may be recalled after the change in governments in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, the two Chief Ministers A Revanth Reddy and N Chandrababu Naidu met in Hyderabad and decided to constitute two committees. One committee of officials and a committee of ministers from both the states.

Following this, the Telangana government has written a letter to Andhra Pradesh that it was ready for the bilateral talks in December. The Andhra Pradesh government also responded positively.

This committee will discuss issues like the division of assets and payment of long-pending power dues.

They would be holding a series of meetings and finding solutions to the pending issues.

In case there are any issues that were beyond their preview, they would be referred to the ministerial committee later. The officers’ committee will be headed by respective chief secretaries.

Disputes on the distribution of government buildings and corporations in Schedule 9 (under Sections 53, 68 and 71 of the Act) and the institutions under Schedule Ten (under Section 75 of the Act) would be taken up on a priority basis in the meeting. Deadlock on the division of assets and payment of power dues of more than Rs 10,000 crore to Telangana would also be discussed, sources said.