Have fulfilled most promises made under AP Reorganisation Act: Rajnath
New Delhi, July 24 : Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said that the BJP-led Central government has fulfilled "around 90 per cent" of the commitments made under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, and was committed to fulfil the rest "at any cost".
"Our government will fulfil all the commitments made not only by our Prime Minister but also those made by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh," he said in Rajya Sabha while replying to a short duration discussion on the implementation of AP Reorganisation Act that carved out the state of Telangana out of Andhra Pradesh in 2014.
The Telugu Desam Party (TDP), a former NDA coalition partner, had asked for a discussion on the issue, alleging that "justice" was not being done with the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh in terms of granting it special category status.
In his reply, Rajnath Singh said that he could not understand why some members were stuck with the word "special category status" when the Centre was actually giving Andhra "even those incentives not mentioned in the Act".
"There was some conflict between the commitments made by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission, and hence it was decided in consultation with Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu that instead of granting special category status, Andhra Pradesh should be given special assistance.
"The Chief Minister had in September 2016 agreed to this arrangement and said in the state Assembly in a statement that special assistance was more useful than the special category status," he said.
"I would also like to clarify that special category status is different from special industrial incentive. The former does not necessarily include industrial incentive. But the promise of giving the Telugu states industrial incentive has already been fulfilled," he added.
The Home Minister underlined that Andhra was being given Rs 22,123 crore as revenue deficit spread over five years ending FY 2019-20.
He said that out of the 11 higher education institutions promised in the Act for Andhra, 10 have already been approved and many of them "have started functioning", and stressed that the railway zone as promised under the act "will be established".
He said that for the "lifeline" Pollavaram Irrigation Project, the Centre has already released over Rs 6,764 crore and it has also accepted the state's proposal about implementation of the project. He hoped that it will be completed in a "record time".
He said that the Centre even agreed to the state's demand of giving a loan through NABARD but since it could not be given directly for technical reasons, the Andhra government was asked to create a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for the same to whom the loan would be disbursed.
"The state hasn't got back about the SPV so far," he said.
"We want development of all states whether we have our party government there or not. Because we realize that until all states progress, our dream of making India progress will not come true. I would also like to clarify that we don't do politics just to make governments but to build the nation," he said.
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Death toll from Israeli strikes in northeast Lebanon rises from 8 to 24, Lebanese news agency says
Deir al-Balah, Nov 1: Israeli airstrikes on Friday killed at least 24 people in northeastern Lebanon, the country's news agency said, raising the death toll from eight there.
It was the latest deadly toll in the area since the conflict between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah escalated last month.
Israel's military has said that its operation in Lebanon is targeting Hezbollah's military infrastructure.
Lebanon's state National news Agency reported four airstrikes in different villages across country's northeast, saying rescuers were still searching for survivors in Younine, a town in the Bekaa Valley, from the rubble of a targeted house.
Hussein Haj Hassan, a Lebanese lawmaker representing the region in Baalbek-Hermel region, said that 60,000 people have already fled their homes in the area due to Israeli bombardment.
