Home Minister P C Chidambaram's recent statement that a separate state of Telangana will be carved out from the existing state of Andhra Pradesh has opened up a can of worms for the ruling Congress Party. The reactions to this statement have been both swift and far reaching. Whole lot of MP's and MLA's many of them from Congress party itself resigned following this announcement. This indicates that the party did not take all its members into confidence before opting for this announcement. While this announcement bought a wave of relief to people from Telangana region, the rest of Andhra Pradesh and even India seems indignant and up in arms against such ridiculous decision.
First of all, the most contentious issue here is the fate of Hyderabad which is capital of Andhra Pradesh. If Telangana state is indeed formed as the Government states, then Hyderabad will fall deep within Telangana's regional boundaries. Which means that Hyderabad will either become capital of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh will need a new city as its capital. Vizag or Vishakapatnam comes in contention but it is simply not in the same league as Hyderabad. Alternatively, Hyderabad could be turned into a separate Union Territory and be allowed to serve as capital of both Andhra Pradesh as well as Telangana (similar to Chandigarh). Thus the fate of Hyderabad remains interesting.
Finally, while the Congress almost retracted on its earlier statement and said that the state of Telangana will not be carved out in a haste and it will follow proper judicial a well as constitutional procedures of the same, the impact has already come to bite it on its back. First of all, around a dozen other groups have put forward their demands for carving out separate states from current states. Congress has indeed set up a bad precedent.
The people from Telangana have long complained that they do not get their fair share of resources from the Andhra Pradesh Government and hence their region has remained backward and under developed and creating a separate state is necessary to ensure that Telangana gets its fair allocation of resources. But can this really work? Do small states improve Governance? Similar arguments were heard during creation of Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and Uttarakhand, and we still keep hearing similar demand from Vidharbha in Maharashtra and a lot of other small factions. Let us look at the three states that were already created a few years back - there seems to be little evidence to suggest that quality of governance or standard of living of general population has in anyways improved since the state were formed. On the other hand, crime and corruption in these states is definitely on a rise (Soren, Madhu Koda). Secondly states such as Jharkhand are rich in natural resources with a flourishing mining industry which provides some hope that these states will become self sufficient at some point in future.
The case of Telangana on the other hand is unique. It boasts of no industry, natural resources or any hint of development. It is as backward as people claim it is. Which means that it will need greater allocation of resources from National Budgets for quite some time, which naturally would be at expense of some other states. Telangana might also need to increase taxes to fund its development program which will further create a barrier for industries. If these happens, a lot of industries already in Hyderabad might consider shifting base which will hurt the state even more.
The bigger debate here is that does India need any more states? Smaller states, instead of improving Governance leads to duplication of lot of resources. More states means more tax codes, more segregates police force, more bureaucracy. India is a very diverse country with different customs and religions. Governing such a huge country with different cultures is a challenge in itself and it is commendable that we have managed to run smoothly till now. However if we give in to demands of all smaller factions and start carving out more states, the whole cause of United India will be lost. We might as well break up India in different pieces and have more countries instead of states.
What about people from areas such as Telangana then. Should they continue to live in poverty and economic backwardness? No. But the solution is not a separate state. They could instead fight for their share of resources, or refuse to pay taxes or some sort of civil disobedience acts till they are allotted the same. But asking for formation of a separate state - that would destroy the very fabric if India - its unity and inclusiveness.
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