Editorial: Telangana Conundrum

Devolution of powers and second States Reorganisation Commission needed at this hour.

With Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde’s month-long deadline for a decision on Telangana expiring, the separate statehood demand has reached a critical point. Having previously promised a Telangana state – to be carved out of Andhra Pradesh – the Congress-led dispensation at the Centre is caught between a rock and a hard place. There is no denying that the Congress’s electoral success over the last two general elections was in large part bolstered by its performance in Andhra. Hence, splitting up the state was never going to be an easy decision. Even the Justice Srikrishna committee set up to study the statehood demand listed six options to deal with the vexed issue. 
    
The Congress’s current political arithmetic in Andhra is tricky. If it doesn’t grant Telangana, it could be politically wiped out in this region. On the other hand, the rise of Jaganmohan Reddy and his YSR Congress will anyway hit the party in the other Andhra regions – Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra. It is not surprising then that the Congress leadership is slowly moving towards the statehood option. The logic being that granting Telangana would at least hold the party in good stead here. However, the creation of a Telangana state would also embolden other statehood demands across the country. From Gorkhaland in West Bengal to Vidarbha in Maharashtra the call for smaller states will only grow louder, stoking Telangana-like agitations elsewhere. 
    
One solution to the problem could be greater devolution of administrative powers to local bodies. Apart for cultural and historical factors, one of the main grievances driving the Telangana movement is the overall lack of development in this region. Granting greater autonomy and empowering local bodies is one way to ensure that the fruits of development get evenly distributed, and satiate regional aspirations. That said, given the plethora of statehood demands, there is also an urgent need to form another States Reorganisation Commission (SRC). 
    
In 1956, the first SRC had reorganised states along linguistic lines. However, more than five decades later, the idea of linguistic identity forming the basis of statehood has become outdated. Today the demand for smaller states is increasingly driven by socio-economic aspirations. A second SRC would do well to study these factors and pronounce its verdict on the viability of the statehood demands. This would also guard against fringe movements holding the Centre and the idea of India to ransom.