To
Shri Vinod K. Duggal
Member Secretary
Committee for Consultations on
the Situation in Andhra Pradesh
Government of
Room No.248, Vigyan Bhavan Annexe
Dear Shri Duggal ji,
Kindly find enclosed detailed notes regarding the five and a half decade long demand and struggle of the people of Telangana for the formation of their own State. It is in response to the public notice issued by the Committee inviting views and suggestions on the issues involved.
Our views and suggestions are presented in four volumes.They are:
Volume – I Consists of Historical Perspective, Income and Expenditure, Education, The Capital City, Judiciary, Language and culture, FAQs and Answers;
Volume – II Deals with Irrigation;
Volume – III Explains the Employment scenario; and
Volume – IV Concerns the situation regarding the Power Sector.
I am making this submission on behalf of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS). The Notes are self explanatory. I hope they will receive the due attention of the Committee. It may not be out of place to bring to the notice of the Committee that the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) has been championing the cause of Telangana for the last one decade.
A Conditional Merger:
I would like to bring to the kind notice of the Committee that the demand of the people of Telangana 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 reluctance of people for the merger of Telangana with Andhra then was the fear of exploitation, neglect and injustice in the enlarged state of Andhra Pradesh. And the reason for their resistance now to continue in the existing set up is the actual experience of exploitation, neglect and injustice.
The merger of Telangana with Andhra took place against the wishes of the people of the region and contrary to a categorical recommendation of the States Reorganisation Commission, besides the reluctance of the Prime Minister of the time Jawaharlal Nehru.
The merger was the result of manipulative politics. It was, however, not unconditional, nor was it considered eternal. It was facilitated by a number of solemn promises made and constitutional safeguards given to the people of Telangana as a protective umbrella against the possible exploitation. These promises were made a number of times, but none of them was ever honoured. In the process, Telangana became a victim of broken promises.
Promises Broken:
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 All Party Accord of January 1969 arrived at a meeting of the leaders of all the political parties in the State, convened by the then Chief Minister Brahmananda Reddy, was shelved in less than six months time.
The Eight Point Formula and the Five Point Formula announced by the Prime Minister of the time, Indira Gandhi in 1969, were not even given a fair trial.
The historic verdict of the Supreme Court of India validating the Mulki Rules was got annulled by the Parliament, succumbing to the pressure of anti Telangana lobby of Andhra -- something unheard of in a democratic polity!
The Six Point Formula, a diluted form of safeguards, was foisted on the people as an alternative. 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.
The root cause for the failure of all these exercises was that, they were attempts to treat only the symptoms and not the malady. Consequently, the exploitation of the region and its people continued -- and still continues – unabated, under the patronage of Andhra political leadership. In this process the so called concept of Telugu Brotherhood has become irrelevant, 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 social, cultural and linguistic fronts, the natives are virtually reduced to the status of second-rate citizens in their own homeland.
Multiple Dimensions of the Issue:
It is to be realized that the demand for
The plight of the people of Telangana in their own homeland is manifold. They are narrated briefly hereunder:
i. The natural and financial resources of the region are plundered and diverted for the development of the other regions. They include river waters, coal, mineral wealth and revenue income of Telangana. Consequently, this region is lagging behind the other regions in the realm of economic development;
ii. There is a deepening crisis in the Agricultural sector causing ever increasing suicides of farmers;
iii. Artisan class is in distress. Suicides of weavers and village craftsmen are increasing year by year;
iv. The distress in the rural areas is causing unabated migration of labour, abandoning their houses and families;
v. The longest stretch of flow of the
vi. The largest masonry dam of the country, Nagarjuna Sagar, is in Nalgonda District. But the people of the district do not get even drinking water free from fluoride. As a result, several lakhs of people, besides animals, have become, and continue to become, victims of fluorosis – crippled and disabled for the whole life;
vii. Dalits of this region do not get the benefit of a variety welfare schemes commensurate with the ratio of their population vis-à-vis the population of Dalits in the other region;
viii. The condition of Tribals in the agency areas of the region is miserable. A large number of them perish every year because of seasonal diseases, in the absence of even minimum medical facilities in those areas. The abject poverty of Tribals is such that they cannot even afford to bring up their children. Consequently, infant sale by the Tribals is becoming more and more rampant. The percentage of population of Tribals is more in Telangana than in the other regions of the State. As the reservations and incentives meant for them are on the basis of percentage of their population in the entire State, their quota in Telangana gets reduced. Tribals constitute about 12% of total population in the Telangana region, but State’s average for reservations to Tribals in employment and Educational institutions is only 6%.
ix. The Muslim minority of the region has lost its preeminence which it enjoyed in the past. It is a totally neglected section of the people in matters of education, employment, economic development, participation in the polity and language and culture. Low literacy rate among the Muslims is getting further compounded by an abnormally high rate of dropouts at the school level. It is as high as 90% as confessed by the Minister for Minority Welfare of the State. The Muslim Community is made to suffer perennially with a feeling of insecurity, neglect and deprivation.
x. On the industrial front quite a few major industries inherited from the erstwhile
The industrial development that has taken place in and around the capital city has not benefited the Telangana in any way. The land, water and power and other infrastructure facilities, made available to these industries belong entirely to Telangana; yet the migrants from the other regions are given more than 95% of the jobs. No major industry worth its name has been set up in any of the districts of the Telangana region as compared to the establishment of several industries in
xi. On the political front, the leadership of Telangana is completely marginalized. It is not allowed to grow, and even if it does, is not allowed to sustain itself. Even the stalwarts like PV Narasimha Rao and M Chenna Reddy could not survive as chief ministers for more than a few months. It is reflected in the tenures of the three chief ministers from Telangana -- PV Narasimha Rao, M Chenna Reddy and T Anjaiah. In the 54 year long history of the State, all of them put together held that position hardly for six years, that too in four installments. About the stature of the present day political leadership of Telangana, irrespective of the parties, the less said, the better.
xii. The socio-cultural identity of Telangana, its traditions, customs, dialect and idiom are always heckled at, hurting the self respect of the people. The electronic and print media and the cinema industry have been playing a significant role in belittling the people of Telangana and their identity.
Deprivations of legitimate share in the fruits of development, marginalization in the political process and humiliation on socio-cultural front have reduced the people of Telangana to being second rate citizens in their own homeland. They have to literally beg for their rightful shares whether it is regarding development or polity. These problems can be addressed only when the people of the region are liberated from the present exploitative set up and have power to shape their own destinies, i.e., self rule.
A Vertical Division:
The Committee must be aware that in the wake of ongoing movement, especially after 9th December 2009, all the sections of the society are vertically divided region-wise. Ministers are not in a position to work in unison. Members of Parliament, State Legislature or local bodies are unable to sit together. The bureaucracy also is a divided lot. The gulf between the people of the two regions is widened and has become unbridgeable. Inter regional mobility of people; including the people’s representatives has, become hazardous.
It is needless to underscore that the unity between two regions of the State can never be a unilateral concept. It can happen only with mutual confidence, respect, willingness and bilateral consent. It can never be imposed unilaterally by force on the unwilling party. If it is forced, it will have far reaching consequences.
An Inescapable Necessity:
The remedy, and the only one, therefore, lies in bifurcation of the State of
With Warm Regards,
Yours sincerely,
(K. Chandrasekhar Rao)
President
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