Telangana issue: Centre forms five member committee

New Delhi, Feb 3 (ANI): The Home Ministry on Wednesday announced the formation of a five-member committee headed by former Supreme Court Judge B N Srikrishna to look into the process for the formation of a separate Telangana state.

The other members of the committee are Professor (Dr) Ranbir Singh, Vice Chancellor, National Law University, Delhi and Abu Saleh Shariff, Senior Research Fellow in International Food Policy Research Institute, Delhi.

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Department of Humanities and Social Sciences Professor Rabinder Kaur and Former Home Secretary V K Duggal are also the members of the committee.

Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) Chief K Chandra Shekhar Rao's son KT Rama Rao has welcomed the Centre's move hoping that the process for the formation of a separate Telangana state would now begin.

Rao said, "I have not yet received the details of the committee, but I welcome this move from the Centre."

The announcement made by the Centre comes just two days after Union Home Minister P Chidambaram's statements that there would be no delay in the formation of the committee.

Chidambaram had said, "We are in the earliest part of the week. I said last week that early this week (the Committee will be announced). Wait for the committee to be announced."

Following Chidambaram's announcement that a committee on the issue would be appointed next week, the all-party Joint Action Committee (JAC) had extended its deadline to February 7 for getting the resignations of all legislatures accepted.

Earlier on Thursday (January 28), the all-party Joint Action Committee (JAC) had called for a meeting as the deadline set by the Centre for the formation of a separate Telangana state had come to an end. (ANI)