Andhra Assembly passes 3 Bills, 50% medical seats set aside for poor students

The AP Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments (Amendment) Bill will pave the way for appointment of special invitees to the TTD, which has been challenged in the High Court.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy in the Assembly
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy in the Assembly
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The Andhra Pradesh Assembly on Monday, March 21, passed three Bills -- the Andhra Pradesh Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments (Amendment) Bill 2022, the Andhra Pradesh (Regulation of Trade in Indian Made Foreign Liquor, Foreign Liquor) (Amendment) Bill 2022, and the Andhra Pradesh Private Universities (Establishment and Regulation) (Amendment) Bill, 2022.

Minister for Endowments, Vellampalli Srinivas, who tabled the Endowments (Amendment) Bill, said that it will pave the way for appointment of special invitees to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) and the Tirumala temple for administrative convenience. In September, the Andhra Pradesh High Court stayed a Government Order (GO) appointing 52 members to the TTD trust board as special invitees. The court was hearing multiple PILs against the appointments , with the petitioners arguing that the move is illegal, arbitrary and contrary to the Andhra Pradesh Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments Act of 1987 among other concerns. 

Later, presenting the Andhra Pradesh (Regulation of Trade in Indian Made Foreign Liquor, Foreign Liquor) (Amendment) Bill 2022, Deputy CM and Excise Minister K Narayana Swamy detailed the steps taken by the state for prohibition of alcohol in phases, and slammed opposition TDP for spreading 'false' propaganda about the government.

After moving the Andhra Pradesh Private Universities (Establishment and Regulation) (Amendment) Bill, 2022 for consideration, Education Minister Adimulapu Suresh said the previous government had introduced the Andhra Pradesh Private Universities Act in 2016 with the sole intention of corporatisation and commercialisation of education, and provided many subsidies to private universities indulging in corruption.

He said the state with the agenda of accessibility of quality education to everyone has decided to ensure 50% seats in medical colleges and 35% seats in engineering colleges for poor people in Greenfield and Brownfield universities.

Meanwhile, despite the setback in the Andhra Pradesh High Court, the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government on Monday, March 21, once again said it desires to have three capitals, one in each region, to ensure inclusive and balanced growth. Replying to a query from the ruling YSRCP members C Ramachandraiah, Ummareddy Venkateswarlu and D Srinivas in the Legislative Council, Minister for Finance and Planning Buggana Rajendranath said the state has adopted the policy of decentralisation with an intent to take administration close to the citizens and, thereby, bring the common man into the mainstream of development.

The government desires to have three capitals one in each region to ensure inclusive growth, he said. With focus on decentralised development, he said the government issued a notification for the formation of 26 districts. This will ensure that the administration is more proximate to people, he added.

On March 3, a three-member Bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, headed by Chief Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra, ruled that the state Legislature lacked competence to make any legislation for shifting, bifurcating or trifurcating the capital.

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