Telangana - Basics

1. Telangana - Basics Nyayapati Gautam Triumphant Institute of Management Education P Ltd

2. Are smaller states good? • Uttarakhand: • Carved out of 13 hill districts of Uttar Pradesh, has emerged as a major growth story. • The State's growth rate today is pegged at 11.3 per cent compared with 2.9 per cent in 2000. • In the past 10 years, it has notched up an average growth rate of over 10 per cent, while Uttar Pradesh has been lagging behind at 5-6 per cent • In 2000, the State had 13,500 kilometres of roads. Now it boasts a road network of 32,000 km. • Between 2003 and 2010, the annual industrial growth rate in the State was over 24 per cent; • Now it is still a respectable 8-9 per cent.

3. Smaller States . . . • Uttarakhand: • But the growth has been achieved at a huge environmental cost. • Frenetic road construction, exploitation of the hydroelectric potential and the rush to achieve industrial development have also meant that forests are cut with impunity and rivers have been diverted into tunnels for the generation of hydel power. • The local population is up in arms against the environmental degradation. • Following one such agitation, the government stalled the work on many hydropower projects. • The NTPC project at Loharinagpala on the Bhagirathi.

4. Smaller States . . . • Chhattisgarh: • Chhattisgarh has managed to achieve a high growth rate owing to its immense mineral and natural resources. • When it turned 10 the State posted the highest economic growth rate of 11.49 per cent among all Indian States, followed by Gujarat at 10.53 per cent. • The State has a per capita energy consumption of 1,547 units as against the 779 units at the national level. • It is an energy surplus State today, which was not the case when it was part of Madhya Pradesh. • It has managed to maintain an average growth rate of 10.05 per cent for the past six years, which is the highest for any State in India.

5. Smaller States . . . • Chhattisgarh: • It is a major rice-producing State, the second largest in India in terms of procurement. • It procures approximately 50 lakhtonnes of paddy annually. • The State has achieved a 75 per cent increase in the outlay for agriculture and allied sectors, which stands at Rs.1,385.02 crore. • The procurement process in the State is done online, which ensures total transparency. • Details of every farmer are available online and nearly 10 lakh farmers receive computer-generated cheques without delay. • Fifty lakhcheque leaves, worth Rs.16,777 crore, have been given to farmers since 2007-08.

6. Smaller States . . . • Chhattisgarh: • The State has received accolades for putting in place an effective public distribution system (PDS) as well. • It has 10,846 fair price shops, which means one in each gram panchayat. • The State has ensured that by the sixth of every month, commodities are supplied to fair price shops. Steps have been taken to prevent pilferage.

7. Telangana • The demand for Telangana is one of the oldest concerns for a separate state in independent India. • It has seen its share of talks and violence since the early 1960s. Here's looking back to understand what the Telangana agitation is all about. • Telangana comprises ten of Andhra Pradesh's 23 districts. Originally, the region was part of the erstwhile Nizam's princely state of Hyderabad. • In 1948, India put an end to the rule of the Nizams and a Hyderabad state was formed. • In 1956, the Telangana part of Hyderabad was merged with the Andhra state. • The Andhra state had been carved out of Madras presidency in 1956

8. Telangana • The people from Telangana were against merger with Andhra as they feared job losses as education levels and development in Andhra were better than in Telangana. There were cultural differences too. • Under Nizam’s rule the culture and language in Telangana bore influence of North India. • In 1969, the Telangana movement intensified under the leadership of MarriChanna Reddy and the TelanganaPrajaSamiti. There was widespread violence and over 350 protestors were killed in police firing and lathi charge. • However, the movement could not last long as Channa Reddy went on to merge his party with Congress and was eventually made Chief Minister by Indira Gandhi.

9. Telangana • In 2001, the movement revived once again when K ChandrashekharRao quit the Telugu Desam and formed the TelanganaRashtraSamithi. In 2004, the Congress joined hands with Rao promising separate Telangana but later back tracked.

10. Telangana • Present Day: • Claiming that the movement for Telangana was very much alive, the Telangana political joint action committee said it would soon embark on the TelanganaSadhana bus yatra across the region to enlighten people on the necessity for the speedy formation of Telangana state. • TJAC chairman M Kodandaram Reddy said (in March this year) that they would target all those who have been creating obstacles for the formation of Telangana, especially elected representatives from both TDP and Congress.

11. Telangana • The Congress led UPA government got eight of its members suspended from the LokSabha for disrupting the House while seeking a separate state of Telangana. • Bypollsto 18 assembly seats and one LokSabha constituency can be politically course changing for the state. • Likelihood of the bypollresults leading to a further erosion of the Congress’ base in the state. • There could be an exodus of party leaders either to the YSR Congress or the TRS.