Small States - Vote Bank Politics or Administrative Compulsion?: Civil Services Mentor Magazine - October 2013

SMALL STATES - VOTE BANK POLITICS OR ADMINISTRATIVE COMPULSION?

When the states of what would be independent India were drawn up in the dying days of the British Raj, the criterion used was linguistic: people who mostly spoke the same language were brought together in one state.

This principle ignored minority languages and dialects within these areas, as it glossed over the fact that several north Indian states were all predominantly Hindi-speaking. Demands for regional autonomy or separate statehood began to be raised fairly quickly in different parts of India. Among the first was the demand for a separate state of Telangana, which had been merged with other Telugu-speaking regions to create the state of Andhra Pradesh, despite local opposition.

The States Reorganisation Commission of 1954 did not recommend the merger, especially as the area was just emerging from the Communist partyled Telangana uprising, a moment that is still regarded as an inspirational struggle for the left movement in India. But the merger went through, with some supposed safeguards, even though the then prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, said this particular marriage should contain provisions for divorce.

The Congress Working Committee (CWC), the highest decision-making body of Congress Party, on 30 July 2013 decided to recommend to the Central Government to form the 29th State which will comprise of 10 districts. The districts that will be a part of the new State are Hyderabad, Adiiilllabad,,, Karrriiimnagarrr,,, Khammam,,, Mahaboobnagarrr,,, Medak, Nalgonda, Nizamabad, Rangareddy and Warangal. Hyderabad, the central point of the Telangana, will be the common capital of the newly proposed State and the other regions, Rayalaseema and Andhra for a period of 10 years. A new capital for Andhra will be identified in Seemandhra region within this period.

Telangana State will have a geographical area of 10 of the 23 districts of undivided Andhra Pradesh. Out of 42 Lok Sabha seats and 294 Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana is likely to have 17 Lok Sabha seats and 119 Assembly seats.

About Telangana Region

  • The population of Telangana is 35.19 million (2011 Census). It includes seven million population of Hyderabad, which emerged as a major IT hub during the past two decades.
  • The region has geographical area of 1.14 lakh sq km.
  • The districts which are a part of Telangana region are Hyderabad, Adilabad, Karimnagar, Khammam, Mahaboobnagar, Medak, Nalgonda, Nizamabad, Rangareddy and Warangal.
  • Hyderabad and Warangal are the two largest cities in the Telangan region.
  • Warangal city was declared as a World Heritage City by UNESCO in March 2013.
  • The two major Rivers Krishna and Godavari flew through the region.

Telangana Movement - A Background

1. The Telangana region was a part of erstwhile Hyderabad State which was merged into Indian Union on 17 September 1948.
2. The Hyderabad State was merged with Andhra State with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act 1956 and so the united Andhra Pradesh state came into being on 1 November 1956.
3. In 1956 Gentlemens Agreement was signed by Bezawada Gopal Reddy, CM of Andhra State and Burgula Ramakrishna Rao, CM of Hyderabad State for safeguarding Telangana people.
4. The Telangana agitation began in 1969 as people protested the failure of implementation of Gentlemens Agreement and other safeguards.
5. In 1969 Marri Chenna Reddy launched the Telangana Praja Samithi by demanding separate Telangana State.
6. The separate State movement came in to limelight again when a new political party Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) was formed by K Chandra Shekhar Rao on 27 April 2001.
7. The UPA Government on 9 December 2009 took the decision of formation of Telangana State, in the backdrop of indefinite fast by TRS leader K Chandrashekhar Rao.
8. This decision had ignited street protests in the non-Telangana regions and opposition from Ministers, MLAs and leaders from within the party that forced the Central Government and the Congress leadership to put the issue on hold.
9. The Centre held rounds of meetings with all the parties from the State and set up a Commission under the chairmanship of former Supreme Court Judge Justice Srikrishna.

The Sri Krishna Commission

The Government of India constituted a five member Committee headed by Justice Sri Krishna for consultations on the Situation in Andhra Pradesh (CCSAP) on 3 February 2010 to resolve the Telangana issue. The Sri Krishna Committee submitted its report to the Union Home Ministry on 30 December 2010 and suggested six options.

The six options are

1. Maintain status quo
2. Bifurcation of the State into Seemandhra and Telangana; with Hyderabad as a Union Territory and the two states developing their own capitals in due course.
3. Bifurcation of State into Rayala-Telangana and coastal Andhra regions with Hyderabad being an integral part of RayalaTelangana.
4. Bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh into Seemandhra and Telangana with enlarged Hyderabad Metropolis as a separate Union Territory.
5. Bifurcation of the State into Telangana and Seemandhra as per existing boundaries with Hyderabad as the capital of Telangana and Seemandhra to have a new capital.
6. Keeping the State united by simultaneously providing certain definite Constitutional/Statutory measures for socio-economic development and political empowerment of Telangana region creation of a statutorily empowered  Telangana Regional Council.

The Constitutional procedure for creation of New States: Article 3 of the Indian Constitution vests the power to form new States in Parliament.

Article 3 states: Parliament by Law,

(a) Form a new State by separation of territory from any State or by uniting two or more States or parts of States or by uniting any territory to a part of any State;
(b) Increase the area of any State;
(c) Diminish the area of any State;
(d) Alter the boundaries of any State;
(e) Alter name of any states.

  • No Bill for the purpose shall be introduced in either House of Parliament except on the recommendation of the President.
  • The President shall, before giving his recommendation, refer the Bill to the Legislature of the State which is going to be affected by the changes proposed in the Bill, for expressing its views on the changes within the period specified by the President. The President is not bound by the views of the State Legislature, so ascertained.

By a simple majority and by the ordinary legislative process Parliament may form new States or alter the boundaries of existing States and there by changes in the political map of India.

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