Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla will chair a high-level meeting of secretaries of various Central departments in New Delhi on Tuesday to discuss pending (post-bifurcation) bilateral issues between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Chief Secretaries of AP and Telangana, Sameer Sharma and Somesh Kumar respectively, will also attend the meeting in the North Block, official sources said.


For the first time, the Centre has listed a 14-point agenda for the meeting, wherein the major contentious issues under the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014 will be taken up, the sources said.


Issues that will come up discussion, and possible resolution, include: Division of government corporations and companies listed under Schedule IX of the APRA, 2014, bifurcation of state institutions (under Schedule X), division of Singareni Collieries Company, AP Heavy Machinery Engineering Limited, division of cash and bank balances, funds under Centrally-Sponsored Schemes and public debt pertaining to Externally-Aided Projects.


There are 89 corporations, entities under Schedule IX and 107 institutions under Schedule X.


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Issues especially related to AP, like proposed tax incentives, development grant for seven backward districts in Rayalaseema and north coastal Andhra, bridging the resource gap, removal of anomalies in taxation matters, Central support for creation of new Capital city, establishment of national educational institutions and provision of rapid rail connectivity from the new capital.


Ever since the bifurcation of the then united Andhra Pradesh, both the Telugu states have been at loggerheads on different issues, mainly sharing of river water and division of assets. In the first few months after he became the Chief Minister in May 2019, Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy enjoyed some bonhomie with his Telangana counterpart K Chandrasekhar Rao, raising hope that the post-bifurcation issues between the two states might get resolved.


In fact, Jagan Mohan Reddy went a step ahead, conceded KCR's request and surrendered the properties in AP's possession in Hyderabad, which elicited no reciprocation of any kind.


Things subsequently turned sour between the two Chief Ministers and matters were back to square one.


The Central government took a "consistent approach" that "bilateral issues can be resolved only with the cooperation of the state governments concerned." The Centre also maintained that it could act "only as facilitator" for amicable settlement of the disputes in a "spirit of mutual accommodation and understanding." BJP MP GVL Narasimha Rao has been consistently raising in Parliament the issue of unsettled disputes between the two Telugu states, to which the Centre said it held 26 meetings so far to build consensus.


The AP government raised the issue at the last two meetings of the Southern Zonal Council meetings, following which Union Home Minister Amit Shah took the initiative and paved the way for resumption of talks between the two states. PTI DBV SS SS