Andhra Pradesh is probably the only State in the country, and probably in the world, that does not have a fixed Capital till date, political economist and commentator Parakala Prabhakar has said.
He was addressing the media here on Wednesday after screening his 60-minute documentary on the capital issue titled ‘Capital tragedy - Amaravati’.
“First, people had seen Kurnool as Capital. Later, it was shifted to Hyderabad. After bifurcation of the State, it was Amaravati. And now, the YSRCP government has mooted the idea of three capitals with Visakhapatnam as Executive Capital, Kurnool as Judicial Capital and Amaravati as Legislative Capital,” he said.
“Even after six decades, the State cannot boast of a fixed capital,” he said.
“It is time for the people to ponder why it is so and who is responsible for it,” Mr. Prabhakar observed.
We need to know why Amaravati was chosen as the Capital and why so much land was needed for it. At the same time question, we also need to know why there was a need to shift the capital, he said.
South African model
According to Mr. Prabhakar, the three-capital decision is based on South Africa’s model.
But in the documentary, a number of intellectuals of that country were seen pointing out that the model had failed due to more reasons than one, which included logistical and economic.
“We need to keep aside what has happened till date. The government should bring all the stakeholders onto one platform and deliberate on the issue. So far, there has been no effort for an open and free discussion with the stakeholders, including the media, farmers and political parties, in a democratic set-up. But that is the need of the hour. People should discuss and deliberate and then arrive at a consensus,” he said.
