Hyderabad: All eyes are on the first meeting between Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N.Chandrababu Naidu to be held on Saturday at Praja Bhavan, for finding a solution to unresolved issues between two Telugu states after the bifurcation of the composite state of Andhra Pradesh.
The meeting between the Chief Ministers of two Telugu states is being held after a gap of four-and-a-half years. The last meeting was held in January 2020 between K. Chandrashekar Rao and Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy at the same venue on the same subject.
Major bifurcation issues could not be resolved in the last 10 years due to the confrontationist stance adopted by the previous BRS regime with neighbouring AP government as well as with the BJP-led government at the Centre.
The agenda includes the division of assets and liabilities, particularly those listed under Schedule 9 and Schedule 10 of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014. The meeting is also seen as an opportunity to resolve the contentious issue of dues related to power companies. The AP government owes nearly `24,000 crore to Telangana, while the AP government claims that Telangana owes them `7,000 crore.
Revanth Reddy has prioritised addressing the pending bifurcation-related issues since assuming office in December 2023. In March this year, the bifurcation dispute concerning the AP Bhavan in Delhi was successfully resolved under his leadership.
Additionally, the disbursement of funds related to the Mining Corporation was settled recently. To date, around 30 meetings have taken place between officials from both states to address various bifurcation disputes.
The Union home ministry has established the Sheela Bhide Committee to oversee the distribution of assets, liabilities, and cash balances of all 91 companies listed in Schedule 9. While 68 of these companies have no objections to distribution, a consensus has not been reached on the remaining 23 institutions.
Similarly, out of the 142 institutions in the Tenth Schedule, there are ongoing disputes over the distribution of 30 institutions, including Telugu Academy, Telugu University, and Ambedkar Open University.