The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : No consensus on Telangana, says Union Minister

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 15, 2007
ePaper

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

No consensus on Telangana, says Union Minister

‘It is for parties to convey their views to UPA sub-committee’

Some parties support separate statehood, says Raghuvansh Prasad
Some oppose it while some are maintaining silence

Raghuvansh Prasad

HYDERABAD: Union Minister for Rural Development Raghuvansh Prasad Singh said that a consensus was yet to be evolved on separate Telangana State issue among the political parties.

Some political parties supported separate statehood, some others opposed it while several parties were maintaining silence. “The Common Minimum Programme mandates a consensus to be evolved on Telangana and it is for the parties to convey their views to the UPA sub-committee on Telangana on the issue,” he said.

Responding to queries during a video-conference from New Delhi on Tuesday, Mr. Prasad, who is member of the sub-committee, said requests to TRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao to remain in the UPA coalition had gone in vain but would welcome the TRS if it preferred to join the coalition again. He said the Government would first concentrate on providing sufficient funds to the State to ensure development of Telangana and remove regional disparities. To another query, he said his party (Rashtriya Janata Dal) had no objection to the Indo-US nuclear agreement as there was nothing in it that ran against the country’s interests. “The Left parties are opposing the deal as they will oppose anything that is associated with America,” he said.

Referring to rural development works, he said Andhra Pradesh had surpassed others in “financial performance” while the physical performance was equally impressive.

The State was leading over others in terms of spending of the amounts allocated under various central schemes and the Centre, on its part, had constituted district and State level vigilance committees to ensure transparency and accountability in the programmes.

He dismissed criticism from some quarters that the NREGP reduced the powers of panchayat raj institutions claiming that works under NREGP were confined to specific areas while panchayats would continue to take up other works.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Andhra Pradesh