The Union Cabinet on Wednesday cleared in-principle a proposal for setting up a central university in Andhra Pradesh and approved a provisioning of Rs 450 crore for its first phase, an official said.
The Cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, gave its approval to the proposed "Central University of Andhra Pradesh", which is to be set up in Janthaluru village of Anantapur district.
The university would be mentored by an existing central university till its governing structure was in place, a statement from the government said.
The Cabinet also approved the proposal for operationalisation of the university in the "transit campus" till necessary amendment was made in the Central Universities Act, 2009.
Till then, it will operate as a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, in order to give a legal status.
After its division into two states, Andhra Pradesh was left with no central university while the newly carved Telangana was endowed with three such varsities in Hyderabad.
"The approval would increase access and quality of higher education and help in minimising the regional imbalances in education facilities and give effect to the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act 2014," the government said.
In February, TDP, ruling party of Andhra Pradesh, expressed its unhappiness with the allocations made to the state in the Union Budget. The state had demanded a railway zone in Visakhapatnam, funds to build Amaravati – the new capital of the state, among others, which were not met.
“We have been expecting a lot. However, there is no mention of Andhra Pradesh in the budget speech, barring allocations for a few educational institutions that are mandatory as per the Bifurcation Act. It is disappointing,” AP finance minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu said at the time, calling the budget as ‘poll-budget’.
The TDP and the BJP have been sparring ever since the former pulled out of the NDA alliance to protest its refusal to grant the Special Category Status (SCS) to Andhra Pradesh.
Naidu accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of going back on the promises he made during the 2014 elections.