Telangana's parallel timetable for exam irks AP

Reorganisation Act stipulates common tests for at least a decade

The Andhra Pradesh (AP) government is mulling over legal actions against Telangana which has announced a separate schedule for intermediate examinations.

The AP Reorganisation Act stipulates common examinations at least for a decade.

Reiterating his appeal to the Telangana government, AP Human Resources Development Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao  said on Saturday that common examinations “are needed as there is weightage for marks obtained in intermediate in the Eamcet examination, the common entrance test for entry into medical, engineering, agriculture and pharmacy colleges in both  states.

While the AP government has announced schedule and asked for Telangana government’s concurrence, the Board of Intermediate Examinations (BIE), the common body which has the mandate to organise examinations in the two Telugu speaking states, announced separate schedules, a day after AP made the announcement.

According to BIE’s schedule, intermediate examinations will begin in AP on March 11 and the examination in Telangana will start on March 9. Around 11 lakh students in AP and 9 lakh in Telangana are appearing for the examinations.

Rao told reporters in Visakhapatnam that the AP government would approach the governor and also look for legal options as time and again the Telangana government had been violating sections of the Act.

“We urge the Telangana government to reconsider its decision as the first year examinations were conducted when the state was together, now the second year examinations of the two year intermediate course should be conducted together,” Rao argued.

The minister said that it was unfortunate that  Telangana Chief Minister  K Chandrasekhar Rao, who has wholeheartedly welcomed the AP Reorganisation Bill and thanked Sonia Gandhi for it was not following the provisions enshrined in the Act.

Rao alleged that the TRS government was still in agitation mode and trying to project AP as the reason for all the problems faced by Telangana.