Telangana is expected to become the 29th and the newest state of
India on June 2. It was previously a part of the state that was
earlier known as Andhra Pradesh. Before India became independent it
was included in the state of Hyderabad, which comprised two
divisions, namely, Warangal and Medak. At that time the region was
governed by the Nizams. The region has been in news recently as the
focal point of a tussle between the erstwhile state of Andhra
Pradesh and the national administration - while the Union
Government has agreed to the creation of the new state, Andhra
Pradesh has opposed it on grounds of territorial integrity. The
region, as per the 2011 Census, has a population of almost
35,286,757, which accounted for 41.6% of the population of Andhra
Pradesh.
List of districts in Telangana
Following is a list of the districts that will make up the province
of Telangana:
Geography of Telangana
Boundaries: The future state of Telangana is
surrounded in its northwestern and northern directions by
Maharashtra. Karnataka encircles the region towards the west and
Chhattisgarh lies to its northeastern direction. To the east of
Telangana is Odisha.
Span: In all, the region covers an area spanning
114,840 kilometers, which is equivalent of 44,340 square
miles.
Rivers: The most important rivers of this would-be
province are Musi, Krishna, Manjira and Godavari.
Cities: The largest cities of Telangana are going
to be Hyderabad, Nizamabad, Warangal and Karimnagar.
History of Formation of Telangana
The movement to create a separate state of Telangana from Andhra
Pradesh had started during the period following the creation of the
state. There had been several movements but the most important ones
happened during 1969, 1972 and 2009. Over the years, the movement
only gathered a lot of steam.
The process of creating the separate state of Telangana was
initiated on December 9, 2009 with a formal announcement from the
Indian Government. However, as a mark of protest against this
decision, MLAs and MPs from the Rayalseema and Coastal Andhra areas
tendered their resignations.
These regions also saw some violent protest after the said
announcement. As a result of all these, the Indian government was
forced to put the process on the backburner on December 23, 2009.
The Telangana movement, however, continued unabated in Hyderabad as
well as other districts of the region.
However, the process began yet again on July 30, 2013 when
Congress, the ruling party of India, decided to plead the Indian
Government to create the new state of Telangana. It was decided
that Hyderabad would continue to be the joint capital of both
Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for the next decade. The process met
with the approval of the Union Cabinet on October 3,
2013.
A Group of Ministers (GoM) draft bill on Telangana was approved by
the Indian Government on December 5, 2013, following which the bill
was submitted to the Parliament so that both the houses could vote
on the same. The 15th Lok Sabha voted in favour of creating a new
state on February 18, 2014 and the Rajya Sabha followed suit on
February 20, 2014.
Pranab Mukherjee, the President of India, provided his consent to
the decision on March 1, 2014 and the Gazette notification for the
same was brought out on the same day. It was announced by the
Indian Government on March 4, 2014 that the new state of Telangana
would be created on June 2.
Why is it called Telangana?
It is said that both the name Telangana as well as the language in
circulation in the state has come from the words Trilinga or
Trilinga Desa, which means the country of the three lingas. As per
a Hindu legend, Shiva came down on three mountains called
Kaleshwaram, Draksharama and Srisailam as a linga. These mountains
basically acted as the borders of the region and are supposed to be
situated somewhere between the rivers Godavari and Krishna. The
word is also used in order to separate the Telugu- speaking region
from the Marathi dominions and designate it as a part of the state
of Hyderabad.
Why was Telangana created?
The supporters of Telangana have cited discrepancies and
deprivation in many areas such as water resources distribution,
jobs and allotments of budget as the basic reasons for creating a
new state. The region used to contribute approximately 62% of the
revenues generated in Andhra Pradesh. It has been stated that even
though it had almost 69% of the catchment areas of both Godavari
and Krishna, it received only around 19% of the benefit provided by
the various irrigation projects. It has also been alleged that in
majority of the years the state government did not spend the money
allotted for the development of Telangana.
Professor Jayashankar has estimated that only 20% of government
employees are recruited from the region. As far as the secretariat
is concerned, the count goes down to around 10% and only 5% of the
officers who lead various departments are from Telangana. He has
also pointed out that in the 50 years of the state's existence,
chief ministers from Telangana have served for only six-and-a-half
years.
The proponents of Telangana have also pointed that the state
legislature as well as the Lok Sabha has failed to honour the
various agreements, promises and plans and this has left the state
in a lurch of neglect, backwardness and exploitation.
Controversy and objection in creating Telangana
Ever since the creation of Telangana was announced there was a lot
of protest from various politicians in Andhra Pradesh. However, a
major incident occurred on February 13, 2014 when Meira Kumar, the
speaker, introduced the bill at 1200 hours. A lot of slogans were
being shouted and it was at this time that Lagadapati Rajagopal, an
MP, used pepper spray. He, later, went on to say that he had used
it in self defense since Congress MPs from other states had
attacked him. His actions caused a lot of disturbance to the
proceedings of Lok Sabha and some members of the lower house of the
parliament had to be hospitalized.
Several Andhra MPs also faced suspension from the Lok Sabha as a
result of their actions. They were:
Indian National Congress
Telugu Desam Party
YSR Congress
In addition, both the Legislative Assembly and Council of Andhra
Pradesh have opposed the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.
As many as 9 petitions have been registered in the Supreme Court
against the same.
Effects of Telangana Creation
As per political experts there could be various effects of the
creation of Telangana. The main argument of the supporters of this
decision is that it would be easier to administer a smaller state
like Telangana. However, judging by the way Jharkhand has been
governed since its creation such an argument may not hold much
ground. It is also expected that the creation of Telangana would
lead to further instability in India as similar other movement such
as Gorkhaland, Vidarbha and Bodoland will only gain
ground.
