Hyderabad: Common Governor of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana ESL Narasimhan today held a meeting with ministers and officials of the two states to resolve pending issues following bifurcation of undivided AP in 2014.
The meeting was held in a cordial atmosphere and it was preliminary in nature, sources said.
Andhra Pradesh was represented by Finance Minister Y Ramakrishnudu, Labour Minister K Atchannaidu and Government Chief Whip Kalva Srinivasulu, besides officials.
Telangana was represented by Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao, Power Minister G Jagadish Reddy and government advisor G Vivekanand.
The two sides agreed to resolve all pending issues and urged the Governor to facilitate further meetings.
“We decided to resolve issues in a cordial atmosphere, with a give-and-take approach, by protecting the interests of states and also employees. Though all issues cannot be addressed in a single day, we decided to move ahead in a phased manner, but with speed and protecting the interests of the two states,” Harish Rao told reporters.
Ramakrishnudu said the meeting decided to sort out issues with mutual agreement instead of fighting in courts or officials holding discussions.
The next meeting would be held on February 9, the sources said.
The two states have had differences over various issues, including sharing of electricity and water and division of institutions listed in the 9th and 10th schedules of the AP Reorganisation Act and also high court here.
Several meetings held between the two sides to sort out the issues have not been known to be too successful.
The Governor is understood to have had a meeting with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and his Telangana counterpart K Chandrasekhar Rao at Raj Bhavan when both of them attended the customary ‘At Home’ on Republic Day.