Separate Telangana : Not a good idea

This issue has been doing the rounds ever since Congress came into power 5 years ago and it haunted them all through their tenure. In fact TRS joined the Congress party with a hope that they will accede to their wish of separate statehood. But what’s the point in wanting a separate state?

A lot has to be changed if a new state is to be established and a lot of challenges will come up. A few major and seemingly impossible things that have to be taken care of are as below:

1. A new cabinet has to be elected -A new set of MP’s, a new Chief Minister, a new set of MLA’s.

2. A whole new police department has to be put in place in order to take care of the law and order problems in the telangana region.

3. Most importantly a new Capital city will have to be chosen for the state of Telanga.

4. Huge amounts of funds that AP has borrowed from the World Bank and other sources for the various development projects, these will have to be divided or worse Telanga as a new state will have to borrow again because AP will definitely not want to share. Paying up these debts will be a herculean task for the new Telangana state as there will be no huge revenue generation in the formative stages and by the time they actually start making formidable revenues, the interest will have accumulated so much that, they will be in eternal debt.

5. A new capital will have to be chosen again for AP and there are rumors that the new capital will not be Hyderabad.

6. A lot of natural resources are also shared between the two, AP and Telangana, these will also have to be shared which on a large scale or for that matter on any scale is not feasible.

7. There is no clear or distinct demarcation between the two regions either. Non-existant boundaries will have to be erected.

8. Jobs will have to be created for the people of Telangana and also a whole new education system will also need to be setup.

I don’t see anything good coming out of this. The Telangana movement itself is divided with two different people wanting the same thing - A.Narendra and KCR. Even if a separate telangana comes into existence, these two fronts led by once good friends , will again fight amongst themselves vying for ownership of the state. While that issue is being resolved “Infant Telangana” will goto dogs.

Andhra Pradesh as a state consists of three segregations – Andhra, Rayalseema and Telangana. If Congress accedes to TRS’s plea or rather demand for a separate state because of the immense pressure being created, Rayalaseema will also come forward and want separate statehood. What’s the end result? A wonderful and peaceful Andhra Pradesh, the 5^th largest state in India by area, known for its rich culture and wonderful personalities it put on the world front, will be split into three. Nothing will hold the capability of being identified distinctly from another as everything will be related somehow or the other to all the three regions.

Y.S.Rajashekhar Reddy had been very smart in procrastinating this issue till the end. The chances of a second tenure of congress in AP seem bleak.Now everything will be left to the next government. My humble plea to who ever is going to handle this issue next, is to please to take into consideration the repercussions the division will bring and instead aim for a united and peaceful Andhra Pradesh.