Local status: Naidu will talk to Modi

HYDERABAD: Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu has decided to take up the contentious ‘local’ status issue that is being faced by the children of Andhra Pradesh employees studying in Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy districts with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Reacting to the report published in TOI on Thursday, Naidu has asked his officials to draft a letter seeking the intervention of the Prime Minister on the issue.He also decided to discuss the issue with Modi when he calls on the latter in New Delhi after Independence Day.
Because of Article 371D, a rule enacted for united AP in 1975 and retained for both AP and Telangana (post bifurcation) as per the AP Reorganization Act, children of AP government employees who are currently studying in Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy as ‘local’ students will become ‘non-local’ when they migrate to Vijayawada and Guntur. As a result, their educational and job opportunities will get greatly diminished.
“First, we will write to the Centre seeking exemption for AP from the provisions of Article 371D for the students studying in Hyderabad. Following that, the chief minister will take it to the prime minister,” said a CMO official.
Following the directive from Naidu, chief secretary IYR Krishna Rao on Thursday appointed a committee to examine the issue of non-local status threadbare and submit a report to the government. The law secretary, the general administration secretary and reorganization department in-charge will be the members of this committee. “The committee will finalise AP’s argument on the local/non-local status issue,” the chief secretary told TOI.
Meanwhile, the AP government has told its employees to make arrangements to shift to the new capital region as early as possible. To set an example, CMO principal secretary Satish Chandra has decided to shift his office to Vijayawada next week. Similarly, other HoDs have also been told to ensure their stay in Vijayawada at least for five days in a week.
“I have no office or camp office to work from right now. Still, I am sleeping in a bus and attending to my duties. I will stay six days a week in Vijayawada and look forward to the officers and employees also preparing themselves to play their part in the development of the new capital,” Naidu said while interacting with CMO officials.