Matter of the State

The Telangana show remained the highlight of the preceding day overshadowing the Copenhagen environment summit owing to indefatigable efforts by the media to magnify every occurrence related to the subject to the point of extravagancy, quite similar to what it has been doing for the past fortnight. The fast-unto-death of one man, who had unquestionably minuscule public support before this course of events, was provided with undue importance till it actually created an issue of significance for the whole of the country to pay attention to, notwithstanding urgent issues like mammoth rise in food prices and India’s stand at Copenhagen. That said, the UPA government’s response to issue has been disappointing and gauche, to say the very least. The central government has to be commanding a more respectable position than one which can be coerced into action by demagogues. The reaction has indeed sent out a disheartening message that even after winning a decisive mandate, the UPA has failed to establish a strong authority at the centre. The consequence is that several activists have sat down on fast-unto-death for a separate Gorkhaland and it is just a matter of time before this and other extremist measures are taken by the perpetrators of the demands for Bundelkhand, Harit Pradesh, Poorvanchal, Vidarbha and Saurashtra.

Nevertheless, the demand for Telangana is actually quite old and genuine in some sense. The region, despite being close to the prospering capital of Hyderabad, is still suffering from neglect and underdevelopment. But is statehood the panacea for all its problems? The real issue here is the inability of the state governments of the past to initiate and sustain earnest development programs in the region and all this palaver is just another political ploy to divert public attention and acquire power. How else can you explain this drama occurring after TRS reducing to just 2 seats in the recent Lok Sabha elections?

Having smaller states does look like a better model of governance superficially, but one must also understand the fact that this also leads to tremendous increase in the cost of governance, explicitly speaking, it means another capital, another CM and a flock of ministers, administrative officials, governing bodies etc. Economic viability is another significant issue. The state should have sufficient resources to finance its own programs and schemes and be able to draft a budget which does not result in a deficit. A State Reorganization Commission (SRC) would have been the rational answer to such a demand. An independent and sensible body is needed to look into these demands in an impartial and holistic manner and analyze the necessity and feasibility of these states. This would bring about the required restructuring without acceding to dubious claims. Owing to our lack of democratic maturity, a public referendum would still not be the right course of action, although it looks awfully attractive. But for how long are we willing to allow political outfits to manipulate and fashion public opinions which serve their own pecuniary interests rather than addressing the actual issues of poverty, education and development, is a question that we must ask ourselves.