AP reiterates demand for Special Category Status

Amaravati: The Andhra Pradesh government in a strategic manner utilised the Governor’s address to the joint session of the Assembly and Council to reiterate its demand for the grant of Special Category Status (SCS) to the state.

s stalled the proceedings. Governor ESL Narasimhan, who presented a 58-page address in Telugu, said the Centre did not implement various assurances given in the AP State Reorganisation Act-2014 and as a result people of the state were facing hardships. He asserted that all the assurances, including the Special Status Category, should be implemented immediately.

Narasimhan said the newly born state of Andhra Pradesh was left without a capital city and it was deprived of its major sources of revenue. The suffering was compounded by revenue deficit, skewed income and assets distribution, lack of research and development (R&D) institutions.

Assets were allocated to the two successor states on the basis of their geographical location, but debt liability was distributed on population basis and income on the basis of geographical location of source of income, he said.