The Andhra Pradesh government has moved the Supreme Court seeking an equitable and expeditious division of assets and liabilities between itself and Telangana. It contended that the actual division of assets has not commenced more than eight years after Telangana was born. It alleged that the non-division of the assets has benefited Telangana since about 91% of these are situated in Hyderabad. The Andhra Pradesh government claimed that the non-division has adversely affected the people of the state, and violated their constitutional rights.
"Non-apportionment of the assets has led to a multitude of issues adversely affecting and violating the fundamental and other constitutional rights of the people of the State of Andhra Pradesh including the employees of the said Institutions… Without adequate funding and actual division of Assets in terms of the apportionment made under the Act (The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014), the functioning of the said Institutions in the State of Andhra Pradesh has been severely stunted," the plea filed recently said.
The petition is likely to come up for hearing on Friday. The petition said the employees working in state institutions (approximately 1,59,096 of them) have been in limbo since 2014 solely because there has been no proper division. "The position of pensionable employees who have retired post bifurcation is pitiable and many of them have not received terminal benefits… It is therefore imperative that all these Assets be divided at the earliest and a quietus be put to the issue," it said.
The Andhra Pradesh government said its institutions are an extension of the State and perform a range of basic and essential functions. "Hyderabad (which is now a part of Telangana) was the capital of the combined State of Andhra Pradesh. Hyderabad was not only transformed into an economic powerhouse as a result of the 'Capital Centric Development Model' but also most of the institutions of governance (intended for the welfare of the people of all the regions of the State) including government infrastructure was exclusively centred in and developed around the city of Hyderabad by extensively investing resources of the combined State," the plea said.
Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated and the new state of Telangana came into existence on June 2, 2014. After the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad became the joint capital of the two states and the transitional arrangement is scheduled to end in 2024.
Recently, former MP Undavalli Arun Kumar had criticised the state government’s stand in the Supreme Court with regard to a petition filed by him and several others, challenging the way Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated. Undavalli said that the state government told the Supreme Court on November 26 that it had not objected to the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, and wondered if Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy was aware of the stand taken by the state government in the case. He had urged the state government to join him in fighting the case.
In response, YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) general secretary and Andhra Pradesh government advisor Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy said that the YSRCP had always opposed bifurcation. He said that the state government will put forward its arguments in the case pending in the Supreme Court challenging the manner in which Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act was passed. He also said that the party would fight for the promises made during the bifurcation.