Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai has said that the Union government acts only as a facilitator between States to settle bilateral issues.
Replying to question posed by Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) member, in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, Mr. Rai said the focus of the Central government had consistently been on bilateral issues that could be resolved only with the cooperation of the State government concerned.
“The Central government acts only as a facilitator for amicable settlement of the disputes, in a spirit of mutual accommodation and understanding,” he added.
Mr. Ravindra Kumar sought to know the details of major issues confronting the States of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and the Central government’s efforts in resolving the same. The TDP member was referring to the issues relating to the A.P. Reorganisation Act, 2014.
Mr. Rai said that a large number of provisions of the Reorganisation Act had been implemented, and the remaining were in various stages of implementation.
Some of the provisions relating to infrastructure projects and educational institutions had a long gestation period, for which a time period of 10 years was prescribed in the Act, he said.
“The Ministry of Home Affairs reviews the progress of implementation of various provisions of the Act from time to time with the Ministries / Departments concerned as well as representatives of the Governments of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. So far, 31 such review meetings have been held,” the Union Minister said.
