Andhra legislative council passes resolution for special status

Hyderabad, Sep 3: The Andhra Pradesh legislative council on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution urging the central government to accord special status to the state and fulfil other commitments made at the time of bifurcation of the state. The upper house adopted it two days after the assembly passed the resolution on Tuesday. The resolution requested the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government to implement all provisions contained in the state reorganisation act. It also appealed to the central government to take steps to fulfil the assurances given by then prime minister Manmohan Singh in parliament. He said the state needs both the special status and special package as well as tax incentives to industry and financial help to build the state capital. The chief minister voiced concern over some people committing suicide over the issue of special status. He appealed to the people not to get emotional and desist from taking the extreme step. The TDP chief assured the house that the government will make all efforts to get special status.