No Special Category Status for Andhra Pradesh

In spite of the ongoing pressure that the Andhra Pradesh Government has been putting on the BJP-led National Government in New Delhi, the latter has categorically refused to accord special status to the state due to the obligations that would prohibit from doing so, under the 14th Finance Commission. Stating that the 14th Finance Commission did not differentiate between those states that had or were enjoying the special status versus those that were not accorded the same, the Centre pointed out that funds had already been released to ease the creation and betterment of infrastructure and other key projects in the state, as well as providing a list of the same in an affidavit that was filed on behalf of the Finance Ministry.

The original petition to query the Central Government on the lack of its following through on the promise to grant the newly created states of Andhra Pradesh and Telengana, back in 2014, was by Telangana Congress MLC Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy. Even though there was evidence provided of the Central Government’s decision to give this special status to these states, as documented in the petition, the affidavit submitted in response went to great lengths to break down the funds disbursed to the state of Andhra Pradesh thus far, indicating that an addition 1,000 crores would be granted as part of the ongoing development, but made no indication as to the total amount of investment that the Center would carry out for the ongoing development that was necessary.