Hyderabad: Telangana State government will not take part in the South Indian finance ministers’ conference called by the Kerala government in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday against the Centre trying to devolve more funds to Northern states at the cost of southern states.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday asked finance minister Etela Rajender to not attend the meeting as he felt such meetings are not good for national integration or national interests.
The meeting was called against the Terms of Reference by the Centre for the 15th Finance Commission for devolution of Central taxes to states which stipulate that the 2011 Census should be taken as a basis instead of the 1971 Census taken earlier.
Finance Minister Etela Rajender confirmed late on Monday about non-participation of Telan-gana in the meeting. However, he did not disclose the reasons for non-participation. Official sources revea-led that the CM was against attending such meetings.
Interestingly, neighbouring Telugu state Andhra Pradesh has confirmed the participation and AP finance minister Yanamala Ramakrish-nudu will attend the meeting on Tuesday.
Telangana CM KCR had made his stand clear on this issue in the recent Budget Session of the Legislative Assembly.
He said: "Already some states are talking about North-South divide and Centre showing discrimination towards South states. I don't encourage such things. This is not good for the nation or national integration or national interests. The Centre should take measures to prevent these kind of situations in future."
