Planning commission today said that, Andhra Pradesh commonly known as Seemandhra can't be accorded the status of special category state to provide extra central aid under the current rules
“Andhra Pradesh (Seemandhra) does not meet National Development Council criteria (for special category state)," the Commission said in its presentation to Planning Minister Inderjit Singh Rao.
This point is significant because the Union Cabinet headed by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on March 2 had directed the Commission to accord special category status to successor of Andhra Pradesh (Seemandhra) for five years.
Singh had even announced in the Rajya Sabha on February 21 that special category status would be extended to Seemandhra for five years.
This news is a setback to the new Government of Andhra Pradesh headed by TDP who is trying to get the special status extended from 5 years to 10 years.
Why Andhra Pradesh is not qualified?
This is the criteria used by NDC to grandtspecial status criteria for any state -
The criteria include hilly and difficult terrain; low population density and or sizeable share of tribal population; strategic location along borders with neighboring countries, economic and infrastructure backwardness and non-viable nature of state finances.
What states are presently qualified for Special status?
At present, the existing 11 special category status states are Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Uttarakhand, Nagaland, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Sikkim.