Relevance:

• GS 2 II Polity II Other Constitutional Dimensions II Inter-State Relations

Why in the news?

Greater Tipraland’ is essentially an extension of the ruling tribal partner Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura – IPFT’s demand of Tipraland, which sought a separate state for tribals of Tripura.

Introduction:

Seventeen months after he resigned as the Congress state president, Tripura royal scion Pradyot Kishore Manikya has recently announced his new political demand of ‘Greater Tipraland’, which he claims would serve the interest of tribals, non-tribals, Tripuri tribals staying outside Tripura, even those outside India in Bandarban, Chittagong, Khagrachariand other border adjacent areas in Bangladesh.

Demand of separate state in India:

Introduction:

• Demand for the creation of new states have been regular feature of the Indian politics since from reorganization of Andhra state in 1956. Such agitations are usually based on the discrimination or neglect in the arena of administration and showing disparities in development by the successive state governments.
• At present the union government has been under pressure for various kinds of smaller states. After the government accepted the demand of creation of Telangana, old and new demands for creation of new states in different parts of India were emerged with increased intensity including those of Coorg in Karnataka, Mithilanchal in Bihar, Saurashtra in Gujarat, Gorkhaland in West Bengal, Vidarbha in Maharashtra, and also Harit Pradesh, Purvanchal, Braj Pradesh and Awadh Pradesh in Uttar Pradesh etc
• The vigorous demand for new state, however, led to the construction of Andhra out of Madras in 1953. Taking into solicitude the rise of similar demands, State Reorganisation Commission was set up in under the chairmanship of Justice Faizal Ali in early 1950s and States Reorganisation Act 1955 was passed.
• The Commission approved the reconstruction of states on linguistic states but this was to be guided by four principles:
  • Preservation and strengthening of the unity and security of India
  • linguistic and cultural homogeneity
  • financial, economic and administrative consideration
  • the successful working of 5 Years plan

Several States in Demand for Creation:

• Fazl Ali State reorganization committee recommended that the formation of new states should be adjudged by the following principles –
  • Economic viability
  • Administrative viability
  • Ecological viability
  • Socio ethnic viability
• Why such demands arise?
  • Lack of participation in mainstream politics and decision making from a particular region.
  • Distinct cultural identity based on language tribe etc in a particular pocket of the State.
  • Stance from the power centre in the State leading to problem of administrative inefficiency and sense of alienation among the people.
  • Vote bank politics.
  • Economic backwardness, deprivations and discriminations

Some of the states that are under demand for creation are:

• Harit Pradesh (Western Uttar Pradesh): Harit Pradesh is a proposed state, which would comprise 22 districts of Western Uttar Pradesh, currently forming six divisions – Agra, Aligarh, Bareilly, Meerut, Moradabad, and Saharanpur.
• Purvanchal (Eastern Uttar Pradesh): Purvanchal is a geographic region of north central India, which comprises the eastern end of Uttar Pradesh state. It is bounded by Nepal to the north, Bihar state to the east, Bagelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh state to the south, the Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh to the west.
• Bundelkhand: Bundelkhand comprises parts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. While the Bahujan Samaj Party government under Chief Minister Mayawati proposed in 2011, the creation of Bundelkhand from seven districts of Uttar Pradesh, organizations such as Bundelkhand Mukti Morcha (BMM) wants it to include six districts from Madhya Pradesh as well.
• Vindhya Pradesh: Vindhya Pradesh is a former state of India. It occupied an area of 23,603 sq. miles. It was named for the Vindhya Range, which runs through the center of the province. It lay between Uttar Pradesh to the north and Madhya Pradesh to the south, and the enclave of Datia, which lay a short distance to the west, was surrounded by the state of Madhya Bharat.
• Bodoland (Northern Assam): The agitation for the creation of a separate Bodoland state resulted in an agreement between the Indian Government, the Assam state government, and the Bodo Liberation Tigers Force.
• Saurashtra (Southern Gujarat): The Saurashtra state movement for separate Saurashtra state was initiated in 1972 by advocate Ratilal Tanna, who was a close aide of former Prime Minister Morarji Desai.
• Gorkhaland (Northern West Bengal): Gorkhaland is a proposed state covering areas inhabited by the ethnic Gorkha (Nepali) people, namely Darjeeling hills and Dooars in the northern part of West Bengal. The movement for Gorkhaland has gained momentum in the line of the ethnolinguistic cultural sentiment of the people who desire to identify themselves as Gorkha.
• Kongu Nadu (Southern Tamil Nadu): There have been demands for the creation of a separate state of Kongu Nadu (also called Kongadesam), comprising the regions of western Tamil Nadu, parts of southern Karanataka and central-east Kerala with its capital at Coimbatore, based on demography, culture, linguistics and other factors.
• Vidarbha (Eastern Maharashtra): Vidarbha is a region that comprises the Amravati and Nagpur divisions of eastern Maharashtra. The State Reorganisation Act of 1956 placed Vidarbha in Bombay State.
• Konkan: Konkan is a rugged section of the western coastline of India. It consists of the coastal districts of Maharashtra, Goa, and Karnataka.

Basis of Formation of New States:

• Physiographic character/distinctiveness: It is an important factor for the demand for the creation of new states, for example, Uttarakhand is a mountainous region, Jharkhand is a plateau and Chhattisgarh is a basin.
• Level of Economic Development: The lack of industry, agrarian crisis, and a low level of infrastructural facilities push demand for such states, growth can be achieved in spite of these handicaps. E.g. Gorkhaland
• Resource base: The new state should be self-sustainable for e.g. Tulunadu, Kudagu would not be a self-sustainable state. The demand for Bundelkhand and Maru Pradesh is based on this factor only.
• Ethnicity: One main reason for the creation of new states in India is cultural or social affiliations. For instance, the state of Nagaland in the Northeast was created taking tribal affiliations into account.
• Size of state/Geographical area: Big size of the state makes the governance of the larger area difficult, which leads to inequality in the level of development within in the state. For example demand for Harit Pradesh in UP and Maru Pradesh in Rajasthan is based on the above consideration.
• Tribalism or nature of society: This is based on the argument that specific planning like area-based planning or tribal planning are required to develop the region. For example – Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand.

Need of Second States Reorganisation Commission

• The formation of new states must be competent in terms of their economic, administrative and ethnic viability and they mustn’t impede the progress of the Nation and shouldn’t be antithetical to National Integration. Based on the above-said principles, a new States Reorganisation Commission may be formed and Indian states can be revamped and restructured on constitutional lines without affecting regional consciousness and interest of people.
• Why a new States Reorganisation Commission needed?
  • India has passed 60 years of Independence and a new vibrant economy and emergence of new regional disparities, regional consciousness requires a restructuring of the Indian Union of states.
• Carving out smaller states is too important and complex an issue to be taken in the heat of inflamed passions and under the pressure of political agitations.
• In the absence of a political consensus, and when concerns are raised above the wider implications for the other parts of the states, decisions will have to be made after wide-ranging consultations and on the basis of a well-laid out roadmap for the creation of new states.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Creation of New States:

• Advantages:
  • Better management of economic resources
  • More investment opportunities
  • Faster economic growth
  • More people of the same small state and same province will have a say in their state affairs
• Disadvantages:
  • Possibility of increase in the inter-State water, power, and boundary disputes
  • The feeling of nationalism would diminish in the cries of regional autonomy
  • Small states depend to a substantial extent on the central government for financial aid
  • Different statehood may lead to the hegemony of the dominant community
  • Creation of new states tends to engender new societal problems along with coming up of new minority classes and marginalised groups. Again the problem would emerge to integrate these minorities in mainstream.

Conclusion:

Larger States also pose several challenges. Notwithstanding the fact that the UPA has been reduced to a minority, they are surviving just on the support of two mutually antagonistic parties from a single State. Thus, with their brute Parliamentary strength, large States can determine not only the fate of Governments at the Centre but also influence policies. Smaller States including those in the North East are victims of neglect to a great extent due to their poor presence in the Parliament.

Mains oriented question

Even after so many year of independence the arrangement and settlement of interstate boundaries are income task. Comment. (250 words)