(Telangana) Srikrishna Committee Report's SIX Options

HYDERABAD: With the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) issuing guidelines, all the private TV channels in the state stopped telecasting any footage of violence, agitations and self-immolation bids by the T-activists. Even visuals depicting protests or celebrations were barred from being aired.

Sources said in view of the sensitivity of the matter, the channels were told to adhere to the guidelines. If any archival footage is shown, it should be labelled `file' and preferably, the date and time of the event should be stated.

There were only one or two OB vans near the OU campus in the morning. "There is no question of live footage being aired by the channels. We could contain the violence to a large extent because of this," a police official said. In fact, a private channel which tried to telecast stone-pelting on OU campus around 12.30 noon was blacked out for some time.

The six options that the report lists are:

1. Maintain status quo

2. Bifurcation of the State into Seemandhra and Telangana; with Hyderabad as a Union Territory and the two states developing their own capitals in due course

3. Bifurcation of State into Rayala-Telangana and coastal Andhra regions with Hyderabad being an integral part of Rayala-Telangana

4. Bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh into Seemandhra and Telangana with enlarged Hyderabad Metropolis as a separate Union Territory

5. Bifurcation of the State into Telangana and Seemandhra as per existing boundaries with Hyderabad as the capital of Telangana and Seemandhra to have a new capital

6. Keeping the State united by simultaneously providing certain definite Constitutional/Statutory measures for socio-economic development and political empowerment of Telangana region -creation of a statutorily empowered Telangana Regional Council (Read: Summary of the report)

K Chandrasekhar Rao

Of the three choices that the report shortlists, it leans towards option 6 as "the most workable option" - a combination of socio-economic development and the creation of a special council. (Watch: Report lists six options; rejects three, says Chidambaram)

The report states: "The Committee discussed all aspects of this option and while it acknowledges that there will be certain difficulties in its implementation, on balance, it found it the most workable option in the given circumstances and in the best interest of the social and economic welfare of the people of all the three regions."