It is to be noted that after the formation of Andhra Pradesh, no chief minister has come from Telangana region till now.
An attempt at collective resignation by the Congress MPs from Andhra Pradesh on the issue of Telangana has heated up this issue once again. This is not the first time that the legislators, both MPs and MLAs, have threatened their resignations in favour of Telangana.
Adding fuel to the fire, the district magistrate of Rangareddy, while delivering a judgment, said that a case should be filed against former home minister P Chidambaram and present home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde under section 420 of the Indian Penal Code, for offering false promises to people on the formation of Telangana as a separate state. This has aggravated the movement of Telangana Rashtriya Samiti, which has been demanding separate Telangana state.
Initially, the Central government accepted in principle the formation of Telangana under the pressure of the movement but later it started dithering due to opposition from those opposed to Telangana, saying that there should be consensus on the issue. In the meanwhile, Sri Krishna committee was constituted, which submitted its report as well. However, the issue of Telangana remains entangled.
There is a history of making separate states after Independence. In 1956, under the States Reorganisation Act, many states were reorganised on linguistic basis. In 1962, the territories, which got independence from the French and Portugese occupation, namely Pondicherry, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Goa, Daman and Diu, were included in the Indian Republic as Union territories. In 1960, the state of Bombay was divided into 2 parts, Gujarat and Maharashtra, again on linguistic basis. Nagaland was given the statehood in 1963. Under the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, the northern districts of Punjab were included in Himachal Pradesh and a new state of Haryana was formed. Chandigarh was made the common capital of Punjab and Haryana and was given the status of Union territory and Himachal Pradesh became a state in 1971. In 2000, three new states namely Chhattisgarh, Uttrankhand and Jharkhand were formed.
Telangana is a part of the state of Andhra Pradesh, which was an important part of the state of Nizam of Hyderabad. After the merger of Nizam’s territory in 1948 with India, it became part of the state of Hyderabad and later of Andhra Pradesh. Since the 1956 State Reorganisation Act, the demand for Telangana as a separate state is being constantly raised. The supporters of Telangana demand that it should be separated from Andhra Pradesh, reinstating the geographical situation before 1956. The Telangana movement has gained momentum in the last four years.
Telangana has been known for its prosperity and development since ancient times. After the fall of Mauryan empire, the first Telagu empire came into existence under Satvahana dynasty. Its former capital was situated in the district of Kotilingala of Karimnagar. This empire played an important role in defeating aliens such as Kushaans, Saakas and Greeks. In addition to this, the culture of 10 districts of Telangana is quite different from the rest of Andhra Pradesh. Around 42 per cent of the population of Andhra Pradesh habituate in Telangana.
Strong case
The residents of Telangana are of the opinion that the united Andhra Pradesh is a hurdle in its development. It is to be noted that after the formation of Andhra Pradesh, no chief minister has come from Telangana till now. Therefore, supporters believe that there is a strong case in the demand for Telangana as a separate state.
The experience of the formation of separate states in the past has not gone too badly. We are aware that Punjab was divided into three parts in the past. Punjab, as compared to other regions, has always been a developed state. However, after the division of Punjab, there has been a tremendous development in all the three states. The region, which now constitutes the state of Haryana, has shown development at a very fast pace. Today, Haryana is in no way behind Punjab. Rather, the per capita income of Haryana is 30 per cent more than that of Punjab’s. Himachal Pradesh which was carved out of Punjab has also shown development with almost 100 per cent literacy, and the state has excelled in gardening and other kinds of economic activities.
Even newly formed states like Chhattisgarh, Uttrakhand and Jharkhand, have developed quickly after their reorganisation. They were carved out from highly underdeveloped regions, yet they have shown remarkable improvement. For instance, Chhattisgarh which was formed out of Madhya Pradesh had only 1 per cent annual rate of growth in the per capita income between 1993-94 and 1999-2000, has registered a growth rate of 6.23 per cent subsequently. Almost the same situation can be seen in Uttrakhand which has also grown from less than 1 per cent to 7.14 per cent.
In terms of human development, the standard of living of the newly formed states has improved. This happens because a new dynamism replaces the stagnant thoughts of the rulers who keep them underdeveloped. Presently, the people of Telangana are of the opinion that lack of representation for their region in the government is the main reason behind its backwardness.
Ten districts out of 23 districts of Andhra Pradesh constitute the territory which is being demanded as a separate state of Telangana. It is to be noted that 5 of these 10 districts are underdeveloped. A large portion of Medak, Mehboobnagar, Aadilabaad, Nizamabaad and Karimnagar come under this category. Suicides by farmers on a very large scale and the poor condition of weavers say a lot about the Telangana region. The suicide cases of weavers have often been making headlines in the newspapers. Not only this, the condition of turmeric and chilly farmers is also miserable. It is important that the Central government rectifies its old mistakes and shows the path of development to the region by forming a separate state of Telangana.