Telangana govt claims ownership of tourism institute

Says the National Institute of Tourism and Hospitality Management belongs to the state as per the AP Reorganization Act 2014

The Telangana government on Monday claimed that the National Institute of Tourism and Hospitality Management (NITHM) belongs to the state as per the AP Reorganization Act 2014.

“The institute is situated in Hyderabad and as per the provisions of the Act, the institute, which is physically located in Telangana, will be managed by Telangana state where it is located. Its services will also be offered to the successor state i.e. Andhra Pradesh on mutually agreed terms”, the state chief secretary, Rajiv Sharma, stated in a press release.

Accordingly, Sharma said, the state government had issued an order appointing its tourism and culture principal secretary as chairman of the institute and in this capacity the latter had also conducted a governing council meeting on last week.

“Against this backdrop, the erstwhile officer namely the Spl. (Special) Chief Secretary to AP Govt. (Government) cannot continue to be the head of this institute”, he  said.

The AP government’s special chief secretary, Chandana Khan, had been prevented from attending the institute’s  board meeting today. The Telangana government clarification about the institute came following this incident.