Sri Krishna committee 4th option for AP (iv) Bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh into Seemandhra and Telangana with enlarged Hyderabad Metropolis as a separate Union Territory. This Union Territory will have geographical linkage and contiguity via Nalgonda district in the south-east to district Guntur in coastal Andhra and via Mahboobnagar district in the south to Kurnool district in Rayalaseema (a) This option flows from option (ii) which highlights the characteristics of Hyderabad as a growing global city. The city‟s boundaries have recently been revised to extend the municipal limits from the 175 Km2 of the erstwhile MCH to 625 km2 of the current GHMC. The erstwhile HUDA has been replaced by an expanded HMDA, headed by the Chief Minister, with a substantial area of 7073 km2, which is about twice the size of the state of Goa. In this option an extended Union Territory of approx. 12,000 km2 has been proposed, the contours of which are given in the map below: The extended Union Territory will comprise 67 Mandals, 1330 Villages, 12430 KM2 area as indicated below: (b) In the view of the Committee, Hyderabad region is critical to the growing economy of the state and the nation as a whole. Its GDP is becoming increasingly centred in the modern services and transport sector which accounted for 58% of its GDP in 2005-06, up from 43% in 1999-2000. Being the main software centre of Andhra Pradesh it also accounts for 15% of the national IT exports. Besides, infrastructure and real estate are the other key growth areas in Hyderabad. As discussed in the Chapter on Hyderabad, the city has deep social linkages with the rest of the state and this is reflected in the transport links as well as in the in-migration from the other regions. Earlier migrants from outside the state were mainly from Karnataka and Maharashtra but of late the share of eastern and northern states has visibly increased and the pattern is now closer to that of Mumbai which reflects its growing integration with the national economy. Hyderabad is also a strategically important city for the nation. It hosts many institutions of excellence and establishments of strategic importance. These not only source talent from all over the country, but are also vital from the national security perspective. (c) In view of these considerations it was found necessary to suggest an expanded Union Territory as an option. The merit of this suggestion is that all the three regions will have geographical contiguity and physical access to Hyderabad metropolis. It may also house the capitals of both Telangana and Seemandhra as in the Chandigarh model with a separate Union Territory administrative set up. Most of the administrative, police, etc. officers will be drawn from the existing state cadres. Plenty of space would be available for infrastructure development. Since this would be a reasonably larger area with a population of well over 10 million people, the model could be a mix of Chandigarh and Delhi UTs i.e. it may have its own Legislative Assembly. As has happened in Chandigarh, over the years its neighbouring towns Mohali, Derabassi, Panchkula and Parwanoo, etc. in Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh have seen remarkable growth and development. Also around Delhi, towns like Gurgaon, Sonepat and Faridabad in Haryana and Ghaziabad, NOIDA in U.P. have come up and are experiencing high growth and appreciable development owing to the capital growth centre. Similarly, within this proposed new Union Territory, all the three neighbouring regions (Telangana, coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema) will automatically piggyback on the economic engine of Hyderabad metropolis and gain full momentum for achieving appreciable economic growth and employment. This option can perhaps be made acceptable to all three regions. It is anticipated that demand for a separate Rayalaseema may also get initiated in the event of separation of Telangana and if a decision to that effect is taken for a separate Rayalaseema at any given time in the future, the Rayalaseema capital could also be housed in this larger Union Territory. Since the revenues from the U.T. will go to the Central exchequer, the Union Government in consultation with the new states, representing all the three regions, can work out a mutually acceptable formula for equitable apportionment of the grants based on the revenues earned from the Union Territory. (d) On the flip side, it may be stated that this proposal will receive stiff opposition from Telangana protagonists for two reasons i)Telangana has always considered Hyderabad as an integral part of the region and they 450 would not be happy with a common capital of all the regions located in Hyderabad and ii) partly merging portions of the two Telangana districts i.e. Nalgonda and Mahabubnagar may also be resented (although in the long term these districts/Mandals are expected to grow economically at a much faster pace than at present). Besides, there may be opposition from all the three regions that part of the state i.e. Hyderabad and adjoining areas will become a Union Territory. As Hyderabad is a major economic hub and the capital city, which the state has nourished and developed over a period of time, this proposal may find opposition from several quarters. As such, while there are some positives of this option it may be difficult to reach a political consensus in making this solution acceptable to all. Particularly from Telangana, serious resistance and agitation on this issue could be expected. It also has to be borne in mind that Telangana with or without Hyderabad is likely to experience a spurt in Maoist activity. This aspect has been covered in detail in the Chapter on Law and Order and Internal Security.
Posted on: Sat, 14 Sep 2013 08:06:04 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015