Hyderabad-K'taka spl status bill gets President's approval

In what is being described as a New Year gift, President Pranab Mukherjee gave his assent to the special status proposal for the backward Hyderabad-Karnataka region on January 1 paving the way for the state government to frame the required rules to execute the provisions of the Article 371J of the Constitution.

 After the President put his signature, an extra-ordinary gazette was issued the very next day, Union labour minister M Mallikarjun Kharge told reporters here on Thursday.

 The provisions provide for establishment of a separate development board for the region, equitable allocation of funds for development and equitable opportunities and facilities for the people belonging to the region in matters of employment, education and vocational training.

 They also provide for reservation of seats in educational and vocational training institutions for students who belong to that area by birth or domicile and also identification of posts or classes of posts under the state government and in any organisation under the control of the state government and reservation of a proportion of such posts for persons belonging to that region.

 The northern districts of Bidar, Gulbarga, Raichur, Koppal, Yadgir and Bellary would stand to benefit from the notification.

 Kharge demanded that the state government should immediately set up a committee of experts, including legal luminaries, to frame guidelines so that various provisions of the notification were implemented at the earliest. The committee should be given a time-frame and the coming elections should not come in the way, he added.

 The minister, who hails from the region, said the state government should provide budgetary allocation for the region and added that it should be a “realistic allocation” and not some notional figure.