Source: newindianexpress.com
With Andhra Pradesh staking claim for the milk chilling plant situated on the premises of the head office of AP Dairy Development Corporation at Lalapet here as per the provisions of the AP Reorganization Act, the division of the corporation’s staff and assets has stopped and the issue has gone to Centre’s notice.
According to official sources in the Telangana Secretariat, AP government officials are insisting that the milk chilling plant worth crores of rupees be allocated to their state because of its location.
The AP Dairy Development Corporation is included in the ninth schedule of the AP Reorganisation Act and all its assets should be distributed on “as is where is basis” except the staff and assets at the headquarters.
AP officials contend that the chilling plant stands on the premises of the headquarters of the corporation and it has to be divided between the two states. The two governments then consulted their respective auditors-general. The Lalapet chilling plant caters to certain districts of Telangana and also Anantapur in AP. “AP officials are now sending the milk procured at Anantapur to the Ongole plant. Yet, they are demanding a share in the Lalapet chilling plant,” a Telangana official said.
“The term of the Sheela Bhide Committee, which is supposed to bifurcate the organisations mentioned in the ninth and tenth schedules of the AP Reorganisation Act, is over. The central government did not extend the term of the committee. We have appealed to the Centre to decide the matter. But, there has been no response till date,” an official said.
This is not the case of AP Dairy Development Corporation alone since almost all the organisations and institutions mentioned in 9th and 10th schedules of the Act have not been divided officially so far.
APCO, Handicrafts Corporation and others were divided unofficially with the mutual consent of the two states. But with regard to a majority of the institutions, AP and TS locked horns over division of the assets and employees. There are eight cases pending before the Supreme Court now with regard to the disputes between AP and TS.
The term of the Sheela Bhide committee, which commenced functioning on June 5, 2014, ended a year after its constitution. It submitted reports in respect of 59 companies and finished only 65 per cent of its task. APSRTC and several other major institutions or organisations still remain to be divided between the two states. Even after 19 months since the combined state’s bifurcation, the fate of more than 200 institutions still hangs in balance.
“The Centre should entrust the unfinished job to a retired judge of High Court from any other state other than AP and TS for an impartial solution to the bifurcation issues,” suggested an official of Telangana.
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