AP Reorganisation Act scientific, claims Jairam Ramesh

Tirupati: If the State Reorganisation Act was unscientific why don’t the present rulers make it scientific now, challenged former Union Minister and the key figure in drafting the State Reorganisation Bill in 2014 Jairam Ramesh. 

Highlights:

•  If the Reorganisation Act is unscientific make it scientific, the former Union Minister tells BJP and TDP
• The governments at the Centre and in the State  failed to make sincere efforts to implement  the Act, he alleges

Speaking at a programme on “AP State Reorganisation Act 2014, Assurances – Implementation’ in Tirupati on Saturday, Jairam lambasted both Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for their failure in implementing the Act. “Now four years have passed since the Act was passed in Parliament. It has so many features for overall development of the State. 

The Act was fair to Telangana, but it was fairer to AP. If the Act was implemented fully, several important places in AP would have been developed on par with Hyderabad”, he maintained.

During the four years after reorganisation, BJP at Centre and TDP in State were ruling and both of them are allies. Neither BJP nor TDP was serious in implementing the Act, he said. “AP Chief Minister was saying that bifurcation was done on unscientific lines. 

When his alliance partner was ruling the country, why did not he put any pressure on him to make it scientific in these four years? If they come up with any proposal to make the bill as scientific, Congress will extend its support. But, that was not the case. The truth is that it was not unscientific and it was more scientific. I challenge the poor boy from Chandragiri, if you are not satisfied with the BJP’s governance withdraw your support”, he averred.

Instead of implementing the assurances given in the Act, the CM and PM were enacting dramas and TDP is nothing but Telugu Drama Party. Supporting the bifurcation of the state, Jairam said, several provisions like special package for four Rayalaseema districts and three north coastal districts were put in the Act. 

“Had the bifurcation was not done, Institutes like IISER, IIT or International Airport would not have come for Tirupati. Whatever progress was done so far in AP was all due to the provisions of Reorganisation Act. Development in Visakhapatnam, Amaravati, Vijayawada, Tirupati etc. was done as per the assurances given by the UPA government. 

If the Congress party come to power in 2019, the act will be implemented fully in letter and spirit. I am sure it will happen definitely”, he disclosed. Polavaram hasto be implemented by Central government according to the Act. But it was taken up by the State government just for the sake of commissions from contractors, he alleged.

Former MP Chinta Mohan said that it was not correct to say that the State was divided after closing the doors of Lok Sabha. It was the Parliamentary practice that before passing any Act they first ring three bells and close the doors. The state bifurcation was done more scientifically than the three states which were divided during Vajpayee’s tenure as PM. After bifurcation no one has lost anything.