Following are the Terms of Reference of the five-member Sri Justice B.N. Srikrishna Committee constituted by the Government of India to examine the situation in Andhra Pradesh:
The Committee was appointed in the backdrop of the ongoing agitation for and against the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.
The Committee has been asked:
** To examine the situation in the State of Andhra Pradesh with reference to the demand for a separate State of Telangana as well as the demand for maintaining the present status of a united Andhra Pradesh.
** To review the developments in the State since its formation and their impact on the progress and development of the different regions of the State.
** To examine the impact of the recent developments in the State on the different sections of the people such as women, children, students, minorities, other backward classes, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.
** To identify the key issues that must be addressed while considering the matters mentioned in items (1), (2) and (3) above.
** To consult all sections of the people, especially the political parties, on the aforesaid matters and elicit their views; to seek from the political parties and other organisations a range of solutions that would resolve the present difficult situation and promote the welfare of all sections of the people; to identify the optimal solutions for this purpose; and to recommend a plan of action and a road map.
** To consult other organisations of civil society such as industry, trade, trade unions, farmers’ organisations, women’s organisations and students’ organisations on the aforesaid matters and elicit their views with specific reference to the all round development of the different regions of the State.
** To make any other suggestion or recommendation that the Committee may deem appropriate.
The Committee has been asked to submit its report by December 31, 2010.
The terms of reference (TOR) set for the five-member Srikrishna Committee evoked mixed reactions with the Telangana protagonists strongly denouncing them as a “betrayal” of the people of the region.
The separatist Telangana Rashtra Samiti president K Chandrasekhar Rao termed the TOR as “baseless, meaningless and mindless” while Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president D Srinivas welcomed them.
“It is a total betrayal of the people of Telangana. The TOR are totally immoral,” Chandrasekhar Rao lashed out.
Srinivas hoped the Committee would do justice to the state and urged all political parties to co-operate with it. Reacting to the TRS’ demand for resignation of legislators, the PCC chief said resignations would not solve any problem.
Telugu Desam Party leaders hailing from Telangana region have also said the TOR were a betrayal of the people of the region and suggested that the Centre was bent on pushing the separate statehood demand into the cold storage.
TDP politburo member Nagam Janardhana Reddy asserted that Telangana state could be achieved only by creating a constitutional crisis in the state.
The Praja Rajyam Party welcomed the TOR and appealed to all political parties to observe restraint till the Committee completed the consultation process.
“It’s a right step by the Centre in accordance with its commitment given at the all-party meeting on January 5,” PRP Political Affairs Committee member K Kalavenkata Rao said.
CPI state secretary K Narayana and BJP state president Bandaru Dattatreya have also said the TOR were “deceiving.”
“The statehood process will get delayed because of the Committee. Since it’s a political problem, the Centre should find a political solution,” Narayana said in Vijayawada.
“The TOR clearly indicate that the Committee was formed only to bury the Telangana statehood demand. The UPA government should step down as it failed to stick to its December 9 statement on the statehood issue,” BJP leader and former Union Minister of State for Home Ch Vidyasagar Rao said.
The Telangana Political Joint Action Committee too strongly denounced the terms of reference set for Srikrishna Committee. JAC convenor Kodandaram said the TOR have left them “totally disappointed.”
While the two TRS MPs, including K Chandrasekhar Rao, 10 MLAs and one MLC decided to resign from their posts in protest against the TOR, the TDP legislators from Telangana said they would act in accordance with the decision of the JAC.
“All the parties are in the JAC and none has withdrawn. We are all meeting to decide on the future course of action,” Kodandaram said after an interaction with TDP MLAs. He later held talks with some Congress MLAs from the region as well.
Chandrasekhar Rao and his fellow MP Vijayasanthi are expected to meet Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar in New Delhi on February 16 and press for acceptance of their resignations which they had submitted earlier.
On the other hand, political leaders hailing from Andhra-Rayalaseema regions too have not welcomed the Srikrishna Committee TOR in toto.
“The TOR clearly indicated that the Centre was bent on dividing Andhra Pradesh. Union Home Minister P Chidambaram’s conspiracy in this regard is clearly visible in the TOR,” TDP MP M V Mysura Reddy said.
TDP politburo member K Yerrannaidu has felt the Centre should have also included the demands for other smaller states in the country in the Sri Krishna Committee’s TOR. “Andhra Pradesh should not become a laboratory for experiments related to creation of smaller states,” the former Union Minister said.
State Home Minister P Sabita Indra Reddy, who was on an official tour of Tirupati, welcomed the Committee TOR and hoped they would be in favour of a separate Telangana state.
The Lok Satta Party too welcomed the TOR and appealed to political parties to take an appropriate stand in the interests of the people. Since the Committee was only recommendatory in nature, there was no need for any apprehensions, Lok Satta Party spokesman K Srinivasa Rao felt.
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