Do we really need Separate Telangana?

Hi All,

Many of my friends have been asking why shouldn't we give separate Telangana state? And have been bombarded with several mails with so many points, how Telangana is losing with Andhra rulers. Some of the points are genuine, some are emotional and some are madeup. I try to answer some of those points.

1) There are 10 districts in Telangana, 9 in Andhra and 4 in Rayalaseema. Out of these 7 districts in Telangana, 3 in Andhra and 1 in Rayalaseema are considered severely backward districts which means 70% of districts in Telangana are backward while in Andhra it is 35% and in Rayalaseema it is 25%. Apart from these there are some areas in all parts of the state which are also backward.

reply> So, all the regions have backward places. This shows that, leaders have not done to anything for their region. But only few regions fared better becaus of geographical location, like delta regions.

b) 45% of the state income comes from Telangana region. When it comes to utilization of funds, the share of Telangana is only 28%.

reply> 45% of the income comes from Telangana. How much is out of Hyderabad? If so much is generated from Hyderabad, isn't it because of the development done by state govt? Obviously, when it is capital, many people from other areas migrate to it. And they bring valuable skills, money with them and make it their home. We cannot rule out any one's efforts in making hyderabad success.

c) Normally canals are dug to supply water to the crops from rivers for cultivation. The amount of land cultivated through canals in just Guntur district is more than the land cultivated with canals in entire Telangana region.

Reply> Guntur seems to have fared better because of Nagarjuna Sagar, which was built according to the agreement between then Telangana state and Andhra state.Nalgonda And Khammam districts togehter cultivate 6.7 Lakh acres against Guntur 7 lakh acres. Doesn't telangana have any more canals? I think the above statement is wrong.
Source: http://www.irrigation.ap.gov.in/

d) Nagarjuna sagar dam is built in Nalgonda district which is in Telangana but majority of the water from the dam is used for Krishna and Guntur district. The original dam was supposed to be build much ahead of its present location but the location was changed so that it falls in the Telangana region. Due to the construction of the dam several hectares of Lime stone mines vanished as part of the dam back waters. Everyone knows that lime stone is used for producing cement. Even the natural resources were not allowed to remain.

Reply> When major dams are built, water abviously fills lot of area. When building any major dam, many villages are vacated. Just look at the 3 gorges dam in China. Even towns were vacated. If they build 19 km down the river, Nalgonda and Khammam districts could lose out with less canal cultivated area. So, this is really better for Telangana.

e) Fluorinated water problem is only in Nalgonda district which has not been resolved since the formation of state. Because of this problem so many villages in Nalgonda district dies at the age of 30. It will take Govt will and budget to built water supply system (so many villages are within 10km distance of River Krishna). No Govt so far took any care.

Reply> This is a real problem. Though, can't blame andhra leaders only. Every leader is reponsible, including Telangana CMs and only telugu PM and local leaders.

f) RDS (Rajolibanda Diversion Scheme) is build in Mahaboobnagar to provide water to 85000 hectares of land in the district. The leaders of Rayalaseems blasted the gates of RDS and water is supplied to KC (Kurnool-Cudapah) canal while only remaining water, if any, is supplied to the lands in Mahaboobnagar. No action taken on them or the gates are not been repaired.

Reply> This goondaism and Kabjas are everyhwhere. This is statewide problem. Polam gattu
tagadala nundi, dam tagadala daka vachchayi. What are local leaders doing? What is our beloved KCR is doing. He should have agitated then itself. (Though these kind of things do not need agitation, nothings seem to work without agitation). What is Ponnala Lakshmiah doing all these days? He is also now demanding for separate state. What an opportunist?

h) 3 TMC of water from Gandipet is sufficient to supply drinking water to our city. Every year 1700 TMC of water is wasted and is flown into Bay of Bengal from river Godavari. Starting from Nizambad to Bay of Bengal there is no project allowed to build on Godavari. If it is built leaders in Godavari districts fear that the fertile lands in the area may fall short of water. If the Godavari water is utilized properly, there will be no scarcity for food grains in our state.

reply> Gandipet has 3TMC capacity only theoritically. Gandipet has only 1.3TMC capacity currently. If Gandipet water is sufficient for Hyderabad, why krishna water is pumped? Unlike Krishna, building dams on Godavaari is expensive because of the geography. Godavari people did not oppose Polavaram. So, don't spread rumours and hatred.

i) In Telangana regions, only few areas cultivate one crop a year and very rarely two crops a year while most of the land doesn’t even cultivate single crop. In both the Godavari districts, Krishna and Guntur district, two crops a year is common and there are times where even 3 crops a year are cultivated. The only reason is WATER.

Reply> Delta regions have more water resources and rich soil because of water sediments. So, they have more crops. And ground water level is also good. This is common all over the world. Don't envy. Anyone can go and buy land there and cultivate.

j) Government issue G.O.’s for implicating its decisions. G.O number 610 is the longest non implicated G.O in the history of AP. The G.O was issued in 1986 by late NTR who was then the CM of AP, which is not yet implicated. The G.O speaks about the share of Telangana employees in Government jobs in Telangana region.

Reply> Yes Telangana should have some local reservations in govt jobs. NTR has brought this (so, don't blame andhra leaders). However, When govt jobs are just 1% of the total employment, how will it solve Telangana problems? Will T-state pass GO stating all private industries should also take T-students?How can you jusify all Secrtariat or head office jobs should be for Telanganites becaus it is in Telangana? Since almost all headoffice are located in Hyd, these should not have any local reservations. It is almost saying like, all delhi jobs(central govt and heads of armed forces and their offices should be filled with delhiates).

k) 33% of the population in Mahaboobnagar district have left the district for livelihood to different parts of the state due to draught and majority of them are working as daily labour. No other district has so many people who fled the home place due to lack of livelihood and working as daily labour.

Reply> I agree. Sad story. Mahaboobnagar is not alone. Srikakulam and Ananthapur share the similar grief. District governments and allocating the rightfulshare to these people should solve these problems. LSP district govts proposal is the right way to prevent migrations for livelyhood.

l) There are 25 plus government degree colleges in Krishna, Kadapa and Guntur district while there is not even a single government degree college in Ranga Reddy district.

Reply> I do not know the figures. What are T politicians doing? OU has 138 colleges under it. If majority are based in Hyd, that is definitely the problem with elected leaders. T-Politicians can fight and get separate state, but cannot get colleges?

n) In between 2005-2008 government sold lands worth Rs. 20000 crores in and around Hyderabad which was utilized to build projects in Rayalaseema and Andhra.

Replay> YSR govt has sold the land all over AP. They might have sold more land in and around Hyd as it fetches more money. I am not sure. When lift irrigation projects require 3 to 4 lakhs capital and 40k per year running costs, how will they build new projects and how are they viable? Instead they should develop it with industries.

o) Not even a single project was completed in Telangana in the last 5 years while several projects were completed in Andhra and Rayalaseema.

Reply> Several projects completed? When I looked at irrigation dept website, most of the projects not even finished 20%. Anyone has facts obtained with RTI? Please pass on.
When all the CMs developed only Hyderabad (industrially, technologically...etc), How would one say Telangana region is ignored and Andhra region is developed?

p) T has different culture and slang and it is made fun in movies.

Reply> How silly it is. Why do people in T watch these movies and enjoy? If no people from Telangana watch these, will they produce these movies and play them in T? Because uttara ramayanam was produced in uttrandhra slang, shall they ask for separate state?

q) T has grand history in british empire itself. So, T-state is justified

Reply> This is another silly point. Shall we go back to before britsh rule and have our Nizam kingdom and Vijayanagara kingdom? How will this solve this so-called self respect and self rule?

When T is benefitting most from the free electricity for cultivation, how would you justify T was ignored? And how can farmers get cheap electricity in separate Telangana state?
It is easy to blame others. But it would be wise to think the solution. Does T state solve any of the problems? definitly KCR will become CM and solves his problem.

Jinnah also thought, Pakistan would be more prosperous as a separate country. He became father of that country. Now, we know their situation.

I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. But, I would ask people to think, if separate T state would solve their problems? I strongly feel, it does not. Maoists know, they cannot win the hearts of large population, despite having loopholes in our legal system and people are fed up with it. And they cannot win on the might of our police force. So, they want us to split up, so they can win easily.

Cheers,
Sunny

p.s.: These openions are my personal and have nothing to do with Loksatta party.