Govt. Moots 'Telangana' Territorial Administration

A Telangana territorial administration (TTA) is being envisaged by the central government as part of its T-package that is likely to be unveiled before the month-end. Though the broad contours of the package has been conceived by the Union home ministry, the details are likely to be worked out in light of the deliberations of Congress’chintan baithak at Jaipur later this week. Highly placed sources said that TTA will have executive and financial powers but no legislative powers. The TTA will have to be created by an Act of Parliament and cleared by the President. 

    
Hyderabad is likely to be kept out of the TTA. The TTA will have a chief executive and a few executive councillors. The councillors are likely to be directly elected by the people. 
    
Although announcement of the TTA will be announced shortly, its creation will be preceded by establishment of a committee that will work out the powers to be granted to the proposed body and other details including the strength of the council. The committee to be headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court will have a member-secretary who will be an IAS officer from the Andhra Pradesh cadre. 
    
Sources say that chief minister Kiran Reddy is in the loop on the matter and important ‘inputs’ have gone from him. “The Congress bosses are in absolute agreement about a package for Telangana and there is no going back on this matter,” highly placed sources said. Analysts said that the Congress party at the present juncture is ‘too weak’ to take a decision on creation of a separate Telangana state. Hence this move that is likely to temporarily satisfy Telangana proponents without raising the hackles in Andhra circles. The analysts said that a decision about a full fledged Telangana state will have to wait for the 2014 elections. Such a decision can be taken by the new government depending on the intensity of the demand then and the strength of the government. 
    
TTA will not be unique in the sense that a similar arrangement is in place in Gorkhaland in the hill district of Darjeeling in West Bengal. But TTA will cover 10 districts of Telangana while the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) covers three subdivisions of Darjeeling and one sub-division of Siliguri. 
    
Home minister Sushilkumar Shinde had told representatives of political parties on December 28 that the government would take a decision on the matter within a month. Political circles are agog with speculation about a T-package but most politicians are not sure about what it will contain. 
    
T-INITIATIVE 
• Territorial administration will have executive and financial powers but no legislative teeth 
• TTA will have to be created by an Act of Parliament with Presidential approval 
• Proposed set-up to have a chief executive and executive councillors (Elected) 
• TTA on the lines of Gorkhaland TA will cover all 10 T districts