TRS chief writes to PM, seeks amendments to Telangana bill

Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao Tuesday sent a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, seeking amendments to the Telangana bill.

Opposing the proposed power to the governor for maintaining law and order in Hyderabad, he called for deleting unconstitutional provision and amending other provisions not acceptable to people of Telangana.

In his 14-page letter, the TRS president also sought amendment of clauses relating to distribution of electricity, sharing of river waters, allocation of government employees, payment of pension to retired employees and setting up of a high court.

KCR, as Rao is popularly known, told reporters that he sent the letter suggesting amendments after consultation with legal experts and IAS officers.

The MP demanded that the distribution of loans between the two states should not be in proportion to the population but should be project specific. He said the loans taken from World Bank and other agencies for specific schemes and projects should be repaid by the state where the projects were taken up.

"The loans should be paid by the state where the money was spent," he said. KCR wanted the employees of Seemandhra (Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra) to be repatriated to their respective regions. He also made it clear that the Telangana government should not be made to pay pension to pensioners from other regions.

KCR argued that creation of Telangana state was different from other states in the country as Mulki Rules to protect the interests of local people in employment were in existence since 1919. He pointed out that in 1959, a government order was issued for sending back 24,000 employees of Seemandhra to their regions and another order for the same purpose was issued in 1985.

The TRS chief said if necessary he would take a delegation to Delhi to meet the prime minister. He said the party would also give its opinion during the debate on the bill in Andhra Pradesh assembly.

"We will also emphatically speak in Lok Sabha. We will propose amendments to the bill. We will fight till last," he said.

KCR said the bill approved by the union cabinet last week was with the President and it was being studied. He was confident that the bill would come to the assembly in a couple of days.

When asked about the possibility of TRS' merger with the Congress party, he said this question would come up only after the Telangana bill is passed by both Houses of Parliament.