MY VIEWS ON THE HIGHLY DEBATED TOPIC : IS BIFURCATION OF ANDHRA PRADESH NECESSARY??

As i type this down,i would like to mention that i am currently in hyderabad and everywhere in my city there is strife all around,for 25 days in a row.With no bus service,an impending rail 'roko' and other sector strikes,life is anything but easy here. Educational institutes have long since shut down and the students are whiling away their time even as they know that their academic schedules are being tampered with.Ironical as it might sound,the same people who ranted about lesser public employment and economic backwardness in the telangana region are the ones responsible for the present chaos in the whole of the telangana region.The power demands are at an all time high,with the shortage in power plant supply helping the least bit.

       Even ironical it might sound,when i,after all the accusations ive made in the book review,blame the people who are imposing strikes in the region in and around hyderabad whereas my thoughts on bifurcation are in harmony with theirs..well,i certainly am advocating for a bi furcation in the state but i never would have,though it is inevitable in our country,said yes for making it the political issue it has turned out to be.The leaders in for the cause are not selfless either,going by their modes of operation.But the issue of inept politicians not withstanding,i would like to start off with the historical introduction and then proceed to the crux of the matter.

 I will try my best to put all the relevant information at hand here but unbiased i dont intend to be.My blog would be,blatantly,in favour of a separate telangana state.Me being a rookie,my thoughts might turn out to be flawed,but to the best of my abilities,i have tried to back up all my arguments with rational explanations!!

A HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION:

                         Andhra state was constituted as a result of the efforts of Telugu speaking people of Madras state who wished to have a separate linguistic state for promoting Their own distinct culture. The state was formed on October 1,1953, after the Act of Parliament (the Andhra State Act of 1953) received the President‟s assent on September 14, 1953. It was the first state constituted on linguistic basis after India‟s independence. At the time of its formation, Andhra state consisted of the districts of Anantapur, Kurnool, Kadapah, Chittoor, Nellore,Krishna, Guntur, East Godavari, West Godavari, Visakhapatnam and Srikakulam.

                   In addition, Alur, Adoni and Rayadurg talukas of the Bellary district were also added to Andhra state. The first two talukas were included in Kurnool district and the last mentioned was added to Anantapur district. Prakasham (Ongole) district came into existence on February 2, 1970, by carving out portions of Nellore, Kurnool and Guntur districts. Similarly, in 1979- 80, a new district Vijayanagaram (now Vizianagaram) was created out of Srikakulam and Visakhapatnam districts. Kurnool, which was the district headquarters, was selected and developed as the capital of Andhra state. The Legislative Assembly functioned from Kurnool and consisted of 196 members. The Andhra High Court was set up on July 5, 1954, and was located at Guntur.1 This arrangement was in keeping with the Sri Bagh Pact that had been arrived at as early as on November 15, 1937, between the leaders of coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema.

          The Nizam state of Hyderabad, in the meanwhile, had become part of the Indian Union following the Police Action by the Government of India during September 13-18, 1948. The state of Hyderabad was kept under the rule of a military governor till the end of 1949. In January, 1950 a senior administrator M.A.Vellodi, ICS, was made the Chief Minister and the Nizam was given the status of Rajpramukh. After general elections of 1952, the first popular ministry, headed by Burgula Ramakrishna Rao, took charge of the state. The state of Hyderabad, during 1952-56, consisted of the primarily Telugu-speaking districts of Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda, Warangal, Karimnagar, Adilabad, Nizamabad,Khammam, Medak and the city of Hyderabad (including Ranga Reddy district),the predominantly Marathi-speaking northern districts of Aurangabad, Bir,Pharbani, Osmanabad and Nanded and the Kannada-speaking southern districts of Gulbarga, Raichur and Bidar. Telugu-speaking districts together formed more than 50% of the area of Hyderabad state. Notwithstanding the same,Hyderabad, during Nizam‟s rule, was the only native state where the language of administration was neither English, nor that of the people of the state.It was primarily urdu!!!So with such an introduction let me proceed to the SRC(STATES RE ORGANISATION COMMISSION) whose recommendations are all so important and deserve a mention.

THE SUGGESTIONS BY THE SRC :

                              It was appointed on december 29,1953 by the government of india and was headed by Justice S. Fazal Ali with H.N. Kunzru and K.M. Panikkar as members, to examine and suggest a rational solution for the reorganization of states.THIS IS SO VERY IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT SUGGESTED THE MERGING OF THE TELANGANA REGION WITH SEEMANDHRA(THE OTHER PART OF AP) ONLY AS LONG AS THE PEOPLE FROM THE TELANGANA REGION DONT FEEL THE NEED FOR THE SEPARATE STATE OF THEIR OWN,and i will henceforth try to put forward the reasons for the need(of the hour i might say) and the dire consequences that have led to such a conclusion.Well even while the merging happened,THE INITIAL THOUGHT OF NAME WAS ANDHRA – TELANGANA WHICH ON OPPOSITION BY THE ANDHRA LEADERS,WAS CHANGED TO ANDHRA PRADESH...TALK ABOUT EQUAL CONSIDERATIONS!!!now I will not waste anymore time and try to show why the separation is so imperative.

REASONS FOR THE DEMANDS OF A SEPARATE STATE,NOW!

1).Well the initial argument of the telangana people that there were very few telangana chief ministers since the time of state formation,is statistically true. This doesnt indicate any oppression as such but take a look at this:

-The post of CHIEF SECRETARY - MR.L PRASAD(SEEMANDHRA REGION)

-DIRECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE - MR.DINESH REDDY(SEEMANDHRA REGION)

-HYDERABAD POLICE COMMISIONER – A.K KHAN(SEEMANDHRA REGION)..this is most perplexing,as atleast the Hyderabad region commissioner one expects it to be a telangana person.If this shows asymmetry in the representation in the posts of the state,look below.

2).The water resources a state uses is directly proportional to the length of the river flowing in that state(GOVT. OF INDIA POLICY).But what is baffling is that this logic is somehow defied when it comes to the internal state distribution.Statistically 80% of the river Godavari flows in telangana,and so does 45% of the river Krishna.Somehow,till date,the just distribution of water wasn’t done and the telangana region craves for its fair share.Adding somemore light in this asymmetry aspect is the next point.

3).The projects proposed in telangana are usually when there is going to be a revolt or an uproar in the state.Otherwise,they tend to be redundant,and act as the excuse statements for the politicians saying that telangana region is getting its share of projects.Money wise,the numbers look large,but utility wise,sadly no.This shows negligence and an offhand behaviour when it comes to dealing with projects in this region.I would like to give few instances:

-“KALWAKURTY PROJECT” IN Mahaboobnagar is one such water irrigation project which intends to supply water,from a level which is below mean sea.This requires a lot of extra mechanical power and equipment to lift the water below sea level and then supply it,when they could have as well taken the water from “JHURALA PROJECT” which is fairly above sea level.This inflates the cost,which is shown in large numbers by the government,even as they claim to take care of telangana.The money in the name of development as usual is not fully received(the problem of the country as a whole).

4).THE 610 G.O RULE,which was proposed by a seemandhra chief minister himself,states thatone has to work in  his native place only and has to return back to his native,if he is employed in an another region.The implementation,needless to say,has been hovering around the pathetic level,with an abysmal 1% of migrations done.

5).The employment levels,is very well known to be a major factor.Even after all the initial committees asking for the safeguarding of the telangana region,which was very backward compared to education and development in general,still we see that the major chunk of employees continue to be non telangana people in the telangana region.All solemn statements about care for telangana have been rendered useless a long time ago,and now is the imperative need to bring about a change.or so feel the ones vouching for a separate state.There are also few things which throw light on unfair treatment.For example,the state is divided into 7 zones for the S.I(SUB INSPECTOR) selections and wherein the candidates from their zones get selectedin  their respective ones.HYDERABAD,technically,is along with RANGA REDDY,MAHABBOBNAGAR and NALGONDA in the 6^th zone but for reasons inexplicable,the government has made HYDERABAD  a FREE ZONE,thus making it open for people from anywhere in the state to get selected here.This cuts the quota which was prescribed by the constitution itself and even something as partial as this,was prevailing till last month when under the pressure of the activists,Hyderabad was announced to be a free zone no longer.

  These five are examples as such which show that the shouts for the separation of a state are not impractical and not entirely on impulse.In fact,they are far from impulsive as the pressure was piling up since decades because the promised development was nowhere to be visible in the telangana region.Hyderabad apart,the situation of the telangana districts is woeful,with basic amenities not in the reach of people there.Education is a strange word in this land,which continues to be exploited,with ‘solace’ offered in the form of several unnecessary projects,which did the land no good!There is one more aspect to look at in this issue,which further fuelled the agitation.

THE DEMANDS FOR SAMIKYANDHRA(A TOGETHER STATE),AND WHY IT FURTHER FUELLED UNREST IN THE STATE:

             A parallel protest for the retention of a common state was started just after the telangana agitation took the mainstage in the state’s politics.What it could have done.if projected properly,was to bring a sense of unity in the state.But we will see that the intentions were far from altruistic in nature,with the separate state demand clearly throwing light on the VESTED INTERESTS of few big wigs in the city of Hyderabad.The capital city was indicated to be the main interest of those people,not that they cared for telangana more.This further distanced the people from both regions,as the politicians from the respective sides ensured they gathered enough support.No side was looking at common interests,but atleast the demands of the telangana people were justified,given the continuous neglect of the region even decades after the formation of the state.All few leaders from the seemandhra wanted was their properties to be protected in the in the city of Hyderabad.Other than that,they didn’t seem to have any interst in the development of the telangana region as such,which was reflected in their arguments right from the outset,and which showed how insincere they were in their demands.While unity is always to be supported,the need for immediate development of the telangana region should be given the highest priority!

THE HYPOCRISY OF THE POLITICAL PARTIES,IN CONSECUTIVE ELECTIONS IN 2004 AND 2009:

    First I would say something about the ‘common minimum program’ of a political party’s manifesto.While it is widely known that most of a political party’s manifestos is crap.saying it bluntly,there is some assurance called the common minimum program which the party says that it take care to ensure it.even if the rest of the manifesto cannot be materialised(which is what happens).CONGRESS IN 2004 and TDP IN 2009 had a separate state in their common minimum programs.Whereas it is known that things like these are ploys during elections time,playing around with such a sensitive issue proved to be the undoing for these major political parties in the state,with the telangana leaders from both parties separating themselves from the parties and joining in the demand for a separate state.Even tough the parties are notorious for their false promises,they should have been tentative in this aspect atleast.That they couldn’t anticipate future embarassment is really pitiful.

Recent estimates say that no party is ready for a mid term elections,with  the TRS(TELANGANA RASHTRA SAMITI) party expected to sweep the elections in the telangana region(though they must be blamed for incessant number of bandhs which have rendered the city lifeless these past few days).

THE SITUATIONS IN TELANGANA REGION,IN CASE OF SEPARATION:

   Well few serious(and genuine) doubts are whether the region will be benifited after it separates from Andhra Pradesh.Further situations of unrest and the advent of naxalism are stated to be the main problems which might arise.One more thing is that we do not know if there are able administrators to rule the new state,and make it into the ‘UTOPIA LAND’ they are dreaming for.One must take in the fact that the development process will be slow initially,but what will then be assured is the funds from the centre are now directed here,without any of the allotted budget going elsewhere,and with the self governance of the people of the same region,one can expect sensible projects to be implemented,which will certainly do the region a world of good!the fueds over water will be put to rest forever and employment issues will be largely solved.On the outer face,separate state looks the obvious solution but one must note the challenges too.The building of a new state which is a laborious process in itself and industrial reluctance will prove to be the biggest hindrance in the initial stages of development.Still,wise choices are to be expected when one one is so desperately seeking self governance and the hopes are high in the telangana region.If anything,the pros outnumber the cons,to be frank.

AN ALTERNATIVE:

      Since this blog is in favour of a new state,I cant talk much about alternatives.But thinking sensibly,one cant really split all the states in the country as such,with demands from other states being the nuisance if it happens.The need down south(of india) is a very urgent one as such though.Still,proper assurances and immediate implementations of fruitful projects,without any goddamn delay might(“MIGHT”) prove to be pacifiers,though the delay all these days has proved fatal.The statements from the central ministers is not helping the proceedings,with them being very indifferent or very discouraging,quite bluntly.That is what will provoke more unrest in an already screwed up state(excuse the use of the word).One can only watch the proceedings closely from now on!!Even the ones fighting for a new state must be open to suggestions and not be just obstinate,though that is all that tahy have managed all these days.The agitation started in 2009,and now recently after the tentative nature of the Sri Krishna Committee Report(which thus proved to be a temporary time out in these fast paced,unhealthy proceedings).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

    This topic has justified the title for’ contemporary issues’,the objective of our course.The issue is currently one of the major ones in the country,and hence due to the news and the newspapers,there was no dearth of material.Sri Krishna committee report,comprehensive as ive said many times earlier,was helpful in getting matter about the origin of the state and historical events,in a concise manner.So even after my overt accusations of the report being largely unhelpful in providing a permanent solution,I must say that the book was really useful in knowing top to bottom of the issue atleast.

         So I would thank the teachers for providing such a thought provoking assignment,which educated me on the happenings in my state.The nature of the project demanded a lot of thorough study about this particular,which was enriching.I can claim that after all this,I can comment on the issue freely,instead of giving that clichéd statement “I don’t care!”.For one thing,it was good to know so much about something which is happening right now,and to analyse it and make a case study was a good experience altogether.

   I also thank my team mates for the decision of the topic and the blog in general.An agreement was to give diverse views on the topic,to present a complete unbiased picture to the readers.So locally,the respective contributions are biased but the total blog comes out to be an unbiased one for the reader to assess.

DISCLAIMER:

   As said above,the taking of sides in the whole debate was to give a complete picture and no offence is meant towards any region as such.As such we felt that a neutral assessment would render the blog monotonous and a tad boring and hence we chose to take sides on the argument.