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Union Home Minister P Chidambaram has
stuck to his word by announcing the much-publicised committee on deciding the
fate of “Andhra Pradesh” on Wednesday morning.
The committee, headed by retired Supreme Court judge Justice B N Srikrishna,
comprises four others as members, including three academics -- Dr Ranbir Singh,
Vice-Chancellor of the National Law University, Delhi, Dr Abusaleh Shariff,
Senior Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute, Delhi, Dr
(Ms) Ravinder Kaur, Professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences,
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi and a retired bureacrat Vinod K
Duggal, former Union Home Secretary, who will be the Member-Secretary.
The academics are experts in various fields and Duggal had a vast experience in
various ministries.
So far so good. But what is confusing in the committee is that it does not
mention whether the committee will look into the problems arising out of the
bifurcation of the state and suggest remedies for the same or is just confined
to holding consultations with various stakeholders and submit a report to the
government. Going by the press release from the Home Ministry, it is meant to
hold wide-ranging consultations with all sections of the people and all
political parties and groups in Andhra Pradesh on the prevailing situation.
However, it also says the committee has been constituted in pursuance of
statements made by Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on December 9, 2009 and
December 23, 2009 and the meeting he held with the eight recognised political
parties of Andhra Pradesh on January 5, 2010. “In all these statements,
Chidambaram specifically talked about the Telangana state formation. So, there
is no need to specifically mention about Telangana in the press release,” a
Telangana leader interpreted.
Anyway, the clouds will be cleared once the Committee finalises the terms of
reference, which are now being drafted.
Courtesy: GA
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