Narendra Modi unhappy with the slow pace of finalisation of minutes regarding Andhra division

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is "unhappy" with the home ministry’s tardy progress ahead of the division of Andhra Pradesh and carving out of a separate state of Telangana by the appointed date of June 2, officials familiar with the matter told ET. Although the gazette notification on the matter came on March 1, the home ministry has not been able to finalise the division of officer cadres between the two new states, an issue that has attracted the ire of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

"In the last three months, the home ministry was waiting for political guidance to press ahead with this, but then minister Sushil Kumar Shinde was busy in campaigning. The appointed date has been known since March 20. The new Prime Minister is a stickler for achieving targets and this is not a good start for bureaucrats at home ministry," a top home ministry official said. Even as Telangana will officially come into being on June 2, there will be no formal division of IAS, IPS or the state cadre between the two states and the 'division of assets' will also not be formalised.



"There will only be a provisional division of cadre… as per the Act passed in Parliament, the division of cadre can happen on or after the appointed date," a senior home ministry official said citing the rules. However, Telangana was the top item on the agenda when Modi met home secretary Anil Goswami on May 19 as well as in the meeting between the new home minister Rajnath Singh and Goswami on Tuesday.

The minister of state for PMO Jitendra Singh told ET that the smooth creation of Telangana was a "top priority" of the new government. After the Singh-Goswami meeting on Tuesday, Goswami summoned all senior home ministry officials for a meeting on Wednesday. Ever since it became known that Modi would be the new Prime Minister, senior bureaucrats led by Goswami have been brainstorming to find a way to divide the officer cadre.