On Board Air India One:
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Tuesday that the issue of the creation of a separate state of Telangana had the government's attention in the right earnest.
Speaking to reporters on board his special aircraft while returning from New York after attending the UN General Assembly session, the prime minister said the government was seized of the issue.
"The Telangana issue is receiving the attention of the government in right earnest. As soon as I go back, I will find out from the home minster what stage he has been able to reach up to. But this is very much on our minds," he said.
The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) has taken a decision to carve out a separate state of Telangana from Andhra Pradesh. The move has not found favour with people from the Seemandhra region of the state.