Venkaiah Naidu appeal to all states!

Union Minister for Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu speaking in the Lok Sabha today said “I am asking for special status for Andhra Pradesh only because it is badly affected with the bifurcation of the state. There is a heavy short fall in its revenue. Unless it gets special status, it can’t develop rapidly. But, the proposal is in Neeti Ayog’s consideration. Many states including a developed state like Punjab is also demanding for special status. It is not fair. State governments should refrain from making such demands keeping in mind about the integrity and development of our country.”

His brief statement is underlining the reason why the Centre is hesitating to grant special status for AP state. But, it has to find a solution for this problem and grant special status to AP state. Otherwise, Centre has to stick to its promise of granting more or equal financial package to help the cash strapped Andhra Pradesh state immediately.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has promised this long back but it was not fulfilled until now. The abnormal delay taking place even for making announcement in this regard is giving scope to think that Modi government has taken AP state for granted.