A Letter Justice Sri Krishna Committee by Telagana Academy of Excellence

8/3/2019 A Letter Justice Sri Krishna Committee by Telagana Academy of Excellence

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Telangana Academy of Excellence Page 1 - 47

To,Sri Krishna Committee

Member Secretary, Room # 248Vignan Bhavan Annexe,

Moulana Azad Road,

New Delhi110 011

Dear Sir,

If development was the justification for keeping an alien ruler in place,India should have never got freedom from British rule! Andhra statewould not have been formed out of Madras state in the name of selfrespect.

World knows Jallianwala bagh, General Dyer, 1919 yr more than 1000

people dead in brutal firing and as the same in Telangana, Under theleader ship of then Chief Minister Kasu Brahmananda Reddy,1969 yr -370 students were shot dead. Now in the present situation after 23-12-2009 with the Government ambiguous decisions and false statements by

the Politicians, more than 380 people martyred. People of Telangana arenot only confused but also lost hope on the system and are sacrificingtheir lives for separate state hood of Telangana.

Especially, there is a lot of insecurity developed in Telangana people due

to constant changing of stance on Telangana by all political parties andleaders.

Though we Telangana people are not happy with committee and thepurpose, we do appreciate committee members and we have high respecton the committee members as individuals capability, honesty,professionalism & dedication.The reason we not happy with committee is, so far many committeesformed and did nothing, none of the committee recommendations areimplemented, and hence as usual everybody understands that allcommittees are meant for delaying the process of creating Telangana

state. We hope that as a result of Sri Krishna Committee report factfindings Telangana people wont be presented with one more G.O instead

of a separate state.

Unless we get our own state there is no way the people of this region aregoing to get the justice. We are addressing this letter to our desire andunequivocal support to the bifurcation of Telangana from AndhraPradesh State There are plenty of reasons why we need to separateourselves from the United Andhra Pradesh.


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History of Telangana

Telangana Armed Struggle for Liberation from Nizam

The Telangana Rebellion was a Communist led peasant revolt that took

place in the former princely state of Hyderabad between 1946 and 1951.

This was led by the Communist Party of India.

The revolt began in the Nalgonda district and quickly spread to the

Warangal and Bidar districts. Peasant farmers and labourers revolted

against the Nizam and the local feudal landlords (Jagirdars and

Deshmukhs) who were loyal to the Nizam. The initial modest aims were

to do away with the illegal and excessive exploitation meted out by these

feudal lords in the name of bonded labour. The most strident demand

was for the writing off of all debts of the peasants that were manipulated

by the feudal lords.

Nizam's resistance to join Indian Union

At the same time the Nizam was resisting the Indian government's efforts

to bring the Hyderabad state into the Indian Union. The government sent

the army in September 1948 to annex the Hyderabad state into Indian

Union. The Communist party instigated the peasants to use guerrilla

tactics and around 3000 villages (about 41000 sq. kilometres) came

under peasant-rule. The landlords were either killed or driven out and

the land was redistributed. These victorious villages established

communes reminiscent of Soviet mir (social)s to administer their region.


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These community governments were integrated regionally into a central

organization. The rebellion was led by the Communist Party of India.

Few among the well-known individuals at the forefront of the movement

were great leaders like Raavi Narayana Reddy, Puchalapalli Sundaraiah,

Makineni Basavapunaiah , Chandra Rajeswara Rao, Arjula Ramana

Reddy, the Urdu poet Makhdoom Mohiuddin, Hassan Nasir, Bhimreddy

Narasimha Reddy, Mallu Venkata Narasimha Reddy , Mallu Swarajyam ,

Arutla Ramchandra Reddy and his wife Arutla Kamala Bai.

Formation of Hyderabad State

The violent phase of the movement ended in 1951 after the accession of

Hyderabad into the Indian Union. This was the time when Razzakar

Movement was started by Nizams, which was very violent, which

witnessed peasants armed struggle until freedom. Finally Hyderabad

State was formed in 1951 on sacrifice of 4000 peasant lives.

Fazal Ali Commission Report for Separate Telangana in 1956

In December 1953, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru appointed the

States Reorganization Commission to prepare for the creation of states

on linguistic lines. This was headed by Justice Fazal Ali and the

commission itself was also known as the Fazal Ali Commission. The

efforts of this commission was overseen by Govind Ballabh Pant, who


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served as Home Minister from December 1954. The commission created

a report in 1955 recommending the reorganization of India's states. The

States Reorganization Commission (SRC) was not in favour of merging

the Telangana region with the then Andhra state. Para 382 of States

Reorganization Commission Report (SRC) said "..opinion in Andhra is

overwhelmingly in favour of the larger unit, public opinion in Telangana

has still to crystallize itself". The concerns of Telanganas were manifold.

The region had a less developed economy than Andhra, but a larger

revenue base (mostly because it taxed rather than prohibited alcoholic

beverages), which Telanganas feared might be diverted for use in Andhra.

They also feared that planned dam projects on the Krishna and Godavari

rivers would not benefit Telangana proportionately even though

Telanganas controlled the headwaters of the rivers. Telanganas feared

too that the people of Andhra would have the advantage in jobs,

particularly in government and education. Para 386 of States

Reorganization Commission Report (SRC) said "After taking all these

factors into consideration we have come to the conclusions that it will be

in the interests of Andhra as well as Telangana area is to constitute 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 a two thirds majority the legislature of

the residency Hyderabad State expresses itself in favor of such

unification." The central government decided to ignore the SRC


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recommendations and established unified Andhra Pradesh on November

1, 1956.

After rejecting the recommendations of the Fazli Ali Commission to form

a separate state for Telangana, the Government of India enacted laws in

Parliament in accordance with the understanding arrived at under the

Gentlemen Agreement.

A Regional Committee was formed to safe guard the interests of

Telangana in the matter of Planning & Development and Employment. It

found that all Telangana surpluses were diverted to Andhra area in order

to meet its deficit. The agreement to spend the Telangana Revenue

surpluses for its development was thrown to winds. The Regional

Committee in 1961 asked for white paper on the implementation of

Telangana safe guards. In the three 5 year plans it was found that the

Telangana Revenue surpluses were continuously diverted. In the matter

of School Education and other economic development there appeared

large disparities among the two regions. The promise to make good

deviations were hardly implemented. At last D. Sanjivaiah agreed to give

about 15 crores at the first instance.

In the matter of services the Ad-hoc Committee in Services found that in

the matter of Integration of Services on various Departments such as the

Public Works Dept. & Co-operation, rules which favoured Andhra


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Employees in filling up vacancies and promotions were immediately

implemented, while those of Telangana were kept pending inordinately.

The clause in the Gentleman Agreement to maintain parity 60:40

between Andhra and Telangana regarding funds and employment was

reduced to 2:1 by a Government Order. Even this formula to maintain

2:1 parity was observed in the violation.

Several Officers who deserved promotions were denied. The Telangana

employees, had to take recourse to the Courts of Law and administrative

tribunals causing hardship and frustration. The Mulki rules, which

prescribed residential qualification was challenged in the High Court

which was struck down due to which there was great hardship. The

Public Employment Act that was passed by Government of India was

quite inadequate due to which Telangana employees suffered as several

dubious methods were adopted such as

(a) Several posts and vacancies in Telangana were abolished toprevent their continuance and posts were created later on to afford

opportunities to Andhra Personnel ( Survey Department)

(b) Out of 120 promotions to Executive Engineer cadre only 6 Telangana Asst. Engineers were promoted. Similarly in the J.E.

Cadre only 327 Telangana candidates got recruited for the reserved

posts of 500. While 1751 J.E. posts were given to Andhra

candidates against 1000 reserved for them.


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(c) Similar instances were caused in Panchayat Raj & EducationDepartments.

In the matter of expenditure in Planning & Development there was a

difference of nearly 10% of deficit in expenditure than the reserves pooled

from Telangana. The Regional committee passed a resolution expressing

objections for purchase of Lands in Hyderabad and in Telangana without

the permission of the regional committee by Andhra Land lords. The

Regional Committee till 1968 calculated the Telangana surplus as 100

Crores. The Government took the stand that it was 30 Crores, but no

solution was found nor the agreed amount was kept at disposal of the

Regional Committee.

Frustrated by the unabated violations of Telangana Safe Guards and for

redressal of injustices student started agitation in 1969. It became wide

spread which includes employees and many un-employed. It initially

started in Khammam District, but soon caught in the entire Telangana.

The Government of Andhra Pradesh in order to contain it called an all

party meeting and appointed a committee through a G.O. to set right the

anomalies in recruitment and promotions. The Andhra Employee who

had benefited by the illegalities challenged the G.O. in High Court and

Supreme Court and had it struck it down including the 1957 Public

Employment Act. After this the agitation spread like wild fire. The A.P.

Government under Sri Brahmananda Reddy was advised by colleagues to


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take firm action. The police was given a free hand as many as 378

students and unemployed youth were shot dead. The Government

arrested all prominent leaders of Telangana including ex-minister

Dr.M.Chenna Reddy and Sri.T.Anjaiah and hundreds of others and put

them in Rajamundry Jail, where they were ill treated.

There was general harthal observed in all Universities, Govt offices,

Schools & colleges for about a year. Govt. dismissed Sri. Amos the then

President of Telangana NGOs Union and now MLC without any

Justification.

A cabinet expansion was made recruiting Telangana MLA which were

about ten in number. In this the agitation grew more violent. Smt.

Indira Gandhi came down to Hyderabad twice to contain the agitation

but of no avail. The Student Leader Sri. Mallikarjun who later became

Union Minister openly defied her and refused to stop the agitation.

Recognizing the unrest in Telangana Smt. Indira Gandhi announced a 8

point programme, which included enlargement of powers to Regional

Committee of Telangana and formation of several high powered

committees to settle the dispute of Telangana surpluses and about public

employment and sanction of Central University in Hyderabad for the

benefit of Telangana Students but the agitation did not abate, The

Students lost two academic years.


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In Assembly-Bye-Election to Siddipet the Telangana Praja Samithi won

by a handsome majority of about 20000 votes against the Congress. In

the next elections to Parliament in 1971, when the country voted for

Congress to Smt. Indira Gandhi in a big way, the Telangana Praja

Sammithi in Telangana got a massive vote against Congress by winning

11 out of the 14 seats that were contested. Telangana people have

shown their will for separate state against the wave prevailing in the

country for Smt. Indira Gandhi. The Prime Minister called the Telangana

Leaders for discussion. In the accord that was arrived on 19TH January

1969, in an agreement that was made between the Govt. of AP and the

Telangana Regional Committee and Telangana leaders which is as follows

:

1. That Govt. should reimburse the 107 Crores as resolved bythe Regional Committee which was used by Andhra area. This was

to be used for Telangana area.

2. As many as 6000 jobs which were to be given to Telanganaboys were taken over by the Andhras. It was agreed to restore

these jobs to the unemployed in Telangana and supernumery posts

were to be created in Andhra area.

However these promises & assurances were not implemented. The

amount of Rs 107 Crores was more than the State Budget under Sri

Vengal Rao Govt. If this amount was spent in Telangana, projects like


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Sriram Sagar Project could have been completed, the foundation for

which has been laid by Sri Jawaharlal Nehru in 1963. Today the people

of Telangana are unable to tolerate the increase of corruption, lobbying

to get jobs, adopting dubious methods to get work done.

In Telangana here was a Political Process where merit was recognised

and leadership encouraged. Now money is important factor in politics.

One who has money could get anything without any difficulty. This sort

of culture is not amenable to be digested by the Telangana people. Money

culture has been brought by Andhras to Telangana area.

Smt Indira Gandhi asked Andhra Chief Minister as to why it was

represented to her that there was no sentiment for Telangana and asked

him to step down giving place to a Telangana man as Chief Minister. Sri

P. V. Narasimha Rao was named as Chief Minister from Telangana to

rectify the injustices. The Supreme Court also upheld the appeal to

revive the Mulki rules, to do justice to Telangana People.

Sri. P. V. Narsimha Rao, as Chief Minister of A.P. announced that he

would implement the Mulki rules in employment and also enforce land

reforms strictly. On this there began Jai Andhra agitation to carve out

separate state for Andhra Area. All the Andhra Cabinet Ministers

resigned and led the agitation on four groundsnamely

(a) Their Chief Minister being displaced


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(b) Mulki rules were to be enforced strictly as decided by thecourt.

(c) Land Reforms would be enforced(d) The A.P. Regional Committee which was to safe guard theinterest of Telangana Development & Employment was an irritant

to them, hence they should go off.

The agitation grew violent and land lords fearing implementation of land

reforms spent huge amount for agitations. Due to this Govt. of India

imposed President Rule keeping the assembly in animated suspension.

Mrs. Gandhi, Prime Minister called all the leaders of Andhra and later

those of Telangana and declared another compromise formula. She

wanted to settle the issue amicably once again as soon as possible. She

therefore wanted a compromise at any cost. She impressed upon the

Telangana Leaders that she will personally take care of their interest.

Under this formula, the following was announced:

(a) 6 point formula for Public employment instead of Mulkirules.

(b) Abolished the Statutory Telangana Regional Committee andreplacing it by 3 Regional Development Boards one for each region.

(c) High power Committee under Bhargava and Kumar Lalith togo into Telangana surpluses and make good the loss of Telangana

area for its Development.


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With one stroke all the Telangana safe guards assured earlier were

removed. The new formula never worked. The recommendations of the

Expert Committee were not implemented. The Development Board for

Three Regions had neither funds nor could recommend anything

regarding financial matters except to review Development.

After Sri. P. V. Narsimha Rao, several Chief Ministers came to the scene,

the simmering discontentment among the people of Telangana lingered

on. They felt betrayed by their own representatives after the great

student revolution did not bear fruit and on the contrary more than 378

Students died and Telangana lost all its safeguards Such as Mulki Rules,

Statutory Regional Committee etc

Telangana Chief Ministers such as Dr. M. Chenna Reddy who had led the

movement in 1969 could not do much for Telangana. The vast majority

of Andhra Legislators and all Andhra senior executives in Government

made it imperative for him to look to Andhra needs. The first thing he

did was to get World Bank Loan of about thousand crores to re-model the

Krishna canals in the delta area of Andhra, Similar was the case with

Anjaiah a Labour Leader who had to face the tyranny of the majority

and tried to start the Polavaram Project in Andhra Area, for which he laid

the foundation stone and tried his best to get its clearance, inspite of the

fact that there were several projects on River Godavari catering to the

needs of Telangana, such as Ichampally project which was cleared by

C.W.C. & also by Maharashtra. Dummugudem & incomplete Sri Ram


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Sagar Project for which Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had laid the foundation

stone which is in Telangana, was not completed even up to 30% of the

total Cost. During his regime he had programmed to lay foundation

stone for SRBC for Rayalaseema and SLBC for Telangana in Nalgonda

Dist. Invitations were printed and distributed due to pressure from

Andhra Leaders, he did not lay the foundation Stone to SLBC in

Telangana area. These two prominent and popular leaders could not

complete their full term of Five years and they were known supporters of

Smt. Indira Gandhi, due to the pressure mechanization of Andhra

Leaders.

Where as Vengal Rao who succeeded P. V. Narsimha Rao, who had

migrated from Vijainagaram to Khammam Dist as petty Contractor, had

completed his full term for two reasons one that he was fully Supported

by Andhra Leaders and Secondly there was emergency in the Country.

During the tenure of Sri Janardhan Reddy as Chief Minister of A.P. in

1992 discontentment again rose among the people against the injustices

to Telangana Development, especially the Irrigation Projects. Large

demonstrations were held throughout Telangana by Peoples Forum for

Telangana. The Legislators stalled the assembly for four days demanding

the strict implementation of the 6 point formula and devolution of funds

as recommended by Bhargav Committee and Lalith Expert Committee for

Telangana Development. Government allowed discussions on the subject

which lasted for four days. Ultimately Government agreed to all the


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demands, put forth by Legislators and assured to implement at the

earliest. The Legislators Forum for Telangana which was spear heading

the discussions and movement, went to Delhi by Train with about 100

Legislators from all parties. The Members of Parliament in their turn

formed themselves into a Telangana MPs Forum submitted

memorandum along with State Legislators to Sri. P. V. Narsimha Rao the

then Prime Minister. They enumerated all the shortfalls of the six point

formula and development schemes. Even he could not do anything on

the memorandum, except sanction several development works for

Kurnool Dist from where he was elected to the Lok Sabha.

In 1983 when there was a resentment against the Congress for changing

the Chief Minister constantly. Sri Rajiv Gandhi as Secretary AICC came

to Hyderabad. The then Chief Minister Sri Anjiah made pompous

arrangements to receive him in spite of instructions to the contrary. He

left Hyderabad to tour Andhra area without taking Sri Anjiah, Chief

Minister along with him. The media made this an issue as insulting the

Telugu Chief Minister and made news of it as Telugus being disregarded.

Sri N T Rama Rao, Cine Actor was a new entrant into politics. He rode on

the wave of anti establishment and Telugu Atma Gauravam and swept

the polls and had become the Chief Minister of the state on Telugu

Desam Party.


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He introduced some popularized schemes and became popular. During

the period there has been utter disregard in implementing the 6 point

formula, in as much as 60,000 appointments occurred in place of

Telangana candidates. Sri N T Rama Rao being incensed by it issued

G.O. 610 directing the Government to send back all these employees to

their zones within one year and if there are no vacancies to give the

returned candidates supernumary posts may be created. This G.O. 610

was never implemented. In a similar circumstance, when staff was

recruited for the Telugu Ganga Project in Rayalaseema, the staff was

repatriated within three months.

Srisailam Project was a Hydro Power Project as sanctioned and approved

by Bachavat Krishna Water Tribunal and also as a balancing reservoir

for Nagarjuna Sagar. After N. T. Rama Rao had assumed power, on the

request of the Chief Minister of Madras the Government of India had

asked the Chief Ministers of Andhra, Karnataka and Maharashtra to

spare 5 TMC of water from their quota to the state of Madras so that

their drinking water problem could be solved. The Chief Minister of

Madras approached Andhra Chief Minister to help in getting these 15

TMC of water through a pipe line directly from Srisailam Project. Sri. N.

T. Rama Rao negative this proposition and said that he would supply

water to Madras in a open channel. As he had ulterior motives to use

Srisailam water for irrigation. In this context Sri. Rama Rao proposed

two schemes one for Andhra area and another for Telangana. For Andhra


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area i.e. in Rayalaseema the project known as Telugu Ganga with a

capacity to carry 34 TMC of water from Srisailam project.. He also laid a

foundation stone known as the Srisailam Left bank canal and laid

foundation stone for it, a issue arose whether the water to left bank

should be through a tunnel or by lift irrigation. The Telangana leaders

and Engineers suggested for a tunnel. However, N. T. Rama Rao laid

foundation for a tunnel to take Srisailam water to Nalgonda District.

While Telugu Ganga to Rayalaseema was in full swing the SLBC was not

at all started. Both the schemes were not approved by Bachavat

Tribunal. While the work on Telugu Ganga was on full swing the work

on SLBC was not undertaken. N. T. Rama Rao dug canals to carry water

both, the 15 TMC promised to for Madras and 19 TMC allotted to

Srisailam right bank canal. He proposed that the drinking water scheme

must cross 3 water sources. Somasila, and two others, which must be

filled before water could go to Madras city.

N.T. Rama Rao did not provide any funds for development of Telangana

During his tenure the G.O.610 to rectify the anomalies of 6 point formula

were also not implemented. He was replaced by his son in law Sri. N.

Chandra Babu Naidu.

Chandra Babu Naidu did not take any interest in the development

schemes of Telangana, but sold all the industries started by the Nizam.

He only convened all party meetings several times with regard to

allotment of Godavari water and when it was decided in the all party


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meeting the Ichampalli project must be taken up and has approved by

Maharashtra & CWC. There were objection from Chattisgadh Govt. The

Chattisgadh Govt. was prepared to negotiate their problem with Andhra

regarding the project and meetings were held at Nagpur. However, the

Andhra Govt. did not pursue the matter and instead took up the project

on Godavari with a very high lift of about 1000ft. at Devadula without

any barrage to utilise 12 TMC in 2 phases with more than an

expenditure of 9100 Crores. He also held several all party meetings for

establishing the industries in the state. He discussed about allotment of

land round about Hyderabad city to various industries including IT. He

arbitrarily made allotments to Pvt. Companies for establishing industries

more than what it required for, and for the excess land allotted to

industries, they were permitted to be sold in any manner they like. Thus

valuable land of Telangana area in the Hyderabad city and outskirts were

given on a plater. He continued as CM of Andhra Pradesh for more than

9 years without doing anything worth the name to Telangana. The people

of Telangana were slighted in his regime.

During his regime 41 Congress legislators met Mrs. Sonia Gandhi

Congress President at Hyderabad and submitted a memorandum to

carve out a separate state for Telangana. As the then Govt. of India

under the BJP had carved out 3 new states with concurrence of the

Congress. It was right time that the Telangana people got their state

hood also. The legislators followed it up with giving memorandum to the


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then Prime Minister and also the president of India. The delegations of

MLAs also met the members of Congress working committee. A sub

committee of members of the working committee was formed which held

several meetings. Sri Madhava Rao Scindia CWC member significantly

remarked as to how could Telangana leaders tolerate so many insults

and humiliation. Working Committee Members advised Telangana

leaders to go to people and explain the necessity of forming a state. The

movement was thus picking up for Telangana, Various public meetings

were conducted in all the districts by the legislators and office bearers of

the congress party by creating a Telangana Congress forum. When the

movement picked up Sri Y. S. Rajshekar Reddy, then the leader of

opposition pulled back the MLAs from the movement, there appeared

dissolution among the people for lack of activity by congress party. A

vacuum appeared among the people as to why no leader worth the name

is coming forward for this cause to continue the struggle.

K. Chandra Sekhar Rao, Dy. Speaker of Assembly and leader of Telugu

Desam party fell out of the party and resigned his MLA ship and floated

the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and on this plank he was elected again to

Siddipet Assembly in the bye-election with a huge majority. He took full

advantage of the passions which were aroused by the Congress MLAs

and Congress leaders and firmly got into the saddle and toured entire

Telangana area. He had good response from the people and became a

popular leader.


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In the ensuing General Elections to the legislature in 2004 Congress

deemed it fit to align itself with TRS as against Telugu Desam Party

which was a deadly opponent to separate state hood and was in favour of

Visalandhra. The Congress and TRS jointly won the general elections in

2004 with a thumping majority. The TDP got only 6 seats. The Andhra

area electorate voted for the Congress, TRS combined campaign and

backed it to come to power. The people of Andhra had no grouse against

the Congress aligning with a regional party fighting for a separate state.

The ruling party gained the blessings of the Andhra people without any

ill will. It was a tacit approval of the Andhra electorate for the cause of

Telangana.

In 2004 YSR was elected Chief Minister on behalf of Congress party. He

had developed a silent antagonism against the Telangana State and also

he took steps to curb the vociferous leadership of Telangana. Persons

who are obedient to him were only encouraged and given important

positions. His main aim as CM was only to develop Rayalaseema to its

fullest extent He had introduced Jalayagnam to construct about 44

projects through out the state. The Projects he envisaged in Telangana

were only lift irrigation schemes of high magnitude without making

adequate steps for their proper functioning duly not providing for its

power requirements. It is a well known fact, that such scheme can only

irrigates half of the proposed projected ayacut. None of those projects

envisaged had borne any fruit worth the name. The lift irrigation on


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Devadula is a fare in as much as above 10000 Crores is spent to lift only

12 TMC of water. To supply drinking water to Warangal city and irrigated

about 4 Lakh acres under Israeli method of using sprinklers and drip

irrigation. Although 7 years have passed since the project is declared as

complete not a single acre has been brought into wet cultivation. The

proposal to irrigate 25 to 35 thousand acres with 1 TMC of water is

apparently absurd while on the contrary lift irrigation schemes on the

Godavari namely Tadipudi and Pushkaram and other projects, are

catering to the needs of the farmers at 6000 acres for 1 TMC of water.

The farmers in Telangana area are not resourceful enough to invest in

the Israeli type of irrigation as proposed by Govt. Secondly under

Sriramsagar project Govt. had made similar provision of asking the

farmers to cultivate 2/3rd ayacut under dry irrigated and only 1/3rd as

wet. The farmers could not afford to have infrastructure for dry

irrigation. It is a paradox for Govt. to envisage a vast ayacut under drip

irrigation at Devadula. For other lift irrigation in Telangana area YSR

Govt. has proposed huge outlays totaling to 79 thousand Crores and

none of those huge projects yielded any expected results. It was more of

election propaganda to tell the people that Govt. is going to do something

to them which is nigh impossible. Telangana has vast resources of coal,

but coal is exported to Vijayawada, Nellore, Visakapatnam and

Cuddapah in Andhra Region. In Telangana area there is one age old

Thermal power station in Kothagudem, established by Nizam. The other


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thermal station of Telangana in Ramagundam has been handed over to

the NTPC. Another thermal station in Telangana which was situated at

Manuguru near the pithead of the coal mines has been shifted to

Vijayawada. The envisaged lift irrigation programme of YSR Govt. needed

4800 mega watts of power, while the total state power generation is only

7700 mega watts. It is impossible to supply the power required to

schemes of Telangana. Govt. now has shown an account of procuring

18000 Mega Watts of power from Pvt. Parties by payment of considerable

amount which would cater only to the present needs of the state. In case

the Govt. is unable to give free power and free infrastructure of Israeli

type of irrigation each ryot will have to pay minimum of Rs. 10000 per

acre as running costs. It could well be understood as to how it is very

difficult for Telangana farmers, even to utilise the vast proposed lift

irrigations at a huge cost of 79000 Crores.

Telangana being on a plateau, farmers have dug bore wells and installed

their own pump sets when Govt. has not given any subsidy to the 24

Lakh pump sets in the state of which 18 Lakh are in Telangana. One

could imagine the amount of power required and the expenditure on

infrastructure to run these pump sets for irrigation. The variation in

supply of power always causes loss to the farmer in as much as the

pump sets are burnt and other equipment get short circuited.

In the matter of flow irrigation Govt. has not taken any interest to

complete even the first phase of Sriramsagar which was started by Pandit


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Jawahar Lal Nehru in 1963. Canals for second phase also been dug and

loans provided to the farmer to level their lands without any water.

Sriramsagar project is only major project which could function fully if

proper steps are taken. Several other projects in Telangana have been

utterly neglected. For example Nizam Sagar, which have lost its potential

due to the silt, while Singur a balancing reservoir for Nizam Sagar is

confined to water supply to the city. Nagarjuna Sagar on Krishna was to

be given 131 TMC for irrigation for the chronic Nalgonda dist &

Khammam Dist under an agreement arrived at between Andhra state

and Hyderabad state through its left canal to irrigate 7 lakh acres,

Instead the left canal was extended to Krishna Dist and West Godavari

Dist in Andhra area due to which the water allotment got reduced to

about 75 TMC only for Telangana. To meet the short fall Govt announced

L.I schemes on left canal to utilize about 10 TMC only. The L.I schemes

failed because of huge overheads which were to be borne by ryots and

power shortage while for the right canal in Andhra area the Govt bore the

entire charges, Over heads & maintenance etc

IRRIGATIONTHE INJUSTICE TO TELANGANA

Nature has in its bounty had endowed to Telangana large &

mighty rivers. In the North is Godavari and river Krishna in the south. In


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addition to these, there are several other river basins which traversed the

length and breadth of Telangana.

The Agriculture is the main occupation of over 75% of the

Telangana population; therefore any Development model for Telangana

should focus on a sustained agricultural development. The sustenance of

agriculture mainly depends on providing irrigation facilities. The

importance of irrigation is known historically and all the benevolent

kingdoms of past have tried their best to create as many irrigation

facilities as possible for the benefit of the people. The Kakatiya kings

have done pioneering work for the first time in 13th Century by

constructing small and medium sized water storage reservoirs in the

topographically undulating area of Deccan plateau. These water storages

provided irrigation facilities to thousand of acres of cultivable lands.

There were hundreds of such storages but notable among them being

Ramappa, Lakhnavaram, Pakhal and Ghanpur Lakes, which even today

are functioning successfully and stand as our proud heritage.

Historically Telangana region was part of Hyderabad dominion

ruled by the Nizams of Asafjahi dynasty. The Hyderabad State comprised

of Telangana, parts of Marathwada and Karnataka. The State which had

three distinct languages was ruled by the Nizams for few centuries up to

September 1948.


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The Nizams Government also encouraged the construction of

minor irrigation storages to provide water to arid lands at the beginning

of this century. The available statistics indicate that there were 21,000

small tanks providing irrigation facilities to 80,000 acres.

Development of Water Resources in Hyderabad State

The rulers of Hyderabad State realized the importance of water

resources development from the second decade of this century. Mr. Ali

Nawaz Jung, an Engineer of Nizams State prepared a comprehensive

water resources development plan for the exploitation of vast water

potential available in the major river basins of Godavari and Krishna. In

1900s the tributaries of major rivers were tackled by constructing

several medium sized irrigation projects, the notable among them being

Pocharam, Dindi, Palair, Wyra, Manair and anicuts at Ghanpur on

Manjira and Khanpur on Godavari.

As a first step towards the development of major irrigation system,

a major irrigation project was planned on river Manjira by proposing the

construction of 140 feet high dam and a storage reservoir with huge

canal system to provide irrigation facilities to 2, 75,000 acres. The

masonry Dam was one of highest in India at that point of time and it was

designed and constructed by the Hyderabad Engineers. The construction

of Dam was started in 1924 and completed in 1931. The project was


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inaugurated by the Nizam of Hyderabad and named as Nizamsagar

Project. The canal system and other infrastructure such as roads and

communication were completed in subsequent years. The project

provided irrigation facilities for two crops in a year and also provided

irrigation facilities to 20,000 acres of sugar cane crop. As a result, a

sugar factory at Bodhan was established with crushing capacity of 2500

tones, one of the largest sugar factories of Asia at the time . The

Nizamsagar project was constructed to utilize 58 TMC of Manjira waters.

The Nizamabad district became the most prosperous districts of

Hyderabad State on account of Nizamsagar Project.

Godavari River being the biggest river flowing through the state, a

major multipurpose project was proposed for irrigation and Hydro-

electric power development. The project proposals envisaged the

construction of high-dam across Godavari near Pochampad and

Godavari North canal on the left and Godavari South canal on the right

to benefit 20 lakhs of acres for irrigation in Adilabad district from the

North canal and Karimnagar, Warangal and Nalgonda districts from the

South canal. The project provided for utilization of 330 TMC of Godavari

Waters. In addition as a part of the project the reservoir on Kadam

forming the part of North canal and Lower Manair Dam reservoir forming

the part of South canal were also included in the project. The stage I of

the project comprising of infrastructure such as approach roads,

buildings at the main project site and Godavari North canal and a Dam


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on Kadam River were sanctioned. The works were grounded and were in

progress.

A project across river Manjira, up stream of Nizamsagar at a place

near Devanur was also proposed to provide irrigation benefits in Manjira

valley, in Medak District by utilizing 38 TMC of water. The two Hydro-

electric power stations one at the Dam site and one on the power canal,

which provided additional supplies to Nizamsagar, were also included in

the project. The work on the approach roads, camp buildings was started

and land acquisition proceedings for the Dam and Reservoir were

initiated.

Krishna River being the second biggest river of the Hyderabad

state, the development of water resources by construction of projects was

commenced from 1948. First the construction of Dam on Tungabhadra

near Hospet was started in 1948 as joint venture between Hyderabad

and Madras Governments. The left canal envisaged irrigation in Raichur

and Mahabubnagar Districts of Hyderabad state. The Dam and most of

the canal system was completed by 1956, except the last leg of canal

benefitting Mahabubnagar Dist. Which envisaged water utilization of

19.20 TMC. Due to states reorganization the entire project went to

Karnataka and extension of canal into Mahabubnagar Dist. Was stopped.

The construction of Rajolibanda Diversion Scheme was taken up

on river Tungabhadra and the Head works and canals were mostly


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completed by 1956, but due to States reorganization, the Head works

and part of canal went to Karnataka and most of the canal came to

Telangana to benefit 84,000 acres in Mahabubnagar district, by utilizing

15.90 TMC of water.

The investigation was completed and project reports were

perepared for upper Krishna and Bheema Projects which envisaged the

utilization of 54.40 TMC and 100.60 TMC respectively for the benefit of

Mahabubnagar district. But these projects were committed and approved

but not grounded.

The Hyderabad State Engineers started the investigation of a major

project on the river Krishna and detailed project reports were prepared at

two sites namely Siddeshwaram and Nandikonda after studying various

alternatives. The project was finalized providing for utilization of 132

TMC of Krishna Waters for the benefit of 10 lakh acres in Nalgonda and

Khammam Districts. The Hyderabad Government approved the project

with only left canal and the entire planning, investigation and designs

were completed for the Nandikonda site, since the Madras Government

was not interested at this site as they had already proposed the Krishna-

Pennar project from an upper location to take water to Madras State. In

fact this was one of the main reasons for the Andhras to start a big

agitation which finally resulted in formation of Andhra State. It is only

when separate Andhra State was formed in October 1953, that on their


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request. The Nandikonda (named as Nagrjuna Sagar) project was made a

joint project between Hyderabad State and Andhra State and an

agreement was signed in 1954 for equal sharing of 132 TMC for left

canal and 132 TMC for right canal. The Nagarjunasagar project was

inaugurated in 1955 by the Prime Minister of India Late Shri Jawaharlal

Nehru and the execution was taken up. A joint control Board was setup

to implement the project proposals as agreed by both the states.

It is very clear from the above events that the HyderabadGovernment had well planned for the optimum utilization pf huge

water potential of Godavari and Krishna rivers for the benefit ofpeople of Telangana and to provide extensive irrigation facilities tothe farmers of Telangana area.

Water Potential of Telangana

The broad position as on 01.11.1956, in respect of the water

resources utilized and committed for utilization for irrigation inTelangana area is given below.

Godavari Valley

A. Water utilization under completed projectsI. Major Projects1. Nizamsagar Project 58.00 TMC2. Medium Irrigation Projects 21.70 TMC3. Minor Irrigation Schemes 21.00 TMC

Total 100.70TMCB. Projects committed and under constructionI. Major Projects1. Godavari Valley Multipurpose Project 330.00 TMC

2. Kadam Projects 15.00 TMC3. Lower Manair Dam Project 12.00 TMC

4. Devanur Project 38.00TMCTotal 395.70TMC

C. Projects Investigated1. Ichampally Project 350.00 TMC

Godavari Valley Total 845.70TMC


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Krishna Valley

A. Water utilization under completed ProjectsI. Major Irrigation

1. Rajolibanda Diversion Scheme 15.90TMC

2. Medium Irrigation Projects 36.10 TMC3. Minor Irrigation Schemes 90.80 TMC

Total 142.80TMCB. Projects in Progress1. Nagarjunasagar left canal 132.00 TMC2. Tungabhadra Project left canal extension 19.00 TMC

Total 151.00TMCC. Projects Investigated1. Upper Krishna Project 54.40 TMC2. Bheema Project 100.00 TMC

Total 155.00TMC

Krishna Valley Total 449.00TMC

Jala Yagnam

Jala Yagnam is an over ambitious programme to construct the irrigation

projects under the guise of developing the backward areas, where as the

real programme is to rob the Krishna water from Telangana Region and

create illegal rights to the Rayalaseema region by spending the fundsgenerated by selling the lands in and around Hyderabad. Jalayagnam

comprises of 44 Major Projects, 38 Medium Projects and 4 Flood Banks.

Out of the 44 Major Projects, the following seven projects are proposed to

be declared as the National Projects.

1. Polavaram Project2. Uttarandhra Projects3. Dummugudem NSP Tail Pond Project4. Pranahitha Chevella Project.5. Chokka Rao Godavary L.I. Scheme.6. Kanthala Pally Project7. Sripadasagar (Ellampally) Project.


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For statistical and eye wash purposes there are 5 projects for Telangana

Region and One each project for Coastal Andhra and Uttarandhra. From

the quality of Investigation, progress achieved in obtaining the

clearances, water allotment and interest shown by the Government, it is

crystal clear that only Polavaram and Uttarandhra projects will/can be

declared as National Projects and other projects will never see the light

for obvious intentions of the Government. All the projects planned for

Telangana area are lift schemes in nature and the primary requirement

for their commissioning is power which is estimated to be about 4800

MW. Without Planning for the availability of above required power is

putting like a Cart before an imaginary Bull and participating in the

Pongal Cart Race.

Even leaving out Pranahitha Chevella which requires about 3500 MW the

other important major projects which can be commissioned in two or

three years are also delayed by not acting in time in the matter of land

acquisition and the rehabilitation. Had the Government was serious it

would have planned for the power of the following projects whose

requirement as given below is about 720 MW which could have been

achieved by investing about Rs 3000 Crores( Rs 500 Crores Every Year)

to see the real results of the Jalayagnam Projects.

1). Bhima Project 80 MW

2). Kalwakurthy Project 450 MW

3). Nettampadu Project 125 MW

4). AMR Project 72 MW.

Sri Ram Sagar Project, Jurala Project, and Bhima project are classic

examples of the negligence shown in the execution of Telangana Projects.

Jurala Project with an assured water of 17.4 TMC allocated by the

Bachavat Tribunal and with about 1.1 lakh acres proposed ayacut was


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Recent Floods of 2009:-

The ill intentions of the Rayalaseema leaders can be clearly seen from the

water releases of Srisailam Reservoir for the year 2009. Though there

was required water in Srisailam to release in to Nagarjuna Sagar after

power generation, it was not done denying Kharif under Nagarjuna Sagar

ayacut and the water was held up in the Srisailam Reservoir for diverting

the same as flood water to illegal sources by high handedness.

States Reorganization

The State reorganization which took place in November 1956

when, Telangana was made part of the enlarged state of Andhra Pradesh,

the real problem for the development of water resource started and all

the major irrigation projects planned and programmed for

implementation in Telangana area took serious set-back. The Godavari

and Krishna river basins got trifurcated; the sharing of water by

respective regions became interstate problems. The states reorganization

act clearly provided that all the projects which are grounded and

committed for implementation before the states reorganization should

not be stopped and the rights of the people going to get benefit from such

projects is protected under the constitution. But unfortunately the

Government of Andhra Pradesh did not take any action and on the

contrary created obstacles in the implementation of the projects

benefiting Telangana area. This also suited their interests, since the


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amounts earmarked for Telangana projects could easily be diverted to the

projects benefiting the Andhra area. The Telangana leaders and Ministers

never took any interest in projecting the claims of Telangana projects and

to safe guard the rights accrued on account of States reorganization Act.

The result was the immediate stoppage of Godavari Valley

multipurpose project, abandoning of Devanur project and no negotiating

with Karnataka for the extension of Tungabhadra left canal, already

sanctioned and under execution.

The irrigation development in Telangana was practically at stand

still for 7 Years from 1956 to 1963. During this period no irrigation

project in Godavari valley was taken up on the pretext of inter state

water dispute. After several representations by the people and some of

the leaders of Telangana, quoting extensively from the S.R Act, the then

irrigation minister Government of India issued an order permitting

utilization of only 67 TMC of water at Pochampad by construction of low

Dam in 1963, for irrigation of 5,70,000 acres, in Karimnagar Dist. The

foundation stone was laid in July 1963, but the budget allocation was

almost negligible. For a project the cost of which was estimated to be

40.00 crores, the annual allotment was Rs.50 lakhs. This went on for 6

Years till 1969, and only when the agitation for separate Telangana State

took a serious turn, the A.P. Government enhanced the allotment to the


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Project. This is a sample illustration of happenings in one project

and there are similar stories in respect of all the projects of

Telangana.

Development versus Sentiment for Telangana

By attributing the demand for separate Telangana to the sentiment (for

Telangana), some sections of the political leadership are only evading the

real issue. There is no religious or ethnic sentiment, not even of

language, at issue. One can, no doubt, read in this demand some

assertion of regional identity, but this is not something which cannot be

rationally explained. The simple and straight-forward explanation is that

people have seen, through their own experience, that development in the

sense of equitable share in water resources, jobs, opportunities for

enterprise and career advancement and adequate voice in political

decision-making is not possible within the inte-grated State and that

separate Statehood alone can ensure justice for them. Therefore, what is

at issue is not whether development has been taking place. Indeed, in a

democratic

polity like ours some development has to take place in different parts of

the country including even the remotest areas. The issue really is about

the rate and quality or pattern of development. Apart from equity, such

as due share in investment allocations, quality also refers to the cost,

risks, and sustainability of development

If you consider the situation of Telangana region (before & after merge),statistics of state resource allocation, Investments & development, we

can easily find sufficient of evidences, which shows that Telangana has

not received its due share in investment allocations, and that the

surpluses from Telangana, that is, the difference between what ought to

have been spent and what has actually been spent, have been diverted to


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the other regions. For the Telangana region the per capita financial

resources should be higher than the average for the Andhra Pradesh

State, because, as for the Finance Commission transfer to States, 25 per

cent of devolution is based on population and as much as 75 per cent is

based on criteria like lower per capita income and other indicators of

backwardness. Planning Commission transfers have a significant

weightage to low per capita income.

In this context I would like to bring to your notice that there is no way of

ascertaining exactly how public expenditures, as a whole, are distributed

between different regions in Andhra Pradesh. The relevant information is

not being disseminated ever since the abolition of the Telangana Regional

Committee in 1973, under the wrong notion that sharing of such

information would breed regionalism. The growth that has been taking

place in Telangana may be characterized as high cost growth.

For example, the irrigation map of the region has changed completely.

Tank irrigation occupied an important place a few decades ago. But now,

over 70 per cent of irrigation is through ground water and deep tube

wells in large parts of Telangana. This means for a unit output growth

there has to be much greater investment now. Moreover, we do not have

any information on such vital aspects as the quantity of water to be

supplied for Telangana on account of the proposed irrigation projects

including from assured sources.

Further, farming has become highly risky affair in Telangana. For a given

failure of rainfall, the fluctuations in output are much greater now whencompared to the earlier decades. There is much greater distress being

reported from the rain-fed regions dependent on groundwater for

irrigation where the suicide rates for farmers are high. Telangana region

accounts for as many as two-thirds of the total number of farmers

suicides reported in the State between the years 1998 and 2006. The


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water crisis has affected sustainability: Land left fallow (uncultivated) in

Telangana has increased from 25 per cent of cultivable land in the early

1970s to as much as 40 per cent by 1999-2000. Pollution from

industrialprojects in certain areas has aggravated the crisis.

The desire for separate Telangana is greater among the educated classes,

that is, students, teachers, NGOs and professionals in general. This is

explained by the increasing awareness leading to greater sensitivity to

discrimination among such classes in respect of employment and

promotions or career prospects, especially because of the rising

importance of the services sector at higher levels of development. It is not

surprising, therefore, that the separatist movement has gathered

momentum in the post-reform period when the opportunities for such

classes have proliferated in the services sector.

Socially Inclusive Telangana

Statehood for Telangana is a national issue and not just a regional one.

This is because it represents the ongoing social change in the country for

the empowerment of people through decentralized governance by

broadening and deepening the working of our democratic system. Such

empowerment and governance would enable articulation of the real

problems of the people and their solution. This would inevitably result in

Samajika or socially inclusive Telangana.

Inclusiveness could not be achieved so far in a bigger State because the

voice of the disadvantaged sections remained fragmented. Experienceshows that the traditionally entrenched interests are perpetuated in

bigger and heterogeneous States because of their easy connectivity

arising from their access to large resources, power and influence. The

weaker sections, on the other hand, can come together, organize

themselves and raise their voice effectively in a relatively homogeneous


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State because of common history and traditions and hence easy

communicability.

For illustration, tribals are the most disadvantaged section socially and

economically with negligible political voice. They live in remote areas and

are subjected to land alienation on a large scale. Hardly any initiative has

been taken so far in Andhra Pradesh to restore their lands despite the

strong recommendations made by a High-Level Committee headed by a

Minister constituted by the present government. (Government of Andhra

Pradesh, 2006; Rao, 2007) There, the administration is alienated from

the people and has been a breeding ground for extremist activities. But

this has been treated not as a socio-economic issue, but mainly as a law

and order problem. Because of this, the plight of the Girijans has been

perpetuated and the extremist activities have been surfacing time and

again, notwithstanding the claims of success in this regard by the

authorities.

Similarly, the population of Muslims is as high as 12.5 per cent in

Telangana when compared to 6.9 per cent in the rest of the AP State. As

many as 61 per cent of Muslims of AP live in Telangana, of whom 60 per

cent are spread over in different districts other than Hyderabad. They too

can be expected to have greater political clout in separate Telangana in

determining their fortunes as they can more easily relate themselves with

the rest of the disadvantaged sections of the society in the struggle for a

better and more secure livelihood. It must be noted in this context that

social harmony between people professing different religions and

speaking different languages has been proverbial in Telangana becauseof their shared history and traditions spanning over centuries.

Radical land reforms were the prime agenda for the peasant movement in

the 1940s. However, not enough time was available for this process of

agrarian reforms and radical social transformation to run its course. In


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fact, it was interrupted with the integration of Telangana with the

SeemaAndhra region, so that it still remains an unfinished revolution or

an unfinished task. In a larger and heterogeneous State like AP there is

no adequate perception of this problem by the dominant political

leadership which hails basically from the developed parts of the State.

Thus the weaker sections constituting a large majority of population in

Telangana and, for that matter, in SeemaAndhra would be better able to

articulate their problems and politically assert themselves in separate,

smaller and relatively homogeneous States. The formation of a Telangana

State would thus strengthen the forces of social inclusion and secularism

in both the States.

Inclusive Governance feasible in smaller States The population of

Telangana is over three-and-a-half Crores now - much more than three

crores for the whole of Andhra Pradesh at the time of its formation. The

demands on governance have multiplied over this half-a-century. Apart

from commitment to the development of the region, a smaller State being

more easily accessible to the common people can intelligently and

speedily grapple with their problems. Moreover, governance at the

grassroots can be improved in a smaller State by strengthening the

Panchayati Raj Institutions which have been deprived of their functions,

finances and functionaries. It is indeed ironical that the ruling party in

Andhra Pradesh, which owes allegiance to Rajiv Gandhi, who visualized

the 73rd and 74th Amendments to the Constitution, has not taken any

initiative to revitalize these institutions. On the contrary, every attempthas been made to undermine these institutions by floating several top-

down schemes and parallel implementation structures, even naming

some of these schemes after Rajiv Gandhi! In smaller and relatively

homogeneous States like Telangana and Andhra, the empowerment of

these local, elected institutions can be expected to be high on the


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agenda, among other things, because of the greater pressures these

elected representatives can bring to bear on the new establishments.

Consensus for Telangana

All the major political parties in Andhra Pradesh have come out in favor

of the formation of a separate Telangana State. Even within the Congress

party, there is a consensus in its favor among the leaders, legislators,

ministers in the state as well as the centre belonging to Telangana.

The demand for the Telangana State is not opposed by the common

people from the rest of the State of Andhra Pradesh, not withstanding

hostility from certain sections of business and political elite. This is

amply borne out by the stand taken in favor of separate Telangana state

by parties like the Telugu Desam headed by Chandrababu Naidu, CPI,

BJP, Praja Rajyam Party Chiranjeevi in 2009 Elections and congress

during 2004 Elections, even in All Party meeting on 8thDec2009

consensus were taken. But then what does one mean by consensus? The

first States Reorganization Commission (SRC), which recommended in

1956 formation of the separate Hyderabad State consisting of Telangana,

defined consensus as the one reached among the Telangana people

themselves. This is clear from its recommendation that after five years

Telangana could be merged with Andhra only if two-thirds of the

Telangana legislators opted for it. But consensus has come to mean

among everyone at the national and State levels, except the people of

Telangana!

This is not quite fair because, in the first place, Telangana was merged

with the Andhra region in 1956 without ascertaining the wishes of the

people of Telangana through their elected representatives as

recommended by the SRC. Secondly, when there is a clear opposition to

Statehood for Telangana from sections of the power elite belonging to the


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dominant region of the State, it is not fair to insist upon consensus

among all the constituent regions when the issue concerns a particular

region only. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister, had

openly stated that there should be a divorce between Andhra and

Telangana, if the latter so desired at any future date

The demand for the Second SRC to settle the issue could have some

basis if the first SRC recommended the formation of composite Andhra

Pradesh State, and disrupting such an arrangement, it could be argued,

would require re-examination of the whole issue by a similar high level

expert and quasi-judicial body. But the First SRC had recommended the

formation of Telangana State after examining all the relevant aspects and

their recommendation was not honored.

In a situation like this, the will of the people of Telangana, as expressed

by the large majority of the legislators from the region, can alone be the

guiding principle. This has been expressed time and again in favor of

separate Statehood in the last four decades through the democratic

process vindicating the position taken by the SRC. Even in the by-

elections held in May 2008, it is common knowledge that the major

political parties, including the Congress, approached the voters pledging

themselves in favor of Statehood for Telangana. Therefore, in the case of

this last election, the rallying slogan of different parties favoring

Telangana should be taken as an index of support for separate

Statehood.

Despite this background, the recent decision of the State Government on

the last day of the final session of the State Assembly to constitute a

Committee, consisting of the representatives of both the State Assembly

and the Legislative Council, for examining the issues connected with

Statehood for Telangana will not carry any credibility whatsoever. This


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has only strengthened the suspicion that it is a diversionary move on the

eve of the general elections, especially in the light of the past experience

that even the recommendation made by a high level body like the SRC

favoring Telangana was ignored by the powers-that-be. This move is

virtually a non-starter as major political parties have declined to

nominate their representatives on this Committee.

Statehood for Telangana: The Current Stalemate

The newly created smaller States, namely, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and

Chhattisgarh, have achieved much higher growth rates in their GSDP

than the targets set for the Tenth Five Year Plan, whereas the growth

rates achieved by their parent states, namely, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and

Madhya Pradesh fell significantly short of the targets. (Planning

Commission, 2008; Rao, 2009) Further, the growth rates achieved in the

first two years of the Eleventh Plan, that is, 2007-08 and 2008-09, by

Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand were significantly higher than those

achieved by their parent States. Apart from releasing the creative

energies of the people, viability of smaller States may have contributed to

better governance, attracting greater private investment from outside as

well as planning and utilizing resources more efficiently. (World Bank,

2007)

An extremely encouraging development is in respect of Bihar, where the

average growth rate achieved at 9.7 per cent per annum during these two

years was significantly higher than for Jharkhand at 5.8 per cent perannum. (Aiyar, 2010; Rao, 2010) This may be explained by improved

governance, of late, in this State, facilitated not the least by the fact that

with the creation of Jharkhand, Bihar has become less heterogeneous

and much smaller in area, with the size of its population getting reduced

by about 25 per cent.


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Experience has demonstrated the failure of regional planning to ensure

adequate development of backward regions within the larger States. This

is explained by the politics of planning in democracy inherent in such

States characterized by regional unevenness in development. The

experience of Maharashtra and Gujarat amply illustrates the failure to

develop backward regions, despite the existence of constitutional

provisions for setting up Regional Planning Boards and the powers

entrusted to the Governor to review the progress of development under

such regional plans. This experience underlines the need for conceding

separate Statehood for certain backward regions like Telangana and

Vidarbha.

The observations of B.R. Ambedkar, the principal architect of our

Constitution, on the desirability of smaller States are prophetic. He

welcomed the recommendation of the States Reorganization Commission

in 1955 for the creation of Hyderabad State consisting of Telangana

region and creation of Vidarbha as a separate State. Further, he

envisaged the division of Uttar Pradesh into three States (Western,

Central and Eastern); Bihar into two (North and South or present

Jharkhand); Madhya Pradesh into two (Northern and Southern); and

Maharashtra into three (Western, Central and Eastern). He was for

linguistic homogeneity of a State in the sense of one State-one language

and not one language-one State. He thus envisaged two Telugu speaking

States, three Marathi speaking States and a large number of Hindi

speaking States. (Ambedkar, 1979)

While arguing for smaller States, Dr. B.R.Ambedkar was guided basically

by two considerations. One, no single State should be large enough to

exercise undue influence in the federation. Drawing from the American


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experience, he thought that smaller States were in the best interests of

healthy federalism.

On this issue, his views were similar to those of K.M. Panikkar, set out in

his note of dissent to the Report of the States Reorganization

Commission. Second, he thought that socially disadvantaged sections are

likely to be subjected to greater discrimination in bigger States because

of the consolidation of socially privileged or dominant groups.

(Dr. B.R.Ambedkar, 1979)

Over the last half-a-century, two new dimensions have been added.

Population growth and the multiplicity of developmental functions have

rendered governance in large-size States inefficient.

Secondly, in the context of development planning under democracy,

significant regional diversities with respect to the historically inherited

levels of infrastructure and institutions within certain large States have

given rise to severe tensions concerning the distribution of benefits from

development. These tensions have reached a point where harmonious

development seems no longer possible without their break-up into

smaller States which are relatively homogeneous.

The agitations for separate Statehood for Telangana in the Telangana

region as well as for Samaikhya (United) Andhra Pradesh in the Andhra

region are in full swing now. The agitation in Telangana is unprecedented

in its sweep, being universal or, at any rate, far more widespread than in

1969, involving, among others, students, farmers, women and even

children. The movement is virtually taken over and led by the students,all of whom were obviously born at least a decade after the agitation of

1969. It appears as if history is repeating itself or time is standing still

for over four decades so far as this issue is concerned.

Curiously, in the case of the Andhra region, history appears to have been

overturned.


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The Jai Andhra or separate Andhra agitation of 1972-73 was triggered-

off by the land reform legislation and the validation of Mulki Rules

(preference for natives of Telangana in employment) by the Supreme

Court, because of which the big landed sections as well as educated

youth could lose in the integrated State. Over the last four decades,

however, certain leading business sections, including those involved in

real estate business from the SeemaAndhra region developed a big stake

in Telangana, particularly in and around Hyderabad City. Thanks to the

lop-sided urbanization and concentration of financial sector services and

IT industry in Hyderabad in the post-reform period, the educated youth

most of whom were born after the JaiAndhra agitation like their

Telangana counterpartscould understandably have developed an

emotional identification with the capital city and so a stake in Samaikhya

(United) Andhra Pradesh. Guided by the consensus among the major

political parties in favor of formation of separate Telangana State, as

espoused in their election manifestos and reiterated by them as recently

as on December 7, 2009.

The Central Government on December 9 announced its decision to

initiate the process for the formation of the Telangana State. Within

hours, this decision triggered off a counter-agitation in the Andhra region

for a united Andhra Pradesh, leaders of the major political parties taking

sides by getting divided horizontally on regional lines. It is not clear

whether these leaders did not mean what they promised earlier on

Telangana in the expectation that no worthwhile initiative would comefrom the Centre or could not anticipate the adverse public reaction in the

Andhra region in the event of any favorable move on the issue. In any

case, this has placed the Centre in a difficult situation leading to the

stalemate in the resolution of the crisis.


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As it is, the Constitution fully empowers the Centre to carve out new

States, the role of the State legislatures being limited to merely

expressing their views on the proposed Bill by the Centre. While politics

cannot be wished away in a democracy and the Centre cannot normally

be expected to proceed against the wishes of the majority of legislators of

a State, ultimately, politics in a democracy have to come to terms with

the provisions of the Constitution and respect the universal demand of

the people of a region for separate Statehood. Also, in the long-run, the

youth of any region in the modern age, imbued as it would be with the

democratic spirit, would come to respect the peoples wishes from the

other region for separate Statehood. Besides, a pride in the capacity to

develop opportunities in ones own State is bound to come into play.

Addressing the legitimate concerns of the stakeholders is essential to

facilitate this process.

There is no alternative to the Centre as well as the leaders of both the

regions taking initiatives for a constructive dialogue for resolving the

outstanding issues by addressing the legitimate concerns of the

stakeholders, to pave the way for separate Statehood for Telangana and

thus end the perpetual uncertainty undermining the harmonious

development of both the regions. While agitations are necessary for the

assertion of legitimate rights, in a democracy, constructive dialogue is

indispensable for bringing such aspirations to fruition.

History tells us that it is the will of the people that ultimately prevails. It

is only a question of time. I would like to request you to visits our placeand consider our consensus, grievances and how we were betrayed by

SeemaAndhra rulers last 53 years in all the aspects.


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If you happen to receive hundreds of copies of this text, you may safely

conclude that this is the collective opinion of educated, open-minded and

socially conscious of Telanganites.

Jai Hind - Jai Telangana

Yours Sincerely,

Arjula Shashi Kumar Reddy B.E., AMIETE, AMIE, MIEEE, Executive MBA, PMP.

President - Telangana Academy of Excellence

(Associate NGO of Telangana Development Forum GlobalRegistered Trust)

(Telangana Academy of Excellence is a registered Non-Political & Not for

Profit Organisation with a registration number 243/2010 under Public

Societies Registration Act 2001. TAE works for creating Employable,

Resourceful Telanganites & Young Social Entrepreneurs in Telangana)

Documents

A Letter Justice Sri Krishna Committee by Telagana Academy of Excellence