TRS representation harps on water, Centre-state issues

HYDERABAD: Winning 16 of the 17 Lok Sabha seats in the state is the main slogan of the Telangana Rasthra Samithi (TRS) for the elections to be held in April. TRS also hopes that these 16 seats will keep its federal front plans afloat.
While no official shape has been given to the federal front proposed by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, the party’s national agenda is reflected in the representation given earlier this year to the 15th Finance Commission by KCR.The representation, with all talking points, includes the scrapping of water tribunals for resolving disputes. The four-page document speaks of national issues, including Centre-state relations, interstate disputes, need for a change of economic models, and more flexibility for states.
The representation focuses on inter-state river water dispute tribunals, saying that they take decades to give their verdict. “After the formation of Telangana in 2014, the government of India was requested to refer the matter of determining river water rights of the newly-formed state to the tribunal under Section 3 of Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956. Even after so many years, the matter has not been referred to the tribunal,” the CM questioned in the document.
It may be mentioned that a proposal over a permanent river water dispute tribunal is under consideration by the Union government for quite sometime, but without any tangible progress. “If legal process is time-consuming and insensitive to the national concerns, what about setting up an alternative dispute resolution mechanisms for this purpose?” KCR said. Telangana resolved the dispute with Maharashtra regarding Kaleswaram project by way of an agreement.
The Federal Front will have few pointers for economic growth and will point at China’s growth in the past 30 years. “China’s stellar economic growth in the past four decades can be attributed to the proactive and visionary approach of its government,” the document says.
On the relation between states and the Centre, the document talks about better planning and flexibility on subjects like agriculture, education, health, urban development, rural development, housing, drinking water, sanitation, and women and child welfare.