This is the text of memorandum I have sent to Justice Srikrishna Committee. If you agree with my views, please send a copy (you can copy & paste) to Sri Duggal’s email given under. Please omit the matter given under italics and replace my name and address with yours. Please circulate this among all the Telugus.
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To
Shri VK Duggal
[email protected]
Dear Sir, 18th March 2010
Sub: Division of State not now – Horizontal division at a later date
I am a Telugu and I propose that –
- State should not be divided at the present juncture
- It needs to be divided when its population reaches unmanageable level
- And when that need arises it has to be divided horizontally for equitable distribution of resources and overall growth
Let me cite reasons for these suggestions:
Suggestion 01 - State should not be divided at the present juncture
- Backwardness is not a valid reason for dividing the state. It happens due to failure of local leadership to take care of the interests of their constituents.
- There are backward areas in all the three provinces and it is caused by bad governance and failure on the part of the rulers to decentralize investments. Due to shortsightedness of political leadership, Central and state governments invested in Hyderabad heavily and it attracted private investments not only from all the districts of AP but from other states too. With enormous development in and around, Hyderabad became a bone of contention between provinces and the litigation would continue for decades to come.
- Self-centered politicians, their conniving counterparts aided by indifferent central government should be blamed for non-honoring of agreements and common man should not be penalized for the same.
- Several half-truths and untruths have been in circulation and passions have been whipped up in students and certain sections of employees regarding injustices meted out to Telengana. Bifurcation at this hour leaves scars of separation.
- It has to be noted that only after instituting your committee politicians started collecting data. I am sure you will separate grain from the chaff and suggest a mechanism to tackle backwardness for uniform growth of all the districts.
Suggestion 02 - It needs to be divided when it reaches unmanageable size.
- Telugus share a common heritage, language and culture. They have been together barring 156 yrs. (1800-1956). From the beginning of 20th century, many families from coastal and Seema areas migrated to Telengana region for better opportunities and employment.
- Formation of AP has accelerated this process and now it is difficult to define who is ‘native’ Telengana and who is not. Many families from ‘Andhra’ region technically come under definition of ‘Telengana’. Intermingling among Telugus of all the regions is so deep that it becomes a complicate exercise to divide them on nativity issue. There are several cases where members of same family come under different categories.
- It is an ideal situation to stay put together. But when the population reaches 10 crores, it is better to divide A.P. into two equal states of 5 crores each for better administration.
- When the division takes place it should not be on the lines of provinces since it encourages parochialism which might beleaguer even the divided state.
- The division should be purely on administrative lines without bringing in emotional issues.
Suggestion 03 - …And when that need arises it has to be divided horizontally for equitable distribution of resources
- The division, when taken up, has to be on horizontal lines so that both Northern AP and Southern AP will have equal area and population with long coastlines and rich hinterland.
- Waterways is going to be the main means of fuel-saving transport in coming years and no part of the state should be deprived of the advantage.
- Hyderabad can remain common capital or it can be divided between both the states. It involves huge expenditure and time to build another capital like Hyderbad and the funds thus saved can be utilized for completion of ‘Jalayagnam’ projects.
- Both states will have some developed and some under-developed districts and lugging them together accelerates growth in both the parts. Under-developed areas offer space for more enterprising people from developed areas to spread out and rouse less active locals to catch up with them.
- Since Telengana region remained under feudal rule of Nizam, they were deprived of several benefits enjoyed by their counterparts under British rule. After formation of Andhra Pradesh, the common man in Telengana learnt fast in the company of Coastal and Seema Telugus and registered phenomenal growth. Young leadership coming up from hitherto downtrodden sections in Telengana is going to replace feudalistic old guard soon and division on provincial lines at this juncture would hinder the process.
- By dividing the state horizontally, the northern part will have northern Telengana districts, north-eastern Andhra apart from a few fertile districts. The southern AP will have Seema and some fertile districts apart from southern Telengana. Both will have developed ports.
- It will be some time before the population reaches 10 cr. figure. Meanwhile, basing on your findings let the present government take up corrective steps to set right the imbalances among the districts.
- If any agreement is going to be signed by leaders from different provinces, let there be a mechanism by Central government to oversee implementation of the same. Let the government stop investing in Hyderabad (including Metro project) and distribute the same all over the state for uniform, sustained growth.
- Your committee seems to be the only ray of hope to lead us to enlightenment. We hope your findings will be an eye-opener on backwardness and reasons thereof. You seem to be the only setup who is addressing the T-issue in right earnest and hence this appeal. My address is given below.
I am a columnist on a popular website called www.greatandhra.com and I am asking all like-minded readers to send the same text to you. If you happen to receive hundreds of copies of this text, you may safely conclude that this is the collective opinion of educated, open-minded and socially conscious Telugus.
With Regards,
Yours truly,
MBS PRASAD
[email protected]
