Andhra cabinet defers final decision on 3 capitals proposal

By Mohammad Shafique

Dec 27, 2019
Amaravati:The Andhra Pradesh cabinet on Friday decided to constitute a high-power committee to take a final decision on three capitals proposal even as huge protests rocked Amaravati.

The high-power committee will study the G.N. Rao Committee report and the Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) report on the comprehensive development of the state.

While the Rao Committee last week submitted its report recommending development of three capitals, the BCG is likely to give its report in the first week of January.

The high-power committee comprising ministers and senior bureaucrats will study both the reports and give its recommendations on which a decision will be taken, an official said.

The cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, took the decision amid tension in 29 villages in Amaravati as farmers intensified protests over the government’s proposal to develop Visakhapatnam and Kurnool as capital cities in addition to Amaravati.

Six people, including three policemen, were injured in sporadic incidents of stone pelting during the protests.

The government assured the agitating farmers that it would address their problems.

Information and Public Relations Minister Perni Venkataramaiah said Jagan Mohan Reddy wanted decentralisation of development and was committed to the creation of the legislative capital in Amaravati.

The Cabinet Sub-Committee that probed into the irregularities and insider trading in the capital region also submitted its report to the cabinet.

The minister said the government will take legal opinion before deciding whether to go for judicial probe or order an inquiry either by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or the CID.

He said the panel found several irregularities and unfair practices during the previous TDP government.

The sub-committee report stated that a company owned by family members of TDP leader Chandrababu Naidu was involved in the purchase of lands in July 2014. “The data of all the buyers of land on the peripheries of the capital region, ahead of the announcement of the name in December is with the government. The names include those who held high positions in the previous government including, ministers, their relatives, workers, and drivers. The transactions took place six months before December 2014, when the region of the proposed capital was named,” he said.

The minister alleged that Naidu had pooled in 33,000 acres of land in the region but had not even developed 1,000 acres of land. He said the project needed Rs 1.09 lakh crore but for YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government, welfare schemes were the priority.

Meanwhile, protests by farmers continued in Amaravati for the 10th day.

Police erected sealed the roads leading towards State Secretariat at Velagapudi, where the cabinet meeting was held.

Hundreds of protestors came on to the roads despite prohibitory orders imposed under Section 144.

Men and women squatted on the roads, demanding that Amaravati be retained as the full-fledged capital.

Violence also broke out during the protest at Uddhandarayunipalem village where Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid foundation stone for the capital in 2015.

Three media persons were injured when protestors attacked a car with sticks and stones.

BJP state President Kanna Lakshminarayan was leading the protest in the village.

A committee of experts constituted by the government last week submitted its report, recommending development of three capitals.

As per the panel’s recommendations, the administrative capital will come up in Visakhapatnam while thee High Court will come up in Kurnool.

Amaravati, conceived as the world-class city during the previous Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government by then Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, will have only the state Assembly and the Raj Bhavan.

Amaravati farmers are up in arms against the proposal as they had given 33,000 acres of land for the capital.

They alleged that shifting the capital functions to Visakhapatnam and Kurnool will harm their interests. IANS