Sri Krishna Committee Report on Telangana Problem Favoured United Andhra Pradesh

Srikrishna committee report on Telengana Problem, which was made public on 7 January 2011, favoured united Andhra Pradesh. It recommended six options to solve the Telangana problem while stating that a continuing demand for a separate Telangana deserves some attention and it is not entirely unjustified. The options are as following:
1.The Srikrishna committee report suggested that a united Andhra Pradesh with constitutional measures for empowerment of Telengana region would be the most workable option on the Telangana issue. A statutory empowered Telangana regional council could be created to meet the demands of Telangana region.
2.The Srikrishna committee report on Telangana issue said that the second best option is to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh into Telangana and Seema Andhra with Hyderabad as capital of Telangana and a new capital for Seema Andhra.
3.The Srikrishna committee report suggested other options as well which included bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh into Telangana and Seemaandhra with Hyderabad as a union territory and the two states getting their own capitals later on.
4.The Srikrishna committee report also suggested that Andhra should be bifurcated into Rayala Telengana and coastal Andhra region and making Hyderabad an integral part of Rayala Telangana.
5.The Srikrishna committee report advised other option like bifurcating Andhra Pradesh into Seema Andhra and Telangana and declaring enlarged Hyderabad Metropolis as a separate union territory.
6.The committee also brought forward the option to maintain the status quo. However, the committee termed it as the least favoured and impractical solution to the Telangana problem.

Facts about Srikrishna Committee Report
•The Srikrishna committee report was made public after a meeting convened by the Home Minister P Chidambaram. Eight political parties had been invited for the discussion on the report. Out of them only five attended the meeting. The TRS (Telengana Rashtra Samiti), the TDP (Telugu Desham Party) and the BJP did not attend the meet on Telengana issue. TRS headed by K Chandrasekhara Rao and BJP supported separate Telengana state with Hyderabad as its capital as the only solution while TDP termed the report of no use. K Chnadrasekhara Rao is a leading figure of the movement demanding separate Telangana.
•The Srikrishna committee report which is of 461 pages, examined in details issues relating to the historical background of Andhra Pradesh and other issues like regional, economical, employment and matters related to Hyderabad metropolis.
•The five-member Srikrishna committee was set up in February 2010 under the chairmanship of retired Supreme Court Justice BN Srikrishna and it had submitted its report on the 30th December 2010.

Impact of Srikrishna Committee Report
Pro-Telengana groups have called for state wide bandhs and announced plans to launch agitations. The report also stirred the Gorkhaland issue once again with Gorkha Janmukti Morcha declaring that they would settle with nothing less than Gorkhaland as a separate state.

Srikrishna Committee Report on Telangana Problem: An Overview
Srikrishna Committee report suggested united Andhra as the best option considering India’s national interests and to continue the development process in all the three regions of the state. Setting up of the Telengana Regional Council will deal with matters related to planning and economic development, local administration and public health, education, water and irrigation in the region. The council could address the problem of backwardness in Telangana region.

The Root Cause behind Telangana Problem
Since the formation of Andhra Pradesh State in 1953, people of Telangana region feel that they have not got their due of development share in the state. They are demanding Telangana as a separate state with Hyderabad as its capital. However, people from the Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema who have settled in Hyderabad long back are apprehensive about the idea of separate Telangana because it could jeopardise their economic interests like employment, property and investments in the state capital.