This Article is From Aug 30, 2015

Special Status, Capital City Issues to Figure in Andhra Pradesh Assembly Monsoon Session

Special Status, Capital City Issues to Figure in Andhra Pradesh Assembly Monsoon Session

Governor ESL Narasimhan issued a notification last week for the Assembly session from August 31.

Hyderabad: The demand for according special category status, other promises made to Andhra Pradesh during its bifurcation, and construction of a new capital city are among the issues that are likely to figure prominently during the monsoon session of Assembly beginning in Hyderabad tomorrow.

The deficit rainfall in the state which affected crops and the ongoing irrigation projects would be among other major issues expected to come up for debate during the session, which is expected to last about a week.

Governor ESL Narasimhan issued a notification last week for the Assembly session from August 31.

The Opposition YSR Congress held a statewide bandh yesterday over the delay in according special status to the state. YSRCP president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy said the party would take up the issue during the Assembly session.

The promise of special status, in addition to several other benefits, was made to AP by the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Parliament during its bifurcation last year.

Alleging that the NDA allies - BJP and TDP - have failed to implement the promises in the last 15 months since they assumed office, the YSR Congress, Congress and other parties have hit the streets.

Supported by the Congress and others, the CPI organised a shut down earlier this month and the protests are only likely to continue in the days to come.

Under attack from the Opposition, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other Union Ministers last week and placed the demands for special status, a development package better than the 'Bundelkhand package', construction of multi-purpose Polavaram irrigation project (which has been given national status) and assistance to develop the capital city, among others.

The Prime Minister had directed NITI Ayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya to work on the issue and prepare a road map.

The process of gathering land for development of the state's capital city in the Vijayawada-Guntur region would also come up prominently in the Assembly session, though the state government claimed that it had already pooled more than 33,000 acres under its 'Land Pooling Scheme'.

The scheme offers share in developed land to farmers, among other benefits.

Amid stiff resistance from farmers and other land owners, the state government had last week sought to invoke the Land Acquisition Act to acquire about a couple of thousands of acres more for the construction of capital city.

The Opposition lent its support to the protests by farmers and pressure mounted on the government with actor-turned-politician and Jana Sena party founder Pawan Kalyan, an ally of ruling TDP, visiting the capital region in support of the land owners.

State Municipal Administration Minister P Narayana, however, said last week that the government has been in favour of land pooling and not land acquisition. The government would try to take land by persuading the farmers to join the land pooling scheme, he said.

Noting that the Chief Minister has always favoured land pooling, Narayana had said it was he who announced the move to initiate land acquisition to avoid delay.

The Singapore government had prepared the master plans for the three-layered capital city (named Amaravati) construction - capital region, capital city and seed capital.
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