AP Reorganisation Act: It's Shah's duty to fulfil promises says Vinod Kumar

Hyderabad: Welcoming the Centre's decision to celebrate the Telangana Formation Day officially in New Delhi, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah attending, Telangana State Planning Board vice-chairman B Vinod Kumar on Wednesday said that Shah had the responsibility to fulfil the promises made in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act.

Leaders of various market committees and trade unions in the State met Vinod Kumar at the ministers' quarters here. Addressing them, he said eight years after the division of AP many aspects of the law were still not being implemented. He said it was the responsibility of the Union Home Minister to implement the promises made in the Act. Kumar said it was sad that neither the Kaleshwaram project nor the Palamuru Rangareddy lift irrigation scheme had been accorded national status by the Centre so far. He urged the Centre to immediately sanction the Bayyaram Steel Factory, which is the right of people of Telangana. He also demanded immediate implementation of the Central government rules to sanction a Navodaya school to every district in Telangana.

The Planning Board VC said the State government was making rapid progress in the IT sector. The Centre was not paying attention to ITIR in Telangana. He charged that the Union government was 'neglecting' to set up institutions like National Institute of Design, Mega Power Park and Textiles Cluster.

He alleged that despite decades old demand of starting a railway coach factory in Kazipet, the Modi government sanctioned it in northern States where elections are to be held. He alleged that the Centre was doing injustice to the State despite the Reorganisation Act.

Kumar regretted that the turmeric board was not sanctioned in Nizamabad district. He said turmeric crop was widely grown by farmers in northern Telangana, specially in Nizamabad and Karimnagar districts. He said although the Niti Aayog, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had recommended to the Centre to fund ambitious projects like Mission Kakatiya and Mission Bhagiratha, not even a single paisa was released so far.

He said while the global centre for traditional medicine was sanctioned to Hyderabad, it was shifted by the Centre to Jamnagar, Gujarat. "This is injustice to Telangana. He said the Centre sanctioned 150 medical colleges across the country but not a single college was allocated to Telangana, "which is nothing but discrimination".