(Ashok Malik is a columnist and writer living in Delhi)
Whatever the controversies and conflicts of recent years, a new beginning is a new beginning. Telangana's creation as the 29th state of the Union of India has been marked by fervour and celebration in Hyderabad and the people of Telangana are entitled to a moment of satisfaction. Even so, the entire episode has thrown up a few warnings that need to be internalised.
Broadly, three factors raise concern. First, Telangana is a landlocked state with limited irrigation facilities. Unlike landlocked states such as Haryana - fertile, agriculturally rich as well as situated at the doorstep of Delhi and the booming economy of the National Capital Region - it has no obvious advantages of location. Telangana's one asset is the city of Hyderabad.
Second, Seemandhra, with its richer agricultural capacities, with its coast and its entrepreneurial wealth, is potentially better placed than Telangana. In the coming years, the government of N Chandrababu Naidu is probably going to build a spanking new capital in Mangalagiri, which lies between Guntur and Vijayawada. Many senior Andhra politicians - including leading lights of the erstwhile Congress, influential Kammas who dominate the Telugu Desam and others who are linked with the state's many infrastructure companies - have made investments and built land banks in what could become the Mangalagiri metropolitan area.
Finally, the movement for Telangana, the ham-handed response of the UPA government in 2009 and the subsequent cynicism with which it approached a solution, offer a message for all political parties. In the recent elections, the Congress was wiped out in Seemandhra - zero parliamentary seats and zero assembly seats - and finished a distant second in Telangana. With the social fires the UPA government lit, Telangana became symbolic of how not to partition a state.
While political, regional and ethnic/identity parameters have been considered for state formation, it is time to look at economic and fiscal sustainability as well. Where necessary, creative mechanisms and innovations can be designed to address economic gaps that may arise as a consequence of drawing new state boundaries.
These questions require deeper thinking. Much before we set up another State Reorganisation Commission to actually create new states, we need a commission to decide on economic parameters and criteria for state formation.
Whatever the controversies and conflicts of recent years, a new beginning is a new beginning. Telangana's creation as the 29th state of the Union of India has been marked by fervour and celebration in Hyderabad and the people of Telangana are entitled to a moment of satisfaction. Even so, the entire episode has thrown up a few warnings that need to be internalised.
Broadly, three factors raise concern. First, Telangana is a landlocked state with limited irrigation facilities. Unlike landlocked states such as Haryana - fertile, agriculturally rich as well as situated at the doorstep of Delhi and the booming economy of the National Capital Region - it has no obvious advantages of location. Telangana's one asset is the city of Hyderabad.
Second, Seemandhra, with its richer agricultural capacities, with its coast and its entrepreneurial wealth, is potentially better placed than Telangana. In the coming years, the government of N Chandrababu Naidu is probably going to build a spanking new capital in Mangalagiri, which lies between Guntur and Vijayawada. Many senior Andhra politicians - including leading lights of the erstwhile Congress, influential Kammas who dominate the Telugu Desam and others who are linked with the state's many infrastructure companies - have made investments and built land banks in what could become the Mangalagiri metropolitan area.
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Finally, the movement for Telangana, the ham-handed response of the UPA government in 2009 and the subsequent cynicism with which it approached a solution, offer a message for all political parties. In the recent elections, the Congress was wiped out in Seemandhra - zero parliamentary seats and zero assembly seats - and finished a distant second in Telangana. With the social fires the UPA government lit, Telangana became symbolic of how not to partition a state.
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While political, regional and ethnic/identity parameters have been considered for state formation, it is time to look at economic and fiscal sustainability as well. Where necessary, creative mechanisms and innovations can be designed to address economic gaps that may arise as a consequence of drawing new state boundaries.
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These questions require deeper thinking. Much before we set up another State Reorganisation Commission to actually create new states, we need a commission to decide on economic parameters and criteria for state formation.
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