There appears to be no end to the war of words between the leaders of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
In the recent past, Hyderabad and the Polavaram project were the subjects of dispute; now, comments by senior Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leader, T. Harish Rao, who holds the Finance and Health portfolios, have triggered a war of words between the neighbouring States. While addressing teachers at a meeting of the State Teachers’ Union in late September, Mr. Rao said that among the States, Telangana was paying the highest salaries to government employees. He claimed that the State government had paid a 73% fitment to government employees in just five years, which the Andhra Pradesh government had not done.
Senior leaders and Ministers of the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government lashed out at Mr. Rao for his “uncalled for comments”. Andhra Pradesh Minister of Industries Gudivada Amarnath said Mr. Rao should sort out his differences with his maternal uncle and Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao instead of commenting on Andhra Pradesh. He wondered whether criticising the Andhra Pradesh government would give any political mileage to the TRS in Telangana. Pointing out that Telangana was in a better financial position than Andhra Pradesh because it had Hyderabad, Mr. Amarnath alleged that the TRS government had not done anything in the last eight years of its rule. The Andhra Pradesh government was implementing a slew of welfare schemes for the poor in spite of its financial position, he said. What welfare schemes was the TRS government implementing despite its better financial position, he asked.
The controversy has erupted even as the stalemate continues over bifurcation problems between the two States. A meeting convened by the Union Home Ministry recently, to resolve unsettled matters of The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, cut no ice as Telangana and Andhra Pradesh remained firm on their stances over crucial issues such as the division of institutions under Schedule X, the Andhra Pradesh State Finance Corporation, and division of the Singareni Collieries Company Limited.
Mr. Rao’s comments were not met with anger only in Andhra Pradesh. The Union Jal Shakti Ministry reacted strongly to claims made by Mr. Rao and his colleague, Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Minister E. Dayakar Rao, on Telangana’s flagship Mission Bhagiratha project bagging a national award.
The Ministry responded saying misleading news was being reported that the Centre had reviewed the scheme through the Jal Jeevan Mission; inspections had been conducted in 320 villages randomly to study the project; and each household was receiving 100 litres per capita quality drinking water. The Ministry said it had not made any such assessment. Inspecting whether the tap connections provided to all households were functioning effectively formed part of its Functionality Assessment 2022. This was one among a host of parameters, it said. Further, data assessed from 12,570 sampled households in 409 villages revealed that 8% of them were not getting 55 litres per capita of water a day, an important parameter under the Jal Jeevan Mission. The quality of water in 5% of the villages was not in line with the standards prescribed under the Jal Jeevan Mission, the Ministry said. Though the State government had submitted a report stating that there was 100% tap water connection in the State, this had not been not confirmed by the Gram Panchayats in line with the Jal Jeevan Mission’s norms.
These developments suggest that the TRS government would do well to focus on governance instead of comparing itself with the Andhra Pradesh government, resorting to criticism of others and making unsubstantiated claims on projects. It would be better for the political leadership to concentrate on improving welfare and development indicators and in alleviating the problems of the poorer sections.
The focus should equally be on sorting out pending bifurcation issues such as the division of assets and liabilities between the two States as well as apportionment of cash balances. This is important especially since the differences between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are not being resolved despite efforts by the Chief Ministers as well as the administrative machinery over the past eight years.
