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No spl status for AP
New Delhi: No Special Status for Andhra Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh (Seemandhra) does not meet National Development Council (NDC) criteria for special category State.
- Law Ministry has said bypassing NDC through legislative route not advisable
- Former PM Manmohan Singh had announced Spl Status for AP in RS
- Cong insists the new Govt can follow what Vajpayee had done for Uttarakhand
New Delhi: The Planning Commission has virtually ruled out the Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh, which came into being on June 2. As per the set guidelines, Andhra Pradesh does not qualify. Under the Special Category Status, the State receives 90 per cent Plan assistance as grant and only 10 per cent as loan.
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In its presentation to Planning Minister Rao Inderjit Singh, the Planning Commission said, “Andhra Pradesh (Seemandhra) does not meet National Development Council (NDC) criteria for special category State.”
The Commission also pointed out to the Planning Minister that any such proposal would have to be endorsed by the country’s apex planning body, the National Development Council (NDC) headed by the Prime Minister with Cabinet Ministers and all Chief Ministers on its board. This makes the task of the Modi Government much more difficult to fulfil the commitment made by the previous Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre of according Special Category State Status to Andhra Pradesh. .
The Congress, on the other hand, is arguing that the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had announced Special Category Status to Uttarakhand, after which the Planning Commission notified it and the National Development Council (NDC) endorsed it.
The same pattern can be followed by Modi Government, the Congress is insisting. The then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in February this year made a commitment on the floor of the Rajya Sabha, saying, “For the purpose of Central assistance, special category status will be extended to the successor State of Andhra Pradesh comprising 13 districts, including the four districts of north coastal Andhra for a period of five years. This will put the States’ finances on a firmer footing.”
Manmohan Singh announced a six-point package for residuary Andhra Pradesh, including tax-incentives. The special category status to various States is accorded by the NDC based on the consideration of special criteria. These include hilly and difficult terrain; low population density and or sizeable share of tribal population; strategic location along borders with neighbouring countries; economic and infrastructure backwardness and non-viable nature of State finances. At present, the existing 11 special category status States are Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Uttarakhand, Nagaland, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Sikkim.
