Journalism Assignment #2

TOPIC FORGONE ,STATES REBORN

By Malavika Sharma

The foregone topic of partitioning of states has invigorated once again after the mid-night announcement of the Telangana issue by our home minister. The debate this time sits afresh, asking ‘Is small states a big idea?’ .The answer has both a view as well as a counterview to it.
VIEW
Smaller states are the simplified words which can make the vocabulary of our policies reach the depth of our society. Partitioning of states for administrative purposes is a step forward on the development front. Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are the two biggest states of our country (on an index of populations and area) and these undesirably have topped the most notorious charts on the developmental fronts. Uttar Pradesh, as confessed by its chief minister has become highly unmanageable; Madhya Pradesh holds the records of the most number of malnourished children. The argument itself justifies the logic of having smaller states.
COUNTERVIEW
Though the division of states into smaller one’s has its administrative advantage, it is much the same like falling 10 steps back if done on a linguistic basis. The logic mentioned formally is nothing less than encouraging breeding grounds to nurture chauvinists like Raj Thakrey and Bal Thakrey who exploit these opportunities to the core for the sole purpose of gaining political mileage.
The first major reorganization of Indian states took place in 1956,when our population was 350 million; it has now crossed 1 billion, which implies another reconnaissance of the states to manage the large number of people is needed. The creation of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Uttaranchal has projected as a mixed knapsack of feelings .While the poor progress of Jharkhand can be attributed to its political instability(Madhu Koda led the state for two years), the success of the later two can be attributed to the efficient exploitation of their natural resources. Some other enchanting instances that follow are those of Chandigarh and Daman & Diu, which score high both on economical as well as social aspects because of their small size. Haryana, which was made out of Punjab in 1966 is pacing quintessentially in all the manufacturing sections-agriculture, industries and services. Delhi, of course has the added advantage of being the national capital.
The current problem in the administration of our country lies in its huge population being handled by just 28 states and 7 union territories. Small states can definitely be an answer to this crisis, but linguistic or any other such base can have a drastic effect on the integrity of the nation. These basis should therefore be out rightly rejected. Geographic and demographic basis should form the structure of the reorganization of the states. The process has its complications, but the utopia is existent only in virtuality.