Is Vijayawada capital ?

Common capital of A.P 

It needs no persuasion to con­vince people that capitals have always attracted attention. For modern-day tourists, politicians or the conquerors of yore, the capital is the very essence of a particular nation or a state. The secret lies in it being a political and administra­tive hub from where decisions flow and policies are made. It is pre­cisely for this reason, the capital, in the economic sense of the word, also flows into the region. Now the question that seems to bother a number of people relates to the ex­istence of two capitals in one region for two separate states, namely, Telangana and residuary AP. Not a new concept though, it is a rather knotty issue.

In the modern world, we have countries with two or more capi­tals. Bolivia has two at Sucre and La Paz, Netherlands at Amsterdam and The Hague, South Africa at Pretoria, Cape Town and Bloem­fontein. While the administration exists at one place, legislature or the judiciary exists in another. It all boils down to working it out prop­erly.

In our own country, Punjab and Haryana have the same city for their capitals. Chandigarh is a Union Territory with both the cap­itals. All is well over there. Jammu and Kashmir has a winter capital at Jammu and a summer capital at Srinagar. A long time ago, British India had two capitals - Calcutta and Shimla - the latter being the summer capital. However, the capital issue in Andhra Pradesh has several dimensions to it for various reasons. Not many discussions and debates were conducted over the contentious issue. An ad hoc ar­rangement hammered out for rea­sons of expediency is bound to cre­ate problems. It’s like starting on a building without a plan or laying a road without a route. The problems have begun to pop up; the contours are visible and are quite clear.
The two capitals of Telangana and residuary AP in Hyderabad will have separate administrative build­ings and infrastructure. The prem­ises of the legislature for the fledg­ling states will have to be shared as of now. The High Court looks into the cases in both the states for now. For transition, on the face of it looks okay but for 10 years, it will raise problems that need solutions. Employees would be redistribut­ed

When the residuary AP capital continues to be located in Hydera­bad, it does not do so in a vacuum. Daily functioning, necessity and need would imply additional in­vestment in infrastructure for ad­ministration in Hyderabad. This would have to be foregone after the lapse of 10 years. Will a govern­ment then invest so much only to forego it 10 years later? What if Telangana government pressurises the residuary AP government to hand over more buildings or terri­tory or whatever? What legal and other assurances stand to protect the interests of the new AP in Hyderabad?

There are more than 140-odd public corporations, commissions and organisations like the APPSC, APSEB, APIIC, Telugu Academy, Discoms etc. which have to be par­titioned. Several of them have nearly no infrastructure in the See­mandhra region except for some small offices. Where does the mon­ey to replicate all of them in the new AP come from? These are prob­lems which are of an immediate nature; then there are short-term problems. These need the most urgent attention. There is a very strong human dimension to all of these issues. What about the pen­sion of employees of corporations or organisations that are bifurcat­ed? Where does the money come from? Are pension funds taken care of?

There is a need for a fast-track grievance redressal commission established by the Union Govern­ment through an ordinance, if nec­essary, to deal with issues like post­ings, promotions, salaries and pen­sions. Immediate working grants for quasi governmental and au­tonomous government organisa­tions have to be released and spe­cial funds created for the purpose. These are all no small issues that need urgent attention.

As for the residuary AP State, there can be a decentralised form of the capital system. The legisla­ture and the judiciary can be estab­lished at two different locations. In fact, the legislature can start func­tioning separately at a specific town or city in Seemandhra right away at the earliest. After Andhra forma­tion in 1953, a few sessions of the legislature were held at Visakhap­atnam at Andhra University. Some sessions were held at Vijayawada also. There have been long-stand­ing demands for a high court bench at Guntur and Visakhapatnam since 1956.

The need for addressing the con­cerns of students and higher educa­tion needs no reiteration. Newer centres for higher learning have to be created urgently and existing facilities at Andhra University, Acharya Nagarjuna University and Sri Venkateswara University need to be expanded with additional grants. The backward districts of both states have to be replenished with new primary, secondary and high school facilities.

Most security-related law and order training centres and institu­tions including command and Cen­tral systems have been centralised in Hyderabad. A few exist outside too.

However, the division of these centres and along with them the state security forces has to be based not on population, but on security perceptions and prognosis for the future. A coordination centre has to be established at Hyderabad, if necessary, by special central legis­lation specifically in relation to intelligence sharing and security.

A common water disputes settle­ment commission has to be created through central legislation for the two states of Telangana and re­siduary A.P. with offices in Hydera­bad and the coastal delta region. This can help minimize differences and provide solutions to water sharing and related problems.