A.P. to revoke ‘three capitals’ Acts

In News

• Recently, the Andhra Pradesh Assembly unanimously passed a Bill to repeal two laws that were cleared to set up three different state capitals.

About Three- capitals

• On July 31 the state government notified the AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Act, 2020, and the AP Capital Region Development Authority (Repeal) Act, 2020.
• The government had earlier hinted A.P. could have three capitals — 
  • Executive capital in Visakhapatnam,
  • Legislative capital in Amaravati and 
  • Judiciary capital in Kurnool.

Image Courtesy: IE 

Need for three capitals

• Three capitals ensure equal development of different regions of the state.
• Decentralisation has been the central theme in recommendations of all major committees that were set up to suggest a suitable location for the capital of Andhra Pradesh. These include Justice B N Srikrishna Committee, K Sivaramakrishnan Committee, G N Rao Committee etc.

Reasons for Repealment

• Protest by people: 
  • Over a hundred petitions challenging the government’s move have been filed before the Andhra Pradesh High Court. 
  • Farmers of Amaravati, who let the government acquire their lands, wanted them to stick to the previous plan and build a world-class capital city in the same location. 
• Plug loopholes:
  • A “better” and more “comprehensive” Bill should be introduced after plugging the loopholes in the previous one. 
• Better resort available:
  • Choosing Amaravati as the capital was wrong, as it lacked basic infrastructures, such as roads and drainage systems. 
• Huge Fund Required: 
  • Rs 1 lakh crore was required to build just that, which may escalate to Rs 5 or 6 lakh crore in 10 years.

Benefits 

• Promotes Decentralisation: 
  • According to the government, decentralisation was the central theme in recommendations of all major committees that were set up to suggest a suitable location for the capital of Andhra Pradesh.
• Asymmetric Federalism: 
  • It restores Asymmetric Federalism – accommodates diversity not only between states but also within states.
• Boost to growth:
  • Three new large cities would boost the growth of the state, having multiple capitals spreads the economic growth in diverse channels by building multiple growth poles.
• Prevents Migration: 
  • This shall reduce the migration of the people towards one large capital city, instead it may provide three different destinations, making it a viable and sustainable urbanization.

Disadvantages with 3 Capitals of Andhra Pradesh

• Huge Financial Costs: 
  • Large amount of funding will be required to develop multiple capitals and to ensure smooth functioning of these capitals.
• Travel Inconvenience: 
  • The Amaravati-Kurnool distance is 370 km. The time and costs of travel will be significant. 
• Not Required:
  • The Assembly meets only after gaps of several months, and government Ministers, officers, and staff can simply go to Amaravati when required.
• Establishing Coordination: 
  • Coordinating between seats of legislature and executive in separate cities will be easier said than done, and with the government offering no specifics of a plan, officers and common people alike fear a logistics nightmare.
• Disinterested World Agencies:
  • The World Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) pulled out of the project to fund Amaravati’s development is a lesson to learn from.
  • A single large capital may attract more investors than three small capital cities.
• Other Problems:
  • It involves issues like land acquisition, which is already a problem in the newly developed capital of Amaravati.
  • The district level imbalance would still exist. (Amaravati in the south coastal AP, Visakhapatnam in north coastal Andhra and Kurnool in Rayalaseema region.)

Examples of Multiple Capitals

• India: 
  • Maharashtra has two capitals– Mumbai and Nagpur (which holds the winter session of the state assembly).
  • Himachal Pradesh has capitals at Shimla and Dharamshala (winter).
  • The former state of Jammu & Kashmir had Srinagar and Jammu (winter) as capitals.
• Global:
  • In Sri Lanka, 
    • Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is the official capital and seat of the national legislature, 
    • Colombo is the de facto seat of national executive and judicial bodies.
  • Republic of South Africa has three capitals:
    • Pretoria, the administrative capital;
    • Cape Town, the legislative capital and
    • Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.
  • In Malaysia:
    • Kuala Lumpur is official and royal capital and seat of national legislature, and
    • Putrajaya is the administrative centre and seat of the national judiciary.

Conclusion

• It is still not clear if the government will stick to Amaravati as the sole capital. 
• There is an urgent need for decentralization for equitable development of all regions.

 Sources: IE + TH