Meeting of TS, AP officials deferred by a day

The crucial meeting of the Chief Secretaries of two Telugu States – Telangana and Andhra Pradesh – has been deferred by a day by the Union Home Ministry.

The Union Ministry had conveyed its willingness to hold the meeting on March 31 initially and it had been deferred to April 6 subsequently. The Ministry had now communicated its decision to convene the meeting on Wednesday in a late evening communication sent to the two State governments. The Union Ministry said the meeting too stands postponed and would be held at 5 p.m. through video conferencing on Wednesday, April 7.

The meeting is expected to discuss among other things bilateral issues arising out of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014 regarding allocation of posts in different departments as well as division of assets and liabilities between the two States post bifurcation. There has been no forward movement with regard to the division of assets and liabilities between the two successor States since the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had decided to hand over the physical possession of major establishments including the parts of State Secretariat located in Hyderabad that have been apportioned between the two States through the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014.

According to the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India submitted to the State Legislature during the recent budget session, an amount of ₹ 1,51,349.67 crore under Capital Heads, ₹28,099.69 crore under Loans and Advances, ₹4,474.04 crore under Deposits and Advances, ₹238 crore under Suspense and Miscellaneous and ₹310.24 crore under Remittances was yet to be apportioned between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana by the end of 2019, even after more than five years of State Reorganisation.

The meeting of the Chief Secretaries on Wednesday is likely to focus on these issues, according to officials of the State Reorganisation department.