AP, TS ministerial panel meet put off

The scheduled meeting between ministerial committees of TS and AP in the presence of Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan at the Raj Bhavan on Monday to resolve bifurcation-related issues has been postponed.

With no major progress in the meetings held thrice earlier, both the governments sought postponement of the meeting.

TS has been insisting on handing over of vacant Assembly, Secretariat and HoD buildings in Hyderabad allotted to AP but there has been no response from the AP government, besides assets of 9th and 10th Schedule institutions.

There was confusion till the last minute over whether the meeting this time will be held with the Chief Ministers of both the states.

With no clarity till late on Sunday, it was decided to postpone the meeting.

Moreover, the sudden death of TD leader from AP, Devineni Rajasekhar in Hyderabad in the early hours of Sunday, was also said to be the reason for the postponement.

His body was shifted to Vijayawada and AP ministers and TD leaders rushed there on Monday to pay tributes.

The TS government brought to the notice of the Governor about the delay on the part of AP government in handing over vacant Assembly and Secretariat buildings to TS. It pointed out that though they requested AP ministerial committee about this in the previous three meetings.

It urged the Governor to direct AP government to make its stand clear on this issue in the fresh meeting instead of dragging it longer for no reason.

Regarding sharing of assets and liabilities of Schedule IX and X institutions, the Central government held discussions with representatives of both the states several times but the two states could not reach an agreement.

Though three years have passed since bifurcation of AP, there are still several issues that are unresolved.