WHY WE NEED TELANGANA?????????? The people of Telangana are once again restive, reiterating their demand for a separate state. The demand of the people of this region for a separate state is not a new development. It was voiced much before the formation of Andhra Pradesh and continues to be raised even thereafter. The reason for the opposition of people of Telangana to join Visalandhra (metamorphosed toAndhra Pradesh) was fear of neglect and injustice in the enlarged state and the reason for their refusal to continue in the present state is the actual experience of becoming victims of neglect and injustice. The States Reorganization Commission (SRC) set up by the government of India in early 50s to examine the question of reorganization of states of the country was, in fact, not in favour of merging the Telangana region with the then Andhra state. After a very careful examination of the issues involved the SRC recommended: “... It will be in the interest of Andhra as well as Telangana if, for the present, the Telangana area is constituted into a separate state which may be known as the Hyderabad state, with provision for its unification with Andhra after the general elections likely to be held in or about 1961, if by two-thirds majority the legislature of the residuary Hyderabad state expresses itself in favour of such unification”. (SRC Report: Para 386) The commission further recommended: “Andhra and Telangana have common interests and we hope these interests will tend to bring the people closer to each other. If, however, our hopes for the development of the environment and conditions congenial to the unification of the areas do not materialize and if public sentiment in Telangana crystallizes itself against the unification of the two states, Telangana will have to continue as a separate unit”. (SRC Report: Para 388) The Commission came to this conclusion after a dispassionate assessment of feelings of the people of Telangana and the fears entertained by them. Elaborating the reasons for recommending statehood for the Telangana region the Commission observed: “One of the principal causes of opposition to Visalandhra also seems to be the apprehensions felt by the educationally backward people of Telangana that they may be swamped and exploited by the more advanced people of the Coastal areas...The real fear of the people of Telangana is that if they join Andhra they will be unequally placed in relation to the people of Andhra and in this partnership the major partner will derive all the advantages immediately while Telangana itself may be converted into a colony by the enterprising Andhras”. (SRC Report: para 378) Further, the SRC cautioned the nation against the dangers involved in reorganizing the Indian states solely on linguistic considerations. One of the rational criteria recommended by the Commission, while reorganizing the states, was: “…to reject the theory of ‘one language one state’ which is neither justified on grounds of linguistic homogeneity, because there can be more than one state speaking the same language without offending the linguistic principle, nor practicable, since different language groups, including the vast Hindi speaking population of the Indian Union, cannot always be consolidated to form distinct linguistic units”. (SRC Report: para 163) In addition, the Prime Minister of the time, Jawaharlal Nehru, also was not in favour of merging Telangana with the Andhra state. He ridiculed the demand for Visalandhra as an idea bearing a “tint of expansionist imperialism”. (Indian Express, October 17, 1953). Yet, paradoxically, the state of Andhra Pradesh was formed on 1stNovember 1956 - ignoring the wishes of people of Telangana, against a categorical recommendation of the SRC and contrary to the views of the tallest leader of the time, Jawaharlal Nehru. It was the outcome of manipulative politics. The merger of Telangana with Andhra was, however, not unconditional. It was facilitated by a number of solemn promises made and constitutional safeguards given to the people of the region as a protective umbrella against the possible exploitation in the enlarged state. These promises were made not once. They were made umpteen times (and were also broken umpteen times). Nor the merger of Telangana with Andhra was considered eternal. No less a person than Jawaharlal Nehru himself compared it with matrimonial alliance having “provision for divorce” if the partners in the alliance cannot get on well. (Deccan Chronicle, March 6, 1956). As feared, nothing could prevent the successive governments from exploiting this region in every spear – economic, political, administrative, cultural and linguistic. The Gentlemen’s Agreement of 1956, which was an assurance of fair play given to the people of Telangana to facilitate the formation of Andhra Pradesh, was scuttled the very same day on which the state was born, by the very same “Gentlemen” who were signatories to the agreement. The result was a massive revolt of the people of the region in 1968-69 demanding separation of Telangana from the state of Andhra Pradesh. It has come to be known as Jai Telangana Movement. The governments of the time in the state and at the centre then woke up and tried (or pretended) to undo the damage done to the region. The first step taken in that direction was the All Party Accord of January 1969 arrived at a meeting of the leaders of all political parties in the state convened by the then chief minister Brahmananda Reddy. But it was shelved in less than six months time. Thereafter, a couple of packages were announced by the prime minister of the time, Indira Gandhi, styled as Eight Point Formula and Five Point Formula. When the modalities of giving effect to these packages were being worked out the supreme court of India gave a historic judgement validating, what were then known as, Mulki Rules. This judgement upheld the rule of reserving employment and educational opportunities available in Telangana exclusively for the residents of this region. But the political elite of Andhra region did not digest these corrective measures. The result was another agitation for a separate state, and this time for a separate Andhra state. It is referred to as Jai Andhra Movement. The leaders of Jai Andhra Movement demanded either scrapping all the safeguards given to the people of Telangana including the judgement of supreme court of India on the validity of Mulki Rules or bifurcating Andhra Pradesh into Andhra and Telangana states. It may not be out of place to recall that Venkaiah Naidu and Chandrababu Naidu, among others, were in the forefront of Jai Andhra Movement. The government of India yielded to the pressure of political might and money power of the majority region and nullified, by an act of parliament, almost all the safeguards given to the people of Telangana including the annulment of judgement of the highest judicial authority of the country on Mulki Rules. As an alternative, the so-called Six Point Formula, a diluted form of safeguards, was foisted on the people. Even this formula has been, and continues to be, violated with impunity, robbing the people of Telangana of whatever little was left in the name of safeguards. All these exercises ultimately turned out to be futile as they were, at best, attempts to treat the symptoms rather than the malady. Consequently, the exploitation of the region and its people continued (and still continues) unabated under the patronage of political leadership irrespective of the region it hailed from and irrespective of the party it belonged to. In this process the so-called concept of Telugu Brotherhood has become an empty rhetoric placing the people of Telangana in an extremely unenviable position. Deprived of their legitimate share in the fruits of development, marginalized in the political process and administrative setup, belittled on the cultural and linguistic fronts they are virtually reduced to the status of second-rate citizens in their own homeland. Therefore, the demand for a separate state continues to persist. The objective of following paragraphs is to present a comparative account of region-wise development achieved in some of the vital sectors. The sources of data are the reports published by the state government and other official agencies. It is to be noted in this context that when the state of Andhra Pradesh was formed there were only two recognized regions - Andhra and Telangana - since Rayalaseema was considered a part of Andhra. After the Andhra Agitation of 1972 and the resultant imposition of Six Point Formula, the state was divided into seven zones, within the framework of three regions, namely, Coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema, and Telangana, treating the capital city as a separate entity. The rationale underlying this decision was to make the capital city equally accessible to the people living in all parts of the state. This has the appearance of fairness, but in reality it has deprived the people of Telangana of their legitimate right by a subtle play, which made the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad more accessible to the people of Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema, and more inaccessible to the people of Telangana. It is, therefore, necessary not to mistake the development of capital city with the development of Telangana region or any other region for that matter. The main factors that generally form a basis for evolving strategies of development of a region are its geographical area and population, besides resource endowment and levels of development already achieved. Geographically, Telangana is the largest region of the state covering 41.47% of its total area, while Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema Cover 33.75% and 24.51%, respectively. It is inhabited by 40.54% of the state’s population, coastal Andhra accounting for 41.69% and Rayalaseema for 17.77%. The contribution of Telangana to the state’s revenues has all along been more than 50%. The region is literally encircled by two major rivers of south India, Krishna and Godavari, and is traversed by a large number of tributaries of these rivers. It is one of the largest coal producing areas of the country and is rich in forest wealth and other natural resources. It has inherited from the much-maligned feudal regime fairly well developed 4 assets like railway system, industrial units and the capital city. In spite of all these advantages the region has remained backward not only because of the neglect meted out to it but also because of the unending exploitation of its resources, natural as well as financial, for the development of other regions of the state. The development of Telangana region has, therefore, to be assessed keeping these basic factors in view. The Development Scenario A comparative picture of development that has taken place in different sectors over the last 47 years, highlighting the imbalances that still persist in the levels of development between different regions of the state, is given hereunder: Irrigation One of the major grievances of the people of Telangana has all along been, and continues to be, the raw deal meted out to the region regarding the allocation and utilization of river waters. It is, however, not an unexpected development. It has happened as was feared at the time of merging Telangana with Andhra. The States Reorganization Commission also noted this fact by observing: “When plans for future development are taken into account, Telangana fears that the claims of this area may not receive adequate consideration in Vishalandhra. The Nandikonda and Kushtapuram (Godavari) projects are, for example, among the most important which Telangana or country as a whole has undertaken.Irrigation in the coastal deltas of these two great rivers is, however, also being planned. Telangana, therefore, does not wish to loose its present independent rights in relation to the utilization of the waters of the Krishna and the Godavari”. (SRC Report: Para 377) Telangana is encircled by two major rivers of south India i.e., Krishna and Godavari. Within the state of Andhra Pradesh, 68.5% of catchment area of river Krishna and 69% of catchment area of river Godavari are in the Telangana region. In addition, most of the tributaries of these rivers traverse its length and breadth. If waters of these rivers flowing through the region are utilized, almost every acre of cultivable land available in Telangana could be provided with assured irrigation facilities and every village could be provided with assured drinking water facilities. But Telangana has been denied its rightful share in the river waters by the successive governments over the last four and a half decades, irrespective of the political parties and leaders in power. River Krishna While determining the share of waters of river Krishna among the three riparian states i.e., Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, the Bachawat Tribunal allocated 811 TMC ft. of water to Andhra Pradesh. The allocation of water among different regions of the state has, however, been the prerogative of the state government. If catchment area is taken as the principal criterion for allocation of waters between different regions of the state, as is normally done between different states of the country, Telangana should get 68.5% of the 811 TMC ft. If cultivable area, rainfall, subsoil levels of water, backwardness, etc., also are taken into account Telangana region would be entitled to not less than 70% of the total quantum of water allocated to the state. But the allocation made for the projects in the Telangana region was only around 32%. If the actual utilization of water is taken into account it is only about 10 to 11%. It has happened so because: i. Prakasam Barrage which is meant exclusively for the benefit of Coastal Andhra is getting two times more water than what is legally allocated to it. Therefore, it is able to irrigate more than 12 lakh acres of land for the first crop and more than half of it for the second crop – all water-intensive wet crops. ii. Nagarjuna Sagar meant to benefit Andhra and Telangana regions equally is modified in such a way that 75% of the benefit is accruing to Coastal Andhra reducing the share of Telangana region to just 25%. Consequently, an area of more than 15 lakh acres is getting irrigation facilities for the first crop and more than half of it for the second crop in the coastal districts – again all water-intensive wet crops. But the Telangana area gets this facility hardly for 5 lakh acres. Further, settlers migrating from the Andhra area own nearly half of these lands. iii. Srisailam Project which was originally a power project is now converted into a multi-purpose project. Yet the Telangana region does not get even a single drop of water from it. It has only a right bank canal to facilitate irrigation in the Rayalaseema region. Further, its capacity has been increased by 3 times when compared to what was originally contemplated. It has now three sluices - one for the Srisailam Right Branch Canal, one for the Telugu Ganga Project and the other styled as Escape Channel. Except for the Srisailam Right Bank Canal there is no clearance for the other two from the government of India. This project has the potential to irrigate 6 to 7 lakh acres of land in the Rayalaseema region and Nellore district besides providing drinking water to Chennai city. But the left bank canal meant for the benefit of Telangana region has been abandoned. The canal which is now styled as the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) and rechristened as Alimineti Madhava Reddy Project is a missnomer. It is neither on the left bank of Srisailam Project nor does it draw water from the Srisailam Reservoir. It is, infact, a lift irrigation project on the Nagarjuna Sagar dam. When completed it can irrigate hardly about 1.5 lakh acres. Further it is also contemplated to draw water from this canal to meet the drinking water requirements of capital city. If it happens the SLBC will become another Singur. It should be remembered that Singur project was built to meet primarily the irrigation needs of Medak and Nizamabad districts. But it is now solely used for meeting the requirements of capital city leaving the farmers of Medak and Nizamabad in a lurch. iv. Jurala Project which is the first project on river Krishna meant for Telangana, is the smallest of all the projects built on this river. The Bachawat Tribunal allocated just 17.5 TMC ft. water for this project, and the state government reduced its storage capacity to 11 TMC ft. But the actual utilization so far has not been more than 2 TMC ft. This is the fate of the first project on river Krishna – the only project meant exclusively for Telangana - from which the state is drawing 811 TMC ft. of assured water and 200 to 300 TMC ft. of surplus water. v. Rajolibanda Diversion Scheme, taken up before the formation of Andhra Pradesh by the then government of Hyderabad was envisaged to provide irrigation facilities to 87500 acres in Mahabubnagar district of Telangana region. The Bachawat Tribunal also allocated 15.90 TMC ft. of water for this project. This water has to pass through a canal in Raichur district of Karnataka State. After the formation of Andhra Pradesh some landlords of Kurnool district have not been allowing this water to reach Mahabubnagar. They break the gates of the reservoir and divert water to their fields. Some of these landlords belong to the ruling party and one of them is also a member 7 of the state assembly. As a result, the land which was to be irrigated by this facility has become more or less a desert. All this is happening with the connivance of people in authority. Consequently, out of nearly 35 lakh acres being irrigated under the projects built on river Krishna, hardly 5 lakh acres are benefited in the Telangana region and rest in the other regions. While this is the scenario regarding the region-wise utilisation of Krishna waters the powers that be are contemplating to construct Pulichintala on the down stream of Nagarjuna Sagar to further augment irrigation facilities in the already developed Krishna delta. This project will immensely benefit the coastal districts while the Telangana will not get even a drop of water out of it. Not only that, more than 30,000 acres of developed ayacut in the Nalgonda district of Telangana region will be submerged. It is at this stage that the question of allocation of Krishna waters between three riparian states i.e., Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh is coming up for review. It is also the stage to review the allocation and utilization of Krishna waters among three regions within the state of Andhra Pradesh. If the injustices done in the past are not rectified by reallocating water, it will inflict immense damage especially on the Telangana region which would be beyond rectification in future. Therefore, the people of Telangana are insisting that before going to the new tribunal the state should sort out the issues involving allocation of waters between different regions of the state. But, the state government argues that we should not take up the problem of internal allocation at this stage. First we should protect the interest of the state and sort out inter-regional problems later. This argument hardly carries any conviction with anybody not only in the Telangana region but also in the Rayalaseema region. Because of the flouting of moral and legal commitments made in the past and discriminatory policies followed all through the past 47 years, the people of the region cannot take these promises seriously. When the government says “protecting the interest of the state” it actually means “protecting the interest of Coastal Andhra” alone. It has been the sad and bitter experience of the people of this region right from day one of the formation of the state. River Godavari No debate on utilization of river waters in Andhra Pradesh can be complete and comprehensive unless the position regarding the utilization of Godavari waters also is examined. The Bachawat Tribunal allocated 1480 TMC ft. of water to Andhra Pradesh, but half of this water is yet to be utilized. The Coastal Andhra region has been the major beneficiary of the water already utilized. Under the Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage in Dhawaleswaram more than 12 lakh acres of land is getting irrigation facilities with nearly half of it growing more than one crop. But in the Telangana region, the area irrigated with the Godavari waters is not even 5 lakh acres. Therefore, the people of this region demand that the remaining water still available in Godavari should be utilized mostly, if not solely, for the benefit of Telangana region. The government has been making only promises, day in and day out on this score, but nothing has been done so far and is not likely to be done in near future. The construction of much publicised Devadula Project for which foundation stone was laid in the midst of election campaign in June 2001, and promised to be completed by 2003 by the Chief Minister himself, is yet to commence. It is really not understandable as to how a project proposed to irrigate 5 lakh acres could be completed in less than 3 years, when even after 40 long years the Sriramsagar Project is yet to be completed and at 8 present is able to irrigate just 4 lakh acres. It is one of the umpteen number of empty promises made to the people of Telangana. The other two major projects proposed on river Godavari are Ichampally and Polavaram. Ichampally is meant for Telangana and Polavaram for Coastal Andhra. Prima-facie it appears to be fair. But the facts are different. The irrigation potential of Polavaram Project would be 6 to 7 times more than the irrigation potential of Ichampally. Further, Ichampally is going to be primarily a power project because of the inter-state issues involved. If that is going to happen, Ichampally would ultimately become a balancing reservoir to ensure a perennial flow of water into Polavaram first and Dawaleswaram next. Consequently Telangana would be permanently doomed. The other projects that are talked about are Sri Ram Sagar Project Stage II, Sri Ram Sagar Flood Flow Canal and barrages at Yellampalli and Dummagudem. Even if they are completed –which is a big if- all of them put together will not have a capacity to utilize more than 50 TMC ft. of water. Added to this, there is a proposal to interlink all major rivers of the country to form a national water grid. It is claimed that it would augment the flow of water in river Godavari which in turn could be flown into river Krishna to meet the requirements of Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema, besides further extending it down south into Tamilnadu, Karnataka and Kelara. This is a fantastic proposition. It was infact rejected twice in the past. When the government has failed to fully utilize even the water still available in Godavari which is to the tune of more than 700 TMC ft. what does it proposes to do with a further inflow, which in any case is imaginary? The real intention of the ruling sections is to divert the untapped water of river Godavari to Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions depriving the Telangana regions of its due share in Godavari waters as well. Regional Disparities Because of the factors enumerated above the benefit of irrigation through the canal system under major irrigation projects is accruing substantially, i.e. 74.25%, to the Coastal Andhra region. While the share of Telangana is just 18.20%, the remaining 7.55% goes to the Rayalaseema region. Consequently, the farmers in Telangana depend mostly on well irrigation which is becoming prohibitively expensive day by day. Table I gives more details in this regard. While this is the scenario with regard to canal irrigation, the situation regarding the other two sources of irrigation i.e., tanks, as also wells is equally bad. Tank Irrigation At the time of formation of Andhra Pradesh the area irrigated under tanks in the Telangana region was more than 11 lakh acres. During the last 47 years the state government must have spent several thousands of crores of rupees for the maintenance and development of minor irrigation facilities. Therefore, the area under Tank Irrigation should have substantially increased. But it is going down steeply year after year and now stands at hardly 6.5 lakh acres. Details regarding the pace of this decline are given in Table II. It has happened so because silt accumulated in the tanks is not removed, breached tanks are not repaired and some of the tanks that were operational have been deliberately damaged to promote urbanisation in and around major towns and cities especially the capital city of Hyderabad. In this process small and marginal farmers became helpless, abandoned cultivation and sold their lands in distress, at a throw away price, to the rich migrants from Coastal Andhra. These lands became a goldmine for the migrant settlers to do real estate business. Development of areas in the name of Film City, Hi-Tech City, East City and proposed International Airport in these lands has thrown the local people not only out of their profession but also out of their homes. Well Irrigation In this situation the farmers of Telangana are left with only one alternative i.e., well irrigation. But the well irrigation has many disadvantages as compared to canal irrigation. canal irrigation is ensured by the government by spending on construction of dams, digging of canals and supplying water to the fields every season. The entire cost is borne by the government i.e., spending tax-payers money. In return the farmer pays about 200 to 250 rupees per acre per annum as water charges. It is extremely negligible when compared to the huge amounts spent by the government. This practice is necessary to support agriculture sector in any region or in any state for that matter. Therefore, no one will grudge this. But the same facility is not extended to a majority of farmers in Telangana who depend mostly on well irrigation. The farmer will have to pay from his pocket for sinking well and for buying a pump-set. In addition he has to pay power tariff which is increased every year. He has to also incur huge expenses on getting the water pumps repaired as they are frequently damaged because of erratic fluctuations in voltage. As a result, a farmer in the Telangana region depending on well irrigation is compelled to spend 2 to 3 thousand rupees per acre per annum in addition to capital investment on sinking well and installing pump-set. Consequently, most of the farmers in Coastal Andhra get water at a heavily subsidised rate of 200 to 250 rupees per acre per annum besides not spending anything on the infrastructure. On the other hand, most of the Telangana farmers spend huge amounts rangingfrom 2000 to 3000 rupees per acre per annum besides investing heavily on infrastructure. How can this unjust disparity be justified? It is because of this reason that the farmers of Telangana region are demanding free supply of electricity for agricultural operations at least until they are provided with the facility of canal irrigation. It is not a question of charity. It is a question of establishing parity between different regions of the state with regard to the cost of getting water for irrigation. The ongoing debate on irrigation facilities, especially on utilisation of river waters in Andhra Pradesh has, therefore, many dimensions – economic, political, moral, legal and also emotional. It has the potential to determine the future of the state itself. Education At the time of formation of Andhra Pradesh it was assured that disparities in the levels of development in different regions of the state, including the field of education, would be removed in five to ten years time. But even after 47 years the literacy rate in Telangana continues to be lowest in the state. The region-wise details are given in Table III. This has happened because of uneven distribution of educational facilities in different regions of the state. A region-wise breakup of facilities available at the crucial levels of education is given here under. The important point to be kept in view in this regard is the percentage of population spread over different regions of the state, i.e. Coastal Andhra 41.69%, Rayalaseema 17.77% and Telangana 40.54%. This is necessary to assess the adequacy or otherwise of the facilities of education created vis-à-vis the size of population and the levels of literacy achieved. Primary Education The data chosen for this analysis pertains to the year 2001- the latest made available by the government. During this period there were 60,60,394 students in the state enrolled in the primary schools run by the government, local bodies and private managements (aided and unaided). The region-wise breakup is: Coastal Andhra 27,57,269 (45.50%), Rayalaseema 13,02,673 (21.49%), Telangana 20,00,452 (33.01%). It should be realized that unaided primary schools do not reflect endeavor of the government, and if such institutions were not taken into account the position would be much worse in Telangana. More details are furnished in Table IV. Collegiate Education Regarding the facilities available for collegiate education degree colleges) the position is more or less the same. If the salary component paid to the teachers is taken as the basis for assessing the spread of these facilities between different regions of the state, Telangana’s share in the total expenditure incurred by the state government would be 37.85% in respect of government colleges and 21.59% in respect of aided colleges. Further details can be seen in Table V. Note: 1. Figures furnished by the government are university-wise. They, however, conform to the figures relating to respective regions with a little overlap in respect of Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema areas. 2. Figures shown in brackets are percentages of totals of the state under the heads concerned. Sources: 1. Commissionerate of Collegiate Education, A.P. 2. Directorate of Economics and Statistics, A.P. Private colleges getting grant-in-aid from the government are playing a crucial and dominant role in the realm of collegiate education in the state. The state government has been admitting year after year several private colleges into grant-in-aid. The details regarding the admission of private colleges into grant-in-aid between 1985 and 2000 are given in Table VI. As could be seen the share of Telangana continues to be lowest, i.e. less than 20% in the total quantum of grant-in-aid. All this is happening inspite of the claim of the government that it is trying to remove disparities and do justice to Telangana. Universities It is very often argued that all the state-level and national-level universities located in the capital city belong to the Telangana region. If it were to be so what benefit this region has derived from their location in Hyderabad? Atleast what percent of staff recruited by these universities belongs to Telangana? It is not even 10%. Further, some of the state-level and national-level universities are located in the other regions of the state as well, but none in Telangana districts. The details are as under: There are six universities, two in each of the three regions, with their jurisdiction restricted to the regions concerned. The Osmania University, however stands on a different footing because of its location in the capital city and also for historical reasons. The imposition of Six Point Formula has, in a way, nullified its regional character. In addition to the six universities with regional jurisdiction there are seven more universities with their jurisdiction over the entire state. None of these universities is located in Telangana districts. Of these seven universities, the University of Health Sciences is located in Coastal Andhra, the Women’s University and University of Dravidian Languages are situated in the Rayalaseema region. The other four universities, i.e. Agricultural University, Technological University, Open University and Telugu University are in the capital city. Agricultural and Technological Universities have campuses and colleges in the Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions as well, but no such campus or college exists in Telangana districts. It may be recalled that the Technological University was actually started in Warangal but was subsequently shifted to Hyderabad under the pretext of locating all state-level universities in the capital city. Similarly, the Open University was orginally launched at Nagarjuna Sagar in Nalgonda district but was later shifted to Hyderabad again under the pretext of locating this state-level university in the capital city. There are two more institutions of higher learning, deemed to be universities namely the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences and Sri Venkateshwara Institute of Medical Sciences. The former is in the capital city and the latter is at Tirupati in the Rayalaseema region. In addition, a Sanskrit University funded by the government of India and Satya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, a deemed university in private sector, also are in the Rayalaseema region. There are three more institutions in the capital city that are fully funded by the University Grants Commission. They are: The Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages, The University of Hyderabad and Urdu University. The University of Hyderabad established in the year 1975 is an offshoot of the Six Point Formula. The primary objective of establishing this university in Hyderabad was to augment the facilities of university education to compensate, atleast partially, the loss sustained by the Telangana region under Six Point Formula. But no one, neither in the government nor in the university, seems to remember this fact of history and thereby the very purpose of starting this university has been defeated. Today the University of Hyderabad is as good -or as bad- as any other central university in the country in so far as giving preferential treatment to any particular region in matters of admission of student and recruitment of staff is concerned. Consequently, out of 21 universities and university-level institutions funded either by the state government or the federal government or self-financed, 3 are located in Coastal Andhra districts, 7 in Rayalaseem districts, 10 in the capital city and only 1 in Telangana districts. Location of a university in a district place facilitates and contributes to the development of that area. For instance, the University of Health Sciences has considerably improved the medical facilities in and around Vijayawada city, besides providing employment opportunities to the locals. Similarly the University of Dravidian Languages has changed the very face of Kuppam village in the Rayalaseema region. No one grudges this. But the question is as to why the Telangana districts are deprived of such facilities. When Technological University and Open 18 University were shifted to Hyderabad from Warangal and Nalgonda the reason given was to locate the state-level universities in the capital city. But the same logic is not applied in respect of University of Health Sciences, Women’s University and the University of Dravidian Languages. They too are state-level universities. Development of education affects, and in turn gets affected by, the pace of economic development. There is a bi-directional linkage, and in this process the low rates of literacy and economic backwardness sustained each other. This is precisely the problem of Telangana Industries: - No major industry worth its name has been setup in any of the districts of Telangana region as compared to the establishment of several industries in Visakapatnam, Vijayawada,Kakinada, Nellore, Tirupati, and Cuddapah. - Quite a few major industries established in the Telangana region during the period of much maligned Nizam are being closed one after the other by the successive governments.Important among the closed industries are: Azamjahi Mills (Warangal), Sir Silk Factory (Sirpur), Antargaon Spinning Mills (Adilabad), DBR Mills (Hyderabad), Allwyn Factory(Hyderabad), Republic Forge (Hyderabad). Further, the famous Nizam’s Sugar Factory(Nizamabad) is put on sale. - Twelve milk chilling plants established by the erstwhile Telangana Regional Committee in different parts of Telangana have been abruptly closed down. - The fertilizer factory at Ramagundam is closed because of, among other factors, inadequacy of power supply and poor quality of coal made available. This fertilizer plant is in the coal belt of the region and large quantities of good quality coal available here are diverted to other regions for feeding thermal plants there. A national super thermal power plant is situated in Ramagundam itself and its operation is solely dependent on coal and water supplied by the Telangana regions, ignoring other pressing requirements of the people of the region. These major inputs available locally are, ironically, not accessible to a locally situated fertilizer plant. Coinciding with the decision to close down the plant, a decision is taken to set up a new fertilizer plant at Nellore in Coastal Andhra. - The industrial development that has taken place in and around the capital city has not benefited the people of Telangana in any way. The land, water, power and otherinfrastructure facilities made available to these industries belong entirely to Telangana; yet the migrants from other regions grab more than 95% of the jobs offered by these industries. - The environmental pollution caused by the industries in and around Hyderabad is going unchecked because the sufferers are mostly Telanganites. Employment: - There are about 15 lakh jobs in the government and government-funded offices and establishments. Based on the size of population at least 40% of these job, i.e. 6 lakhs, 19 should have gone to the job seekers from Telangana. But the total number of jobs now occupied by them is less than 3 lakhs. - There are more than 5,000 employees in the state’s secretariat. Out of them not even 10% belong to the Telangana region. - There are more than 130 posts of heads of departments. Out of them only 7 or 8 are held by the officers belonging to the Telangana region. - There are 23 district collectors. One rarely finds an officer from the Telangana cadres holding that position. - The state government issued orders - the much publicized G.O. 610 - as back as in the year 1985 to remove all the non-locals appointed in the vacancies meant for the youth of Telangana and to appoint only Telangana locals against all resultant vacancies. Besides not implementing these orders further recruitment of non-locals in the Telangana region is going on. Finances: One of the doubts expressed about Telangana, if it is made a separate state, is regarding its financial viability. The fact is that the financial viability of state of Andhra Pradesh itself is dependent on the contribution of Telangana to the revenues of the state. It might sound incredible to those who entertain doubts about the viability of Telangana as a separate state. It is, therefore, necessary to know the region-wise contribution to the state’s exchequer under major heads of revenue. It is also necessary to have a look at the conditions prevailing at the time of formation of Andhra Pradesh in 1956. For this purpose one has to once again look at the report of the States Reorganisation Commission which had categorically stated: “The existing Andhra state has faced a financial problem of some magnitude ever since it was created; and in comparison with Telangana, the existing Andhra state has a low per capita revenue. Telangana, on the other hand, is much less likely to be faced with financial embarrassment… Whatever the explanation may be … the result of the unification will be to exchange some settled sources of revenue, out of which development schemes may be financed, for financial uncertainty similar to that with which Andhra is now faced. Telangana claims to be progressive and from an administrative point of view, unification, it is contended, is not likely to confer any benefit on this area” (SRC Report: para 376) What had happened to Telangana because of its merger with Andhra is precisely what was predicted by the SRC. Even now the contribution of Telangana to the state’s revenues under some major heads continues to be far higher than the contribution of other two regions. For instance, sales tax and excise collections constitute about 43% of total revenue of the state. The region-wise contribution is explained in Table VII These figures clearly show that nearly 75% of receipts under the head ‘sales tax’, the single largest source of revenue, and more than 55% of excise collections are contributed by telangana to the state’s exchequer. The other major head of revenue consists of state’s share in central taxes and grants-in-aid. In determining this share, backward regions of the state facilitate higher allocation by the successive Finance Commissions. Therefore, Telangana is entitled to a higher share in these revenues as well. Even if population, and nothing else, is taken as the criterion Telangana’s share would be more than 40%. It is evident that the overall contribution of Telangana to the state’s revenue will in any case be more than 50%. But, the expenditure incurred on this region has never been more than 25% to 30%. For instance: Major Irrigation Expenditure incurred in different regions on construction and maintenance of major irrigation projects should be normally in proportion to the potential created in the respective regions. Telangana’s share on this score is just 18.20% (by the end of 2001). Education Revenue expenditure on education consists mostly of salary component paid to the staff working in government institutions and private aided institutions. The share of Telangana as a percent of the total expenditure of the state on salaries of staff in educational institutions in 2001 is as follows: i. Primary schools (government): 31.44% ii. Primary schools (aided): 9.86% iii. Degree colleges (government): 37.85% iv. Degree colleges (aided): 21.79% These are only samples. The situation in other sectors is also more or less the same. The state has been borrowing heavily from the World Bank and other international and national agencies said to be for developmental activities. The quantum of loan has already exceeded 50,000 crores of rupees. But there is no transparency with regard to region-wise allocation of these funds, atleast broadly, for the development of those regions. Even if 1/5 of these borrowings were spent on irrigation projects most of the projects would have been completed by now. Demographic Variation and Colonisation The rate of growth of population of the state during the decade 1991-2001 was significantly low (13.86%), as compared to many other states and also the national average (21.36%). So far so good. Where does Telangana stand in this regard? It makes an interesting -may be an intriguing- study. During this decade, Telangana registered a growth of 17.66% against 9.88% by Coastal Andhra and 15.19% by Rayalaseema. The rate of growth in Telangana is also higher as compared to other south Indian states, namely, Kerala (9.42%), Tamil Nadu (11.19%) and Karnataka (17.25%). In fact, the rate of growth of population of Telangana has all along been higher than the rate of the other two regions during the last five decades. The details are given in Table VIII. This phenomenon has been causing demographic imbalances between Telangana and other regions of the state. At the time of formation of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana region accountedfor 34.40% of total population of the state. It has now gone upto 40.54%. During this period, the component of Coastal Andhra has gone down from 44.17% to 41.69% and of Rayalaseema from 19.43% 17.77%. It is happening not because of a higher rate of fertility or a lower rate of mortality in the Telangana region. It is the result of a continuous influx of Andhra migrants to this region. To put it the other way, it is the result of a planned process of colonisation. Inaddition to socio-economic factors there is also a political dimension to it. These migrant settlers are so deeply entrenched in the region that they are able get elected as the representatives of people of this region. Nearly 10% of the members elected from Telangana to the state assembly and union parliament belong to this category. Quite a few of them also become ministers claiming to represent Telangana region. There may not be anything wrong about it under the constitution of the country. But there is a moral dimension to it, which cannot be ignored. If they are loyal to the people and the area responsible for their induction into the power structure, no body can find fault with them. But the problem with this brand of leaders is that their loyalties are always with the place of their origin and not with the place that has facilitated their growth in political field. Most of them do not like to even utter the expression ‘Telangana’. The Capital City: An impression is sought to be created that the development of twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad took place after they became the capital of Andhra Pradesh. It is a travesty of truth. The fact is that the plight of erstwhile Andhra state in locating its capital could be mitigated only because of the formation of Andhra Pradesh and giving to it, on a silver platter, an already well developed capital of erstwhile Hyderabad state. The States Reorganization Commission also was very clear on this issue. Listing out the arguments put forth by the votaries of Vishalandhra the Commission observed “This will also solve the difficult and vexing problem of finding a permanent capital for Andhra, for the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad are very well suited to be the capital of Vishalandhra”. (SRC Report: para 371) The development that has taken place in and around the capital city, after the formation of Andhra Pradesh, is natural and is comparable to the development that has taken place in other major cities of the country. It is to be realized that at the time of formation of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad was the fifth largest city in the country and even now it continues to be in the same position. On the other hand, the growth of Visakhapatnam has been faster than the growth of Hyderabad and Secunderabad cities. People who maintain that the development of Hyderabad and Secunderabad took place because it is a part of Andhra Pradesh seem to believe that the development of Visakhapatnam took place inspite of it being a part of Andhra Pradesh. Whatever be the development that has taken place, the real question is as to who are its beneficiaries? - The imposition of Six Point Formula has deprived the people of Telengana, among other things, of their legitimate rights on the facilities developed in the capital city by their forefathers over a period of four hundred years. - The facilities available in the capital city are now more accessible to the people migrating from Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions and more inaccessible to the people of Telangana. In this process non-locals have become locals and the locals have become non-locals. - The development taking place in and around the capital city cannot be an indicator of development of Telangana region as mostly the settlers and migrants from the other regions of the state reap its fruits. - Construction of flyovers, widening of roads, development of Hi-Tech cities etc., will not address the serious problems confronting the people in the other nine districts of Telangana. Cholera deaths in Adilabad, spread of malaria in the tribal belt, suicides by farmers in Warangal, Karimnagar and Khammam, suicides by weavers in Karimnagar, eternal famine conditions in Mahabubnagar, flurosis in Nalgonda, fall of ayacut under Nizamsagar, 24 pollution in Ranga Reddy and Medak and so on need to be attended to on a priority basis. But they never get the attention they deserve. - The film industry that has flourished in the capital city because of innumerable concessions given to it in terms of allocation of land, water, electricity etc., depriving the common man of Telangana of these facilities, is solely controlled by the Andhra migrants. - The film industry monopolized by the Andhras does not allow Telangana talent to flourish and the industry also indulges in a sustained game of making fun of linguistics and cultural variations of this region. - The near monopoly control enjoyed by the Andhra settlers on real estate transactions and land speculation in and around Hyderabad and Secunderabad has already spread to a radius of nearly 100 kilo meters around the capital city resulting in the displacement of thousands of poor farmers and farm workers of the local areas. - The identity of Telangana - its history, culture, language, polity etc.- is fast getting eroded because of the Andhra onslaughts. Examples: erecting at important places the statues of only Andhra leaders like N.T. Rama Rao, Kasu Brahmananda Reddy, Damodaram Sanjeevaiah, Puchalapalli Sundaraiah including those who never had anything to do with Hyderabad or Telangana, or even Andhra Pradesh for that matter, like Tanguturi Prakasam,Potti Sri Ramulu, Alluri Sitarama Raju, Tripuraneni Ramaswamy Chowdary, Raghupati Venkataratnam Naidu etc; re-christening places and institutions as Sanjeeva Reddy Nagar, Vengal Rao Nagar, Potti Sri Ramulu Nagar, Sanjeevaiah Park, Brahmananda Reddy Park, Sundaraiah Park, NTR stadium NTR. Ghat, Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy Sagar, Potti Sri Ramulu Telugu University, N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, Kaleshwar Rao Bhavan;naming structures after Balayogi, Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy and so on. The ruling classes totally ignored the Telangana stalwarts like K. V. Ranga Reddy, Dasarathi Krishnamacharya,Vattikota Alwar Swamy, Komuram Bhim, Ravi Narayana Reddy, Shoebulla Khan,Baddam Yella Reddy, Arutla Kamala Devi, Kaloji Narayan Rao and a host of others. Even Burgula Ramakrishna Rao, who was primarily responsible for the merger of Telangana with Andhra state, was also forgotten for a long time. The ongoing debate on Telangana seems to have influenced the state government to erect his statue recently in the city - 35 years after his death. But the place chosen for that is not commensurate with the stature of Burgula and his contribution to the state.
Posted on: Sat, 28 Sep 2013 03:37:32 +0000
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