Dr Manmohan Singh’s role in Telangana formation and Hyderabad Metro Rail
Hyderabad: As the nation mourns the loss of Manmohan Singh, who served as India’s Prime Minister from 2004 to 2014, we look back at his pivotal role in the realization of a new Telangana state.
It was under Dr Singh’s government, the process for formation of the 29th state of India was first initiated. Following the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) Chief K Chandrasekhar Rao’s failing health in the wake of his fast unto death and relentless agitations in Osmania University, the then union Home Minister P. Chidambaram made a crucial announcement on the night of December 9, 2009. He read out a statement on behalf of the government of India: “The process of forming the state of Telangana will be initiated.”
In February 2010, the government appointed a five-member committee headed by Justice Sri Krishna which held wide-ranging consultations with various stakeholders across united Andhra Pradesh. Later, the Commission recommended six options in its two volume 461-page report to the Centre including creation of a separate Telangana state with Hyderabad as its capital.
The Lok Sabha approved the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill, 2014 for the creation of Telangana amid protests on February 18, 2014, and the Rajya Sabha on February 20, 2014. Participating in the discussion in the Upper House, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced a six-point development package for successor states of Andhra Pradesh including grant of special category status including tax incentives to Seemandhra.
The Manmohan Singh-led Congress government also played a crucial role in the Hyderabad Metro Rail project in 2007. The government approved Rs. 1,639 crore under the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) scheme for the construction of the Hyderabad Metro Rail project under public private partnership (PPP) model.
