Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: States with multiple administrative capitals
Mains level: Need for more capital cities
The Andhra Pradesh Assembly unanimously passed a Bill to repeal two laws that were cleared last year to set up three different state capitals.
Three Capitals Act
- The law was titled Andhra Pradesh Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Act, 2020.
- The incumbent govt had decided to reverse the previous government’s decision to have an ambitious world-class capital city at Amaravati, which is located between Vijayawada and Guntur.
- Thus, it was decided that Amaravati was to be the Legislative capital, Visakhapatnam the Executive capital, and Kurnool the Judicial capital.
Why was it repealed?
- 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.
Will Andhra Pradesh have only one capital now?
- It is not clear if the government will stick to Amaravati as the sole capital.
- Throughout his address, the CM stressed the need for decentralization for the equitable development of all regions.
What are the other examples of multiple capital cities?
- Among Indian states, Maharashtra has two capitals– Mumbai and Nagpur (which hold 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.
Must read
Three capitals for Andhra Pradesh — its logic and the questions it raises
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