Andhra Pradesh State Assembly Passes Bill To Repeal 'Three Capital' Laws

The Andhra Pradesh State Assembly on Monday passed the Andhra Pradesh Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Repeal Bill, 2021, which aims to repeal the earlier laws made by the state legislature paving way for the 'three capitals' plan for the state.Essentially, this bill intends to repeal the A. P. Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Act 2020 and the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development (Repeal) Act 2020.The Bill was introduced in the Assembly by the state Minister for Finance, Planning and Legislative Affairs, Buggana Rajendranath Reddy, and was passed by the assembly thereafter.Significantly, CM Jagan Mohan Reddy has said that his Government was going to take back the Bill which was introduced earlier, however, he would introduce a new Bill with no errors.Interestingly, the bill passed today by the State Assembly, revives the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority Act, 2014 [this particular act was repealed by Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development (Repeal) Act 2020].The Statement of Objects and Reasons of this bill states that the Government intends to repeal the said Acts to enable further consultations with all the stakeholders once again and to present suitable legislation in the future addressing all the concerns of all the regions of the State favoring decentralization.It also states that the Andhra Pradesh Decentralization and Inclusive Development of all Regions Act, 2020 and the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority Repeal Act, 2020 were enacted with the purpose of providing for decentralized and all-round development of all parts of the State of Andhra Pradesh in line with the long-cherished promise of the SriBagh Pact and development of backward areas of the state including Uttarandhra and by duly taking note of the periodic regional agitations eventually leading to the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. The Statement of Objects and Reasons also adds that the said enactments (now being repealed) strived to protect the interests of the stakeholders of the erstwhile Capital Region as envisaged in the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority Act, 2014. However, it does note that various complaints were made and cases filed against the said Enactments including on the ground of lack of adequate opportunity of hearing to the stakeholders and also on the grounds of some objections raised by certain members of the Andhra Pradesh State Legislative Council with respect to the referral to a Select Committee."The Government intends to repeal the said Acts to enable further consultations with all the stakeholders once again and to present a suitable legislation in future addressing all the concerns of all the regions of the State favouring decentralisation. And whereas while the matters stood thus, to vividly explain all the good intentions of the Government in relation to decentralized development of all the regions including by providing multiple capitals, to improve the framework and provisions of law in this regard, to fulfil the aspirations of the people of all the regions of the State and to bring forward suitable legislations to achieve the above stated objectives of decentralized development, it has been decided to the repeal the said Enactments. Accordingly, this bill seeks to give effect to the above decisions," the Statement of Objects and Reasons further adds.Earlier today, the Andhra Pradesh Government had decided to withdraw three capitals proposal and has decided to repeal the Laws paving way for three capitals of Andhra Pradesh.The Advocate General for the State of Andhra Pradesh, Subrahmanyam Sriram had informed the High Court about the decision of the Government to take back the contentious laws.Essentially, these Acts propose the formation of three capitals for the state. The Acts intended to develop Amaravati, Visakhapatnam, and Kurnool as the legislative, executive and judicial capitals respectively.The Acts were challenged in the High Court by farmers and the matter was being heard before the High Court.Read more about the court hearing here: Andhra Pradesh High Court Starts Hearing Challenge To 'Three-Capitals' Law

Andhra Pradesh State Assembly Passes Bill To Repeal 'Three Capital' Laws

Sparsh Upadhyay

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