Srikrishna report will not be a mere commentary

The report of the Justice BN Srikrishna committee for consultations on the situation in Andhra Pradesh will not be “just a commentary,” the committee members said, indicating that they would come out with specific suggestions on various issues plaguing the state.

However, addressing what they called their the final media briefing here on Thursday, a fortnight before the submission of the report, they did not disclose on what aspects the suggestions would be made.

The committee was constituted by the Union government on February 3, 2010, after the state witnessed violent separate Telangana and united Andhra agitations.

Nevertheless, it looked obvious that the suggestions may not appeal to all the stakeholders in the state. This was evident from the way the committee appealed to all, including politicians and journalists, to maintain “tranquility.”

“We hope for the best, though we are prepared for the worst,” Justice Srikrishna said when asked whether he was anticipating any trouble following submission of the report according to schedule by this month-end.

The committee’s apprehensions in this regard were based upon the widespread unrest that prevailed in the state following the announcement of Union Home Minister, P Chidamabaram, on December 9, 2009, that “the process of creation of Telangana will be initiated.”

“I have been a judge for almost 20 years. Judgements please some persons and displease some persons,” Srikrishna told mediapersons, adding, “I want to remind you that after December 31, greater cooperation is needed from you to maintain tranquility in the state. If the state is hurt, the country is hurt.”

He said the committee advised the same when it met the leaders and representatives of the political parties earlier. “We told the political parties that it is their bounden duty to ensure that peace prevails at any cost,”he said.

Emphasising that they have done an in-depth study of situation in the state, committee member and vice chancellor of National Law University, Delhi, Ranbir Singh, said that the report “is a fine piece of research.”

In the past 11 months, the committee, besides consulting “all sections of the people”, had commissioned four studies by experts in the field on issues relating to irrigation and water, power, public employment and Hyderabad metropolis.

According to member secretary Vinod K Duggal, the committee met 29 times, visited 35-40 villages and all the 23 districts in the state.

Besides securing information and documents from the state government, it collected the needed data from other sources.