Hyderabad, April 19: THERE are several reasons for demanding a separate state of Telangana.
Let us list a few.
Telangana was a separate state before 1956. The people of Telangana want self-respect, self-governance and development as the region is still being plundered by the political leadership of Andhra and Rayalaseema. The Telangana economy has been systematically weakened.
Though the language spoken in Telangana is Telugu, the dialect is different from the other regions.
In terms of total area, Telangana is bigger than 18 states in India (Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Jharkhand, Uttaranchal, Jammu & Kashmir, Mizoram, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Goa, Chhattisgarh, Manipur, West Bengal and Kerala and 60 countries in the world. The population of Telangana is more than 3.5 crores.
The people of Telangana have been deprived of their due under the dominance of Andhra/Rayalaseema politicians who have ruled the state for 47 out of 53 years since the formation of AP.
The separate Telangana movement has been alive for five decades and people aspire to a separate state as they have been denied their fair share in education, employment, resource allocation, finance, facilities and in all spheres.
The Telangana demand is not for separation from the nation. It is a genuine and democratic demand of a people for restoration of their erstwhile Hyderabad (Telangana) state. More than other sections, students and youth have raised a banner of revolt against this system of exploitation. The Telangana leadership and its people want self-governance wherein they will be able to fully utilize their latent talent and exploit the natural resources of the region to ensure growth for the new state.
In letter and spirit, all agreements, accords, formulae, GOs, presidential orders, plans and assurances given in the legislature, the Lok Sabha and the court in the last 53 years have been dishonoured.
The experiment to remain as one state has proved futile and therefore, separation is the best solution.
The Constitution has a provision, under Article 3, which has facilitated creation of at least 12 new states in the last 50 years, without the recommendation of any States Reorganisation Commission (SRC). Irrespective of the opinion of the concerned parent state, the provision empowers Parliament to alter the boundaries of any state, if such a demand is found to be democratic and popular.
Small states will give better benefits to the masses and help to create wealth and help in developing the nation as well (small states like Punjab, Haryana, Kearala have higher GDPs, and newly formed states like Chhatisgarh, and Uttarakhand are progressing in terms of development in all sectors, and improved GDPs).
Telangana will be able to utilize its fair share of the Krishna and Godavari rivers, thereby irrigating 39 lakh acres of new ayacut.
This will generate an additional income of Rs 7800 crore per annum on agriculture produce and create more employment opportunities in agriculture and allied sectors.
Utilizing the coal produced in Telangana, more thermal power plants can be set up and the extra energy produced can be utilized for agriculture and industry, without any power cuts in the rural areas.
The limestone deposits available in the region will help the local people to set up cement factories, and the thick forests available will help to establish forestbased industries.
Over 2 lakh government job opportunities will be available to local people.
This will generate an extra Rs 4800 crore income for the economy of Telangana. Students will have more opportunities and facilities for pursuing higher education and career growth. More number of new educational institutions can be set up by locals, and specialized courses in technology and management etc, can be offered, thereby creating more jobs.
–Agencies