Telangana panel gets down to business

Setting the Telangana process in motion, the Centre has begun establishing an organisational structure for the Justice B N Srikrishna-headed Telangana committee.

Vinod K Duggal, the committee's member-secretary, met Home Minister P Chidambaram and Home Secretary G K Pillai on Thursday.

Besides the terms and reference for the committee, the meeting discussed five aspects -- title, headquarters, accommodation, administration, finance -- concerning the Telangana committee formed to create a roadmap for a separate state carved out from Andhra Pradesh.

Though Hyderabad emerged as the top choice for the committee's headquarters during the meeting, Duggal mentioned Justice Srikrishna preferred Mumbai -- where the former Supreme Court judge lives -- citing logistical reasons.

It has also been decided to recruit 15 research fellows who will assist the committee on the new state's key issues.

Duggal, it is learnt, sought 15 stenographers, 50 computers, cellular phone connections, fax machines, Internet facility and related stationery.

The home ministry will be the nodal agency for financial sanctions.

The committee's other members are Dr Ranbir Singh, vice-chancellor, National Law University, New Delhi; Dr Abusaleh Shariff, senior research fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute, New Delhi; Dr Ravinder Kaur, professor, department of humanities and social sciences, IIT, Delhi.

Two joint secretaries at the home ministry have been asked to coordinate matters with Duggal, a former home secretary himself.