Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy on Saturday demanded Special Category Status (SCS) for his state during the meeting of the Fifth Governing Council of NITI Aayog in New Delhi. Jagan, who had made his demand clear even before the meeting, termed special status as an 'essential lifeline' for Andhra.
"It is disheartening when we hear several rumours and excuses for not granting special category status. In the history of this country no other state was bifurcated with a pre-condition that special category status would be accorded to compensate the economic and financial hardships such bifurcation would entail, which was supported by both ruling and opposition parties that had representatives from all the states," Jagan was quoted as saying.
The YSRCP chief pointed out that after bifurcation, Andhra had inherited around 59 percent of the population and debt but only 47 percent of the revenue.
He also criticised his predecessor N Chandrababu Naidu and said that the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) had indulged in 'mis-governance' and had "institutionalised corruption". This, had left the state with high unemployment among youth, a lack of investment and a sharp deterioration of public education and health, Jagan claimed.
A day ahead of the meeting, on Friday, Jagan said that he had asked Union Home Minister Amit Shah at their meeting in New Delhi to "soften the Prime Minister's heart" on their demand for special category status to his state.
In his first visit to the national capital after taking power, Jagan met Shah and raised the issue of special category status as well as an amicable settlement of all contentious issues with neighbouring Telangana.
In his over 15-minute meeting, he also informed the Home Minister about the issues of sharing of river waters and division of assets and liabilities among others between the two Telugu-speaking states.
"I took an appointment with Home Minister today (Friday) evening to try and prevail on him, to also soften the PM's heart on special category status... what we will definitely be asking for in tomorrow's (Saturday's) NITI Aayog meeting," Jagan told reporters after the meeting.
IANS inputs