To, Sri Krishna Committee Member Secretary, Room # 248 Vignan Bhavan Annexe, Moulana Azad Road, New

Delhi 110 011 Dear Sir, If development was the justification for keeping an alien ruler in place, India should have never got freedom from British rule! Andhra state would not have been formed out of Madras state in the name of self respect. World knows Jallianwala bagh, General Dyer, 1919 yr more than 1000 people dead in brutal firing and as the same in Telangana, Under the leader ship of then Chief Minister Kasu Brahmananda Reddy,1969 yr 370 students were shot dead. Now in the present situation after 23-122009 with the Government ambiguous decisions and false statements by the Politicians, more than 380 people martyred. People of Telangana are not only confused but also lost hope on the system and are sacrificing their lives for separate state hood of Telangana. Especially, there is a lot of insecurity developed in Telangana people due to constant changing of stance on Telangana by all political parties and leaders. Though we Telangana people are not happy with committee and the purpose, we do appreciate committee members and we have high respect on the committee members as individuals capability, honesty, professionalism & dedication. The reason we not happy with committee is, so far many committees formed and did nothing, none of the committee recommendations are implemented, and hence as usual everybody understands that all committees are meant for delaying the process of creating Telangana state. We hope that as a result of Sri Krishna Committee report fact findings Telangana people wont be presented with one more G.O instead of a separate state. Unless we get our own state there is no way the people of this region are going to get the justice. We are addressing this letter to our desire and unequivocal support to the bifurcation of Telangana from Andhra Pradesh State There are plenty of reasons why we need to separate ourselves from the United Andhra Pradesh. Telangana Academy of Excellence Page 1 - 47

History of Telangana Telangana Armed Struggle for Liberation from Nizam The Telangana Rebellion was a Communist led peasant revolt that took place in the former princely state of Hyderabad between 1946 and 1951. This was led by the Communist Party of India. The revolt began in the Nalgonda district and quickly spread to the Warangal and Bidar districts. Peasant farmers and labourers revolted against the Nizam and the local feudal landlords (Jagirdars and Deshmukhs) who were loyal to the Nizam. The initial modest aims were to do away with the illegal and excessive exploitation meted out by these feudal lords in the name of bonded labour. The most strident demand was for the writing off of all debts of the peasants that were manipulated by the feudal lords. Nizam's resistance to join Indian Union At the same time the Nizam was resisting the Indian government's efforts to bring the Hyderabad state into the Indian Union. The government sent the army in September 1948 to annex the Hyderabad state into Indian Union. The Communist party instigated the peasants to use guerrilla tactics and around 3000 villages (about 41000 sq. kilometres) came under peasant-rule. The landlords were either killed or driven out and the land was redistributed. These victorious villages established

communes reminiscent of Soviet mir (social)s to administer their region.

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These community governments were integrated regionally into a central organization. The rebellion was led by the Communist Party of India.

Few among the well-known individuals at the forefront of the movement were great leaders like Raavi Narayana Reddy, Puchalapalli Sundaraiah, Makineni Basavapunaiah , Chandra Rajeswara Rao, Arjula Ramana Reddy, the Urdu poet Makhdoom Mohiuddin, Hassan Nasir, Bhimreddy Narasimha Reddy, Mallu Venkata Narasimha Reddy , Mallu Swarajyam , Arutla Ramchandra Reddy and his wife Arutla Kamala Bai.

Formation of Hyderabad State The violent phase of the movement ended in 1951 after the accession of Hyderabad into the Indian Union. This was the time when Razzakar Movement was started by Nizams, which was very violent, which witnessed peasants armed struggle until freedom. Finally Hyderabad State was formed in 1951 on sacrifice of 4000 peasant lives.

Fazal Ali Commission Report for Separate Telangana in 1956 In December 1953, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru appointed the States Reorganization Commission to prepare for the creation of states on linguistic lines. This was headed by Justice Fazal Ali and the commission itself was also known as the Fazal Ali Commission. The efforts of this commission was overseen by Govind Ballabh Pant, who Telangana Academy of Excellence Page 3 - 47

served as Home Minister from December 1954. The commission created a report in 1955 recommending the reorganization of India's states. The States Reorganization Commission (SRC) was not in favour of merging the Telangana region with the then Andhra state. Para 382 of States Reorganization Commission Report (SRC) said "..opinion in Andhra is overwhelmingly in favour of the larger unit, public opinion in Telangana has still to crystallize itself". The concerns of Telanganas were manifold. The region had a less developed economy than Andhra, but a larger revenue base (mostly because it taxed rather than prohibited alcoholic beverages), which Telanganas feared might be diverted for use in Andhra. They also feared that planned dam projects on the Krishna and Godavari rivers would not benefit Telangana proportionately even though

Telanganas controlled the headwaters of the rivers. Telanganas feared too that the people of Andhra would have the advantage in jobs, particularly in government and education. Para 386 of States

Reorganization Commission Report (SRC) said "After taking all these factors into consideration we have come to the conclusions that it will be in the interests of Andhra as well as Telangana area is to constitute into a separate State, which may be known as the Hyderabad State with provision for its unification with Andhra after the general elections likely to be held in or about 1961 if by a two thirds majority the legislature of the residency Hyderabad State expresses itself in favor of such unification." The central government decided to ignore the SRC Telangana Academy of Excellence Page 4 - 47

recommendations and established unified Andhra Pradesh on November 1, 1956. After rejecting the recommendations of the Fazli Ali Commission to form a separate state for Telangana, the Government of India enacted laws in Parliament in accordance with the understanding arrived at under the Gentlemen Agreement.

A Regional Committee was formed to safe guard the interests of Telangana in the matter of Planning & Development and Employment. It found that all Telangana surpluses were diverted to Andhra area in order to meet its deficit. The agreement to spend the Telangana Revenue The Regional

surpluses for its development was thrown to winds.

Committee in 1961 asked for white paper on the implementation of Telangana safe guards. In the three 5 year plans it was found that the Telangana Revenue surpluses were continuously diverted. In the matter of School Education and other economic development there appeared large disparities among the two regions. The promise to make good

deviations were hardly implemented. At last D. Sanjivaiah agreed to give about 15 crores at the first instance.

In the matter of services the Ad-hoc Committee in Services found that in the matter of Integration of Services on various Departments such as the Public Works Dept. & Co-operation, rules which favoured Andhra Telangana Academy of Excellence Page 5 - 47

Employees in filling up vacancies and promotions were immediately implemented, while those of Telangana were kept pending inordinately. The clause in the Gentleman Agreement to maintain parity 60:40 between Andhra and Telangana regarding funds and employment was reduced to 2:1 by a Government Order. Even this formula to maintain 2:1 parity was observed in the violation.

Several Officers who deserved promotions were denied. The Telangana employees, had to take recourse to the Courts of Law and administrative tribunals causing hardship and frustration. The Mulki rules, which

prescribed residential qualification was challenged in the High Court which was struck down due to which there was great hardship. The

Public Employment Act that was passed by Government of India was quite inadequate due to which Telangana employees suffered as several dubious methods were adopted such as (a) Several posts and vacancies in Telangana were abolished to

prevent their continuance and posts were created later on to afford opportunities to Andhra Personnel ( Survey Department) (b) Out of 120 promotions to Executive Engineer cadre only 6 Similarly in the J.E.

Telangana Asst. Engineers were promoted.

Cadre only 327 Telangana candidates got recruited for the reserved posts of 500. While 1751 J.E. posts were given to Andhra

candidates against 1000 reserved for them. Telangana Academy of Excellence Page 6 - 47

(c)

Similar instances were caused in Panchayat Raj & Education

Departments. In the matter of expenditure in Planning & Development there was a difference of nearly 10% of deficit in expenditure than the reserves pooled from Telangana. The Regional committee passed a resolution expressing objections for purchase of Lands in Hyderabad and in Telangana without the permission of the regional committee by Andhra Land lords. The Regional Committee till 1968 calculated the Telangana surplus as 100 Crores. The Government took the stand that it was 30 Crores, but no solution was found nor the agreed amount was kept at disposal of the Regional Committee.

Frustrated by the unabated violations of Telangana Safe Guards and for redressal of injustices student started agitation in 1969. It became wide spread which includes employees and many un-employed. It initially started in Khammam District, but soon caught in the entire Telangana. The Government of Andhra Pradesh in order to contain it called an all party meeting and appointed a committee through a G.O. to set right the anomalies in recruitment and promotions. The Andhra Employee who had benefited by the illegalities challenged the G.O. in High Court and Supreme Court and had it struck it down including the 1957 Public

Employment Act. After this the agitation spread like wild fire. The A.P. Government under Sri Brahmananda Reddy was advised by colleagues to Telangana Academy of Excellence Page 7 - 47

take firm action.

The police was given a free hand as many as 378 The Government

students and unemployed youth were shot dead.

arrested all prominent leaders of Telangana including ex-minister Dr.M.Chenna Reddy and Sri.T.Anjaiah and hundreds of others and put them in Rajamundry Jail, where they were ill treated. There was general harthal observed in all Universities, Govt offices, Schools & colleges for about a year. Govt. dismissed Sri. Amos the then President of Telangana NGOs Union and now MLC without any Justification.

A cabinet expansion was made recruiting Telangana MLA which were about ten in number. In this the agitation grew more violent. Smt.

Indira Gandhi came down to Hyderabad twice to contain the agitation but of no avail. The Student Leader Sri. Mallikarjun who later became Union Minister openly defied her and refused to stop the agitation. Recognizing the unrest in Telangana Smt. Indira Gandhi announced a 8 point programme, which included enlargement of powers to Regional Committee of Telangana and formation of several high powered committees to settle the dispute of Telangana surpluses and about public employment and sanction of Central University in Hyderabad for the benefit of Telangana Students but the agitation did not abate, The Students lost two academic years.

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In Assembly-Bye-Election to Siddipet the Telangana Praja Samithi won by a handsome majority of about 20000 votes against the Congress. In the next elections to Parliament in 1971, when the country voted for Congress to Smt. Indira Gandhi in a big way, the Telangana Praja Sammithi in Telangana got a massive vote against Congress by winning 11 out of the 14 seats that were contested. Telangana people have

shown their will for separate state against the wave prevailing in the country for Smt. Indira Gandhi. The Prime Minister called the Telangana Leaders for discussion. In the accord that was arrived on 19TH January 1969, in an agreement that was made between the Govt. of AP and the Telangana Regional Committee and Telangana leaders which is as follows : 1. That Govt. should reimburse the 107 Crores as resolved by

the Regional Committee which was used by Andhra area. This was to be used for Telangana area. 2. As many as 6000 jobs which were to be given to Telangana

boys were taken over by the Andhras. It was agreed to restore these jobs to the unemployed in Telangana and supernumery posts were to be created in Andhra area.

However these promises & assurances were not implemented. The amount of Rs 107 Crores was more than the State Budget under Sri Vengal Rao Govt. If this amount was spent in Telangana, projects like Telangana Academy of Excellence Page 9 - 47

Sriram Sagar Project could have been completed, the foundation for which has been laid by Sri Jawaharlal Nehru in 1963. Today the people of Telangana are unable to tolerate the increase of corruption, lobbying to get jobs, adopting dubious methods to get work done.

In Telangana here was a Political Process where merit was recognised and leadership encouraged. Now money is important factor in politics. One who has money could get anything without any difficulty. This sort of culture is not amenable to be digested by the Telangana people. Money culture has been brought by Andhras to Telangana area. Smt Indira Gandhi asked Andhra Chief Minister as to why it was represented to her that there was no sentiment for Telangana and asked him to step down giving place to a Telangana man as Chief Minister. Sri P. V. Narasimha Rao was named as Chief Minister from Telangana to rectify the injustices. The Supreme Court also upheld the appeal to

revive the Mulki rules, to do justice to Telangana People. Sri. P. V. Narsimha Rao, as Chief Minister of A.P. announced that he would implement the Mulki rules in employment and also enforce land reforms strictly. On this there began Jai Andhra agitation to carve out separate state for Andhra Area. All the Andhra Cabinet Ministers

resigned and led the agitation on four grounds namely (a) Their Chief Minister being displaced

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(b) court. (c) (d)

Mulki rules were to be enforced strictly as decided by the

Land Reforms would be enforced The A.P. Regional Committee which was to safe guard the

interest of Telangana Development & Employment was an irritant to them, hence they should go off. The agitation grew violent and land lords fearing implementation of land reforms spent huge amount for agitations. Due to this Govt. of India imposed President Rule keeping the assembly in animated suspension. Mrs. Gandhi, Prime Minister called all the leaders of Andhra and later those of Telangana and declared another compromise formula. She wanted to settle the issue amicably once again as soon as possible. She therefore wanted a compromise at any cost. She impressed upon the

Telangana Leaders that she will personally take care of their interest. Under this formula, the following was announced: (a) rules. (b) Abolished the Statutory Telangana Regional Committee and 6 point formula for Public employment instead of Mulki

replacing it by 3 Regional Development Boards one for each region. (c) High power Committee under Bhargava and Kumar Lalith to

go into Telangana surpluses and make good the loss of Telangana area for its Development.

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With one stroke all the Telangana safe guards assured earlier were removed. The new formula never worked. The recommendations of the Expert Committee were not implemented. The Development Board for Three Regions had neither funds nor could recommend anything regarding financial matters except to review Development. After Sri. P. V. Narsimha Rao, several Chief Ministers came to the scene, the simmering discontentment among the people of Telangana lingered on. They felt betrayed by their own representatives after the great

student revolution did not bear fruit and on the contrary more than 378 Students died and Telangana lost all its safeguards Such as Mulki Rules, Statutory Regional Committee etc Telangana Chief Ministers such as Dr. M. Chenna Reddy who had led the movement in 1969 could not do much for Telangana. The vast majority of Andhra Legislators and all Andhra senior executives in Government made it imperative for him to look to Andhra needs. The first thing he did was to get World Bank Loan of about thousand crores to re-model the Krishna canals in the delta area of Andhra, Similar was the case with Anjaiah a Labour Leader who had to face the tyranny of the majority and tried to start the Polavaram Project in Andhra Area, for which he laid the foundation stone and tried his best to get its clearance, inspite of the fact that there were several projects on River Godavari catering to the needs of Telangana, such as Ichampally project which was cleared by C.W.C. & also by Maharashtra. Dummugudem & incomplete Sri Ram Telangana Academy of Excellence Page 12 - 47

Sagar Project for which Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had laid the foundation stone which is in Telangana, was not completed even up to 30% of the total Cost. During his regime he had programmed to lay foundation

stone for SRBC for Rayalaseema and SLBC for Telangana in Nalgonda Dist. Invitations were printed and distributed due to pressure from Andhra Leaders, he did not lay the foundation Stone to SLBC in Telangana area. These two prominent and popular leaders could not complete their full term of Five years and they were known supporters of Smt. Indira Gandhi, due to the pressure mechanization of Andhra Leaders. Where as Vengal Rao who succeeded P. V. Narsimha Rao, who had migrated from Vijainagaram to Khammam Dist as petty Contractor, had completed his full term for two reasons one that he was fully Supported by Andhra Leaders and Secondly there was emergency in the Country. During the tenure of Sri Janardhan Reddy as Chief Minister of A.P. in 1992 discontentment again rose among the people against the injustices to Telangana Development, especially the Irrigation Projects. Large demonstrations were held throughout Telangana by Peoples Forum for Telangana. The Legislators stalled the assembly for four days demanding the strict implementation of the 6 point formula and devolution of funds as recommended by Bhargav Committee and Lalith Expert Committee for Telangana Development. Government allowed discussions on the subject which lasted for four days. Telangana Academy of Excellence Ultimately Government agreed to all the Page 13 - 47

demands, put forth by Legislators and assured to implement at the earliest. The Legislators Forum for Telangana which was spear heading the discussions and movement, went to Delhi by Train with about 100 Legislators from all parties. formed themselves into The Members of Parliament in their turn a Telangana MPs Forum submitted

memorandum along with State Legislators to Sri. P. V. Narsimha Rao the then Prime Minister. They enumerated all the shortfalls of the six point formula and development schemes. Even he could not do anything on the memorandum, except sanction several development works for Kurnool Dist from where he was elected to the Lok Sabha. In 1983 when there was a resentment against the Congress for changing the Chief Minister constantly. Sri Rajiv Gandhi as Secretary AICC came to Hyderabad. The then Chief Minister Sri Anjiah made pompous arrangements to receive him in spite of instructions to the contrary. He left Hyderabad to tour Andhra area without taking Sri Anjiah, Chief Minister along with him. The media made this an issue as insulting the Telugu Chief Minister and made news of it as Telugus being disregarded. Sri N T Rama Rao, Cine Actor was a new entrant into politics. He rode on the wave of anti establishment and Telugu Atma Gauravam and swept the polls and had become the Chief Minister of the state on Telugu Desam Party.

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He introduced some popularized schemes and became popular. During the period there has been utter disregard in implementing the 6 point formula, in as much as 60,000 appointments occurred in place of Telangana candidates. Sri N T Rama Rao being incensed by it issued G.O. 610 directing the Government to send back all these employees to their zones within one year and if there are no vacancies to give the returned candidates supernumary posts may be created. This G.O. 610 was never implemented. In a similar circumstance, when staff was recruited for the Telugu Ganga Project in Rayalaseema, the staff was repatriated within three months. Srisailam Project was a Hydro Power Project as sanctioned and approved by Bachavat Krishna Water Tribunal and also as a balancing reservoir for Nagarjuna Sagar. After N. T. Rama Rao had assumed power, on the request of the Chief Minister of Madras the Government of India had asked the Chief Ministers of Andhra, Karnataka and Maharashtra to spare 5 TMC of water from their quota to the state of Madras so that their drinking water problem could be solved. The Chief Minister of

Madras approached Andhra Chief Minister to help in getting these 15 TMC of water through a pipe line directly from Srisailam Project. Sri. N. T. Rama Rao negative this proposition and said that he would supply water to Madras in a open channel. As he had ulterior motives to use

Srisailam water for irrigation. In this context Sri. Rama Rao proposed two schemes one for Andhra area and another for Telangana. For Andhra Telangana Academy of Excellence Page 15 - 47

area i.e. in Rayalaseema the project known as Telugu Ganga with a capacity to carry 34 TMC of water from Srisailam project.. He also laid a foundation stone known as the Srisailam Left bank canal and laid foundation stone for it, a issue arose whether the water to left bank should be through a tunnel or by lift irrigation. The Telangana leaders and Engineers suggested for a tunnel. However, N. T. Rama Rao laid foundation for a tunnel to take Srisailam water to Nalgonda District. While Telugu Ganga to Rayalaseema was in full swing the SLBC was not at all started. Both the schemes were not approved by Bachavat Tribunal. While the work on Telugu Ganga was on full swing the work on SLBC was not undertaken. N. T. Rama Rao dug canals to carry water both, the 15 TMC promised to for Madras and 19 TMC allotted to Srisailam right bank canal. He proposed that the drinking water scheme must cross 3 water sources. Somasila, and two others, which must be filled before water could go to Madras city. N.T. Rama Rao did not provide any funds for development of Telangana During his tenure the G.O.610 to rectify the anomalies of 6 point formula were also not implemented. He was replaced by his son in law Sri. N. Chandra Babu Naidu. Chandra Babu Naidu did not take any interest in the development schemes of Telangana, but sold all the industries started by the Nizam. He only convened all party meetings several times with regard to allotment of Godavari water and when it was decided in the all party Telangana Academy of Excellence Page 16 - 47

meeting the Ichampalli project must be taken up and has approved by Maharashtra & CWC. There were objection from Chattisgadh Govt. The Chattisgadh Govt. was prepared to negotiate their problem with Andhra regarding the project and meetings were held at Nagpur. However, the Andhra Govt. did not pursue the matter and instead took up the project on Godavari with a very high lift of about 1000ft. at Devadula without any barrage to utilise 12 TMC in 2 phases with more than an expenditure of 9100 Crores. He also held several all party meetings for establishing the industries in the state. He discussed about allotment of land round about Hyderabad city to various industries including IT. He arbitrarily made allotments to Pvt. Companies for establishing industries more than what it required for, and for the excess land allotted to industries, they were permitted to be sold in any manner they like. Thus valuable land of Telangana area in the Hyderabad city and outskirts were given on a plater. He continued as CM of Andhra Pradesh for more than 9 years without doing anything worth the name to Telangana. The people of Telangana were slighted in his regime. During his regime 41 Congress legislators met Mrs. Sonia Gandhi Congress President at Hyderabad and submitted a memorandum to carve out a separate state for Telangana. As the then Govt. of India

under the BJP had carved out 3 new states with concurrence of the Congress. It was right time that the Telangana people got their state

hood also. The legislators followed it up with giving memorandum to the Telangana Academy of Excellence Page 17 - 47

then Prime Minister and also the president of India. The delegations of MLAs also met the members of Congress working committee. A sub committee of members of the working committee was formed which held several meetings. Sri Madhava Rao Scindia CWC member significantly remarked as to how could Telangana leaders tolerate so many insults and humiliation. Working Committee Members advised Telangana

leaders to go to people and explain the necessity of forming a state. The movement was thus picking up for Telangana, Various public meetings were conducted in all the districts by the legislators and office bearers of the congress party by creating a Telangana Congress forum. When the movement picked up Sri Y. S. Rajshekar Reddy, then the leader of opposition pulled back the MLAs from the movement, there appeared dissolution among the people for lack of activity by congress party. A vacuum appeared among the people as to why no leader worth the name is coming forward for this cause to continue the struggle. K. Chandra Sekhar Rao, Dy. Speaker of Assembly and leader of Telugu Desam party fell out of the party and resigned his MLA ship and floated the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and on this plank he was elected again to Siddipet Assembly in the bye-election with a huge majority. He took full advantage of the passions which were aroused by the Congress MLAs and Congress leaders and firmly got into the saddle and toured entire Telangana area. He had good response from the people and became a popular leader. Telangana Academy of Excellence Page 18 - 47

In the ensuing General Elections to the legislature in 2004 Congress deemed it fit to align itself with TRS as against Telugu Desam Party which was a deadly opponent to separate state hood and was in favour of Visalandhra. The Congress and TRS jointly won the general elections in 2004 with a thumping majority. The TDP got only 6 seats. The Andhra area electorate voted for the Congress, TRS combined campaign and backed it to come to power. The people of Andhra had no grouse against the Congress aligning with a regional party fighting for a separate state. The ruling party gained the blessings of the Andhra people without any ill will. It was a tacit approval of the Andhra electorate for the cause of Telangana. In 2004 YSR was elected Chief Minister on behalf of Congress party. He had developed a silent antagonism against the Telangana State and also he took steps to curb the vociferous leadership of Telangana. Persons who are obedient to him were only encouraged and given important positions. His main aim as CM was only to develop Rayalaseema to its fullest extent He had introduced Jalayagnam to construct about 44 projects through out the state. The Projects he envisaged in Telangana were only lift irrigation schemes of high magnitude without making adequate steps for their proper functioning duly not providing for its power requirements. It is a well known fact, that such scheme can only irrigates half of the proposed projected ayacut. None of those projects envisaged had borne any fruit worth the name. The lift irrigation on Telangana Academy of Excellence Page 19 - 47

Devadula is a fare in as much as above 10000 Crores is spent to lift only 12 TMC of water. To supply drinking water to Warangal city and irrigated about 4 Lakh acres under Israeli method of using sprinklers and drip irrigation. Although 7 years have passed since the project is declared as complete not a single acre has been brought into wet cultivation. The proposal to irrigate 25 to 35 thousand acres with 1 TMC of water is apparently absurd while on the contrary lift irrigation schemes on the Godavari namely Tadipudi and Pushkaram and other projects, are catering to the needs of the farmers at 6000 acres for 1 TMC of water. The farmers in Telangana area are not resourceful enough to invest in the Israeli type of irrigation as proposed by Govt. Secondly under Sriramsagar project Govt. had made similar provision of asking the farmers to cultivate 2/3rd ayacut under dry irrigated and only 1/3rd as wet. The farmers could not afford to have infrastructure for dry irrigation. It is a paradox for Govt. to envisage a vast ayacut under drip irrigation at Devadula. For other lift irrigation in Telangana area YSR Govt. has proposed huge outlays totaling to 79 thousand Crores and none of those huge projects yielded any expected results. It was more of election propaganda to tell the people that Govt. is going to do something to them which is nigh impossible. Telangana has vast resources of coal, but coal is exported to Vijayawada, Nellore, Visakapatnam and Cuddapah in Andhra Region. In Telangana area there is one age old Thermal power station in Kothagudem, established by Nizam. The other Telangana Academy of Excellence Page 20 - 47

thermal station of Telangana in Ramagundam has been handed over to the NTPC. Another thermal station in Telangana which was situated at Manuguru near the pithead of the coal mines has been shifted to Vijayawada. The envisaged lift irrigation programme of YSR Govt. needed 4800 mega watts of power, while the total state power generation is only 7700 mega watts. It is impossible to supply the power required to schemes of Telangana. Govt. now has shown an account of procuring 18000 Mega Watts of power from Pvt. Parties by payment of considerable amount which would cater only to the present needs of the state. In case the Govt. is unable to give free power and free infrastructure of Israeli type of irrigation each ryot will have to pay minimum of Rs. 10000 per acre as running costs. It could well be understood as to how it is very difficult for Telangana farmers, even to utilise the vast proposed lift irrigations at a huge cost of 79000 Crores. Telangana being on a plateau, farmers have dug bore wells and installed their own pump sets when Govt. has not given any subsidy to the 24 Lakh pump sets in the state of which 18 Lakh are in Telangana. One could imagine the amount of power required and the expenditure on infrastructure to run these pump sets for irrigation. The variation in supply of power always causes loss to the farmer in as much as the pump sets are burnt and other equipment get short circuited. In the matter of flow irrigation Govt. has not taken any interest to complete even the first phase of Sriramsagar which was started by Pandit Telangana Academy of Excellence Page 21 - 47

Jawahar Lal Nehru in 1963. Canals for second phase also been dug and loans provided to the farmer to level their lands without any water. Sriramsagar project is only major project which could function fully if proper steps are taken. Several other projects in Telangana have been utterly neglected. For example Nizam Sagar, which have lost its potential due to the silt, while Singur a balancing reservoir for Nizam Sagar is confined to water supply to the city. Nagarjuna Sagar on Krishna was to be given 131 TMC for irrigation for the chronic Nalgonda dist & Khammam Dist under an agreement arrived at between Andhra state and Hyderabad state through its left canal to irrigate 7 lakh acres, Instead the left canal was extended to Krishna Dist and West Godavari Dist in Andhra area due to which the water allotment got reduced to about 75 TMC only for Telangana. To meet the short fall Govt announced L.I schemes on left canal to utilize about 10 TMC only. The L.I schemes failed because of huge overheads which were to be borne by ryots and power shortage while for the right canal in Andhra area the Govt bore the entire charges, Over heads & maintenance etc

IRRIGATION THE INJUSTICE TO TELANGANA Nature has in its bounty had endowed to Telangana large & mighty rivers. In the North is Godavari and river Krishna in the south. In

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addition to these, there are several other river basins which traversed the length and breadth of Telangana. The Agriculture is the main occupation of over 75% of the Telangana population; therefore any Development model for Telangana should focus on a sustained agricultural development. The sustenance of agriculture mainly depends on providing irrigation facilities. The importance of irrigation is known historically and all the benevolent kingdoms of past have tried their best to create as many irrigation facilities as possible for the benefit of the people. The Kakatiya kings have done pioneering work for the first time in 13th Century by constructing small and medium sized water storage reservoirs in the topographically undulating area of Deccan plateau. These water storages provided irrigation facilities to thousand of acres of cultivable lands. There were hundreds of such storages but notable among them being Ramappa, Lakhnavaram, Pakhal and Ghanpur Lakes, which even today are functioning successfully and stand as our proud heritage. Historically Telangana region was part of Hyderabad dominion ruled by the Nizams of Asafjahi dynasty. The Hyderabad State comprised of Telangana, parts of Marathwada and Karnataka. The State which had three distinct languages was ruled by the Nizams for few centuries up to September 1948.

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The Nizams Government also encouraged the construction of minor irrigation storages to provide water to arid lands at the beginning of this century. The available statistics indicate that there were 21,000 small tanks providing irrigation facilities to 80,000 acres.

Development of Water Resources in Hyderabad State The rulers of Hyderabad State realized the importance of water resources development from the second decade of this century. Mr. Ali Nawaz Jung, an Engineer of Nizams State prepared a comprehensive water resources development plan for the exploitation of vast water potential available in the major river basins of Godavari and Krishna. In 1900s the tributaries of major rivers were tackled by constructing several medium sized irrigation projects, the notable among them being Pocharam, Dindi, Palair, Wyra, Manair and anicuts at Ghanpur on Manjira and Khanpur on Godavari. As a first step towards the development of major irrigation system, a major irrigation project was planned on river Manjira by proposing the construction of 140 feet high dam and a storage reservoir with huge canal system to provide irrigation facilities to 2, 75,000 acres. The masonry Dam was one of highest in India at that point of time and it was designed and constructed by the Hyderabad Engineers. The construction of Dam was started in 1924 and completed in 1931. The project was Telangana Academy of Excellence Page 24 - 47

inaugurated by the Nizam of Hyderabad and named as Nizamsagar Project. The canal system and other infrastructure such as roads and communication were completed in subsequent years. The project provided irrigation facilities for two crops in a year and also provided irrigation facilities to 20,000 acres of sugar cane crop. As a result, a sugar factory at Bodhan was established with crushing capacity of 2500 tones, one of the largest sugar factories of Asia at the time . The Nizamsagar project was constructed to utilize 58 TMC of Manjira waters. The Nizamabad district became the most prosperous districts of Hyderabad State on account of Nizamsagar Project. Godavari River being the biggest river flowing through the state, a major multipurpose project was proposed for irrigation and Hydroelectric power development. The project proposals envisaged the construction of high-dam across Godavari near Pochampad and Godavari North canal on the left and Godavari South canal on the right to benefit 20 lakhs of acres for irrigation in Adilabad district from the North canal and Karimnagar, Warangal and Nalgonda districts from the South canal. The project provided for utilization of 330 TMC of Godavari Waters. In addition as a part of the project the reservoir on Kadam forming the part of North canal and Lower Manair Dam reservoir forming the part of South canal were also included in the project. The stage I of the project comprising of infrastructure such as approach roads, buildings at the main project site and Godavari North canal and a Dam Telangana Academy of Excellence Page 25 - 47

on Kadam River were sanctioned. The works were grounded and were in progress. A project across river Manjira, up stream of Nizamsagar at a place near Devanur was also proposed to provide irrigation benefits in Manjira valley, in Medak District by utilizing 38 TMC of water. The two Hydroelectric power stations one at the Dam site and one on the power canal, which provided additional supplies to Nizamsagar, were also included in the project. The work on the approach roads, camp buildings was started and land acquisition proceedings for the Dam and Reservoir were initiated. Krishna River being the second biggest river of the Hyderabad state, the development of water resources by construction of projects was commenced from 1948. First the construction of Dam on Tungabhadra near Hospet was started in 1948 as joint venture between Hyderabad and Madras Governments. The left canal envisaged irrigation in Raichur and Mahabubnagar Districts of Hyderabad state. The Dam and most of the canal system was completed by 1956, except the last leg of canal benefitting Mahabubnagar Dist. Which envisaged water utilization of 19.20 TMC. Due to states reorganization the entire project went to Karnataka and extension of canal into Mahabubnagar Dist. Was stopped. The construction of Rajolibanda Diversion Scheme was taken up on river Tungabhadra and the Head works and canals were mostly Telangana Academy of Excellence Page 26 - 47

completed by 1956, but due to States reorganization, the Head works and part of canal went to Karnataka and most of the canal came to Telangana to benefit 84,000 acres in Mahabubnagar district, by utilizing 15.90 TMC of water. The investigation was completed and project reports were

perepared for upper Krishna and Bheema Projects which envisaged the utilization of 54.40 TMC and 100.60 TMC respectively for the benefit of Mahabubnagar district. But these projects were committed and approved but not grounded. The Hyderabad State Engineers started the investigation of a major project on the river Krishna and detailed project reports were prepared at two sites namely Siddeshwaram and Nandikonda after studying various alternatives. The project was finalized providing for utilization of 132 TMC of Krishna Waters for the benefit of 10 lakh acres in Nalgonda and Khammam Districts. The Hyderabad Government approved the project with only left canal and the entire planning, investigation and designs were completed for the Nandikonda site, since the Madras Government was not interested at this site as they had already proposed the KrishnaPennar project from an upper location to take water to Madras State. In fact this was one of the main reasons for the Andhras to start a big agitation which finally resulted in formation of Andhra State. It is only when separate Andhra State was formed in October 1953, that on their Telangana Academy of Excellence Page 27 - 47

request. The Nandikonda (named as Nagrjuna Sagar) project was made a joint project between Hyderabad State and Andhra State and an agreement was signed in 1954 for equal sharing of 132 TMC for left

canal and 132 TMC for right canal. The Nagarjunasagar project was inaugurated in 1955 by the Prime Minister of India Late Shri Jawaharlal Nehru and the execution was taken up. A joint control Board was setup to implement the project proposals as agreed by both the states. It is very clear from the above events that the Hyderabad Government had well planned for the optimum utilization pf huge water potential of Godavari and Krishna rivers for the benefit of people of Telangana and to provide extensive irrigation facilities to the farmers of Telangana area. Water Potential of Telangana The broad position as on 01.11.1956, in respect of the water resources utilized and committed for utilization for irrigation in Telangana area is given below. Godavari Valley A. Water utilization under completed projects I. Major Projects 1. Nizamsagar Project 2. Medium Irrigation Projects 3. Minor Irrigation Schemes Total B. Projects committed and under construction I. Major Projects 1. Godavari Valley Multipurpose Project 2. Kadam Projects 3. Lower Manair Dam Project 4. Devanur Project Total C. Projects Investigated 1. Ichampally Project Godavari Valley Total

58.00 TMC 21.70 TMC 21.00 TMC 100.70TMC 330.00 TMC 15.00 TMC 12.00 TMC 38.00TMC 395.70TMC 350.00TMC 845.70TMC

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Krishna Valley A. I. 1. 2. 3. B. 1. 2. C. 1. 2. Water utilization under completed Projects Major Irrigation Rajolibanda Diversion Scheme Medium Irrigation Projects Minor Irrigation Schemes Total Projects in Progress Nagarjunasagar left canal Tungabhadra Project left canal extension Total Projects Investigated Upper Krishna Project Bheema Project Total Krishna Valley Total Jala Yagnam Jala Yagnam is an over ambitious programme to construct the irrigation projects under the guise of developing the backward areas, where as the real programme is to rob the Krishna water from Telangana Region and create illegal rights to the Rayalaseema region by spending the funds generated by selling the lands in and around Hyderabad. Jalayagnam comprises of 44 Major Projects, 38 Medium Projects and 4 Flood Banks. Out of the 44 Major Projects, the following seven projects are proposed to be declared as the National Projects. 1. Polavaram Project 2. Uttarandhra Projects 3. Dummugudem NSP Tail Pond Project 4. Pranahitha Chevella Project. 5. Chokka Rao Godavary L.I. Scheme. 6. Kanthala Pally Project 7. Sripadasagar (Ellampally) Project. Telangana Academy of Excellence Page 29 - 47

15.90TMC 36.10 TMC 90.80 TMC 142.80TMC 132.00TMC 19.00 TMC 151.00TMC 54.40 TMC 100.00TMC 155.00TMC 449.00TMC

For statistical and eye wash purposes there are 5 projects for Telangana Region and One each project for Coastal Andhra and Uttarandhra. From the quality of Investigation, progress achieved in obtaining the clearances, water allotment and interest shown by the Government, it is crystal clear that only Polavaram and Uttarandhra projects will/can be declared as National Projects and other projects will never see the light for obvious intentions of the Government. All the projects planned for Telangana area are lift schemes in nature and the primary requirement for their commissioning is power which is estimated to be about 4800 MW. Without Planning for the availability of above required power is putting like a Cart before an imaginary Bull and participating in the Pongal Cart Race. Even leaving out Pranahitha Chevella which requires about 3500 MW the other important major projects which can be commissioned in two or three years are also delayed by not acting in time in the matter of land acquisition and the rehabilitation. Had the Government was serious it would have planned for the power of the following projects whose requirement as given below is about 720 MW which could have been achieved by investing about Rs 3000 Crores( Rs 500 Crores Every Year) to see the real results of the Jalayagnam Projects. 1). Bhima Project 2). Kalwakurthy Project 3). Nettampadu Project 4). AMR Project 80 MW 450 MW 125 MW 72 MW.

Sri Ram Sagar Project, Jurala Project, and Bhima project are classic examples of the negligence shown in the execution of Telangana Projects. Jurala Project with an assured water of 17.4 TMC allocated by the Bachavat Tribunal and with about 1.1 lakh acres proposed ayacut was Telangana Academy of Excellence Page 30 - 47

not completed even after 20 years. The height of the negligence towards this project is not releasing an amount of Rs 4 Crores to Karnataka state for rehabilitation so that reservoir can be maintained at FRL level. Similarly Bhima Project with an assured water of 20 TMC cleared by Bachavat Tribunal is lingering for more than 15 years. Had we been sincere in completing this project like any other project of non Telangana area the benefits of Irrigation would have been enjoyed by the most backward district people 10 years back. In general there was a systematic plan to delay the Telangana projects by throttling for one or other reason and deny them the rightful benefits, in order to achieve illegal benefits elsewhere. ILLEGAL DIVERSION OF KRISHNA WATER TO RAYALASEEMA Pothireddypadu Regulator:Pothireddypadu Regulator with a capacity to draw 11000 Cusecs was constructed to give drinking water to Chennai city through Telugu Ganga canal. Originally it is meant to carry 15 TMC of water to Chennai contributed by Maharashtra, Karnataka and A.P. each 5 TMC. This was agreed upon on compassionate grounds and as a good gesture towards a water starved city. But instead of taking the drinking through a pipeline water has been proposed to draw through an open channel and there by it is linked to the many Reservoirs on its way to Chennai. Linking to Reservoirs means filling the Reservoirs before it is carried further, there by creation of illegal right to the beneficiaries of the reservoir. Apart from the above forced curse, it has also been planned and the following Projects are added to the Srisailam Reservoir, which is only a Telangana Academy of Excellence Page 31 - 47

Hydro Electric Project with a storage capacity of 263 TMC and meant for catering to the needs of Nagarjuna Sagar Project. 1). Veligonda Project 2). Handrineeva Project 3). Galeru Nagari Project 4). Telugu Ganga (Somashila) 5). Kandaleru Project 6). PVB Mattam Project 7). KCC Modernisation 8). Veligodu Reservoir Project 9). SRBC Project Total 60 TMC 48 TMC 40 TMC 70 TMC 40 TMC 38 TMC 20 TMC 18 TMC 30 TMC 364 TMC

Even without any assured water allocation all the above projects with a total storage capacity of 364 TMC and distribution system are going full steam to establish illegal riparian rights, but projects with assured water in Telangana area are going at Snails pace. Srisailam Left Bank Canal Project : After loosing all the opportunities there was only one opportunity to draw water by gravity from Krishna River through Srisailam left Bank Canal. Though 20 TMC was allotted to this Project this was never taken with seriousness except seriously creating unfounded hurdles for the past 20 years. In Jala Yagnam this project has seen some light and sanctioned to execute by constructing a tunnel of 10 meters diameter. In this case the Government has not yielded to the local pressure of the farmers to increase the Tunnel capacity to draw surplus water, like other projects of Rayalaseema. Telangana Academy of Excellence Page 32 - 47

Recent Floods of 2009:The ill intentions of the Rayalaseema leaders can be clearly seen from the water releases of Srisailam Reservoir for the year 2009. Though there was required water in Srisailam to release in to Nagarjuna Sagar after power generation, it was not done denying Kharif under Nagarjuna Sagar ayacut and the water was held up in the Srisailam Reservoir for diverting the same as flood water to illegal sources by high handedness.

States Reorganization The State reorganization which took place in November 1956 when, Telangana was made part of the enlarged state of Andhra Pradesh, the real problem for the development of water resource started and all the major irrigation projects planned and programmed for

implementation in Telangana area took serious set-back. The Godavari and Krishna river basins got trifurcated; the sharing of water by respective regions became interstate problems. The states reorganization act clearly provided that all the projects which are grounded and committed for implementation before the states reorganization should not be stopped and the rights of the people going to get benefit from such projects is protected under the constitution. But unfortunately the Government of Andhra Pradesh did not take any action and on the contrary created obstacles in the implementation of the projects benefiting Telangana area. This also suited their interests, since the Telangana Academy of Excellence Page 33 - 47

amounts earmarked for Telangana projects could easily be diverted to the projects benefiting the Andhra area. The Telangana leaders and Ministers never took any interest in projecting the claims of Telangana projects and to safe guard the rights accrued on account of States reorganization Act.

The result was the immediate stoppage of Godavari Valley multipurpose project, abandoning of Devanur project and no negotiating with Karnataka for the extension of Tungabhadra left canal, already sanctioned and under execution.

The irrigation development in Telangana was practically at stand still for 7 Years from 1956 to 1963. During this period no irrigation project in Godavari valley was taken up on the pretext of inter state water dispute. After several representations by the people and some of the leaders of Telangana, quoting extensively from the S.R Act, the then irrigation minister Government of India issued an order permitting utilization of only 67 TMC of water at Pochampad by construction of low Dam in 1963, for irrigation of 5,70,000 acres, in Karimnagar Dist. The foundation stone was laid in July 1963, but the budget allocation was almost negligible. For a project the cost of which was estimated to be 40.00 crores, the annual allotment was Rs.50 lakhs. This went on for 6 Years till 1969, and only when the agitation for separate Telangana State took a serious turn, the A.P. Government enhanced the allotment to the Telangana Academy of Excellence Page 34 - 47

Project. This is a sample illustration of happenings in one project and there are similar stories in respect of all the projects of Telangana.

Development versus Sentiment for Telangana By attributing the demand for separate Telangana to the sentiment (for Telangana), some sections of the political leadership are only evading the real issue. There is no religious or ethnic sentiment, not even of language, at issue. One can, no doubt, read in this demand some assertion of regional identity, but this is not something which cannot be rationally explained. The simple and straight-forward explanation is that people have seen, through their own experience, that development in the sense of equitable share in water resources, jobs, opportunities for enterprise and career advancement and adequate voice in political decision-making is not possible within the inte-grated State and that separate Statehood alone can ensure justice for them. Therefore, what is at issue is not whether development has been taking place. Indeed, in a democratic polity like ours some development has to take place in different parts of the country including even the remotest areas. The issue really is about the rate and quality or pattern of development. Apart from equity, such as due share in investment allocations, quality also refers to the cost, risks, and sustainability of development If you consider the situation of Telangana region (before & after merge), statistics of state resource allocation, Investments & development, we can easily find sufficient of evidences, which shows that Telangana has not received its due share in investment allocations, and that the surpluses from Telangana, that is, the difference between what ought to have been spent and what has actually been spent, have been diverted to Telangana Academy of Excellence Page 35 - 47

the other regions. For the Telangana region the per capita financial resources should be higher than the average for the Andhra Pradesh State, because, as for the Finance Commission transfer to States, 25 per cent of devolution is based on population and as much as 75 per cent is based on criteria like lower per capita income and other indicators of backwardness. Planning Commission transfers have a significant weightage to low per capita income. In this context I would like to bring to your notice that there is no way of ascertaining exactly how public expenditures, as a whole, are distributed between different regions in Andhra Pradesh. The relevant information is not being disseminated ever since the abolition of the Telangana Regional Committee in 1973, under the wrong notion that sharing of such information would breed regionalism. The growth that has been taking place in Telangana may be characterized as high cost growth. For example, the irrigation map of the region has changed completely. Tank irrigation occupied an important place a few decades ago. But now, over 70 per cent of irrigation is through ground water and deep tube wells in large parts of Telangana. This means for a unit output growth there has to be much greater investment now. Moreover, we do not have any information on such vital aspects as the quantity of water to be supplied for Telangana on account of the proposed irrigation projects including from assured sources. Further, farming has become highly risky affair in Telangana. For a given failure of rainfall, the fluctuations in output are much greater now when compared to the earlier decades. There is much greater distress being reported from the rain-fed regions dependent on groundwater for irrigation where the suicide rates for farmers are high. Telangana region accounts for as many as two-thirds of the total number of farmers suicides reported in the State between the years 1998 and 2006. The Telangana Academy of Excellence Page 36 - 47

water crisis has affected sustainability: Land left fallow (uncultivated) in Telangana has increased from 25 per cent of cultivable land in the early 1970s to as much as 40 per cent by 1999-2000. Pollution from industrialprojects in certain areas has aggravated the crisis. The desire for separate Telangana is greater among the educated classes, that is, students, teachers, NGOs and professionals in general. This is explained by the increasing awareness leading to greater sensitivity to discrimination among such classes in respect of employment and promotions or career prospects, especially because of the rising importance of the services sector at higher levels of development. It is not surprising, therefore, that the separatist movement has gathered momentum in the post-reform period when the opportunities for such classes have proliferated in the services sector. Socially Inclusive Telangana Statehood for Telangana is a national issue and not just a regional one. This is because it represents the ongoing social change in the country for the empowerment of people through decentralized governance by broadening and deepening the working of our democratic system. Such empowerment and governance would enable articulation of the real problems of the people and their solution. This would inevitably result in Samajika or socially inclusive Telangana. Inclusiveness could not be achieved so far in a bigger State because the voice of the disadvantaged sections remained fragmented. Experience shows that the traditionally entrenched interests are perpetuated in bigger and heterogeneous States because of their easy connectivity arising from their access to large resources, power and influence. The weaker sections, on the other hand, can come together, organize themselves and raise their voice effectively in a relatively homogeneous Telangana Academy of Excellence Page 37 - 47

State because of common history and traditions and hence easy communicability. For illustration, tribals are the most disadvantaged section socially and economically with negligible political voice. They live in remote areas and are subjected to land alienation on a large scale. Hardly any initiative has been taken so far in Andhra Pradesh to restore their lands despite the strong recommendations made by a High-Level Committee headed by a Minister constituted by the present government. (Government of Andhra Pradesh, 2006; Rao, 2007) There, the administration is alienated from the people and has been a breeding ground for extremist activities. But this has been treated not as a socio-economic issue, but mainly as a law and order problem. Because of this, the plight of the Girijans has been perpetuated and the extremist activities have been surfacing time and again, notwithstanding the claims of success in this regard by the authorities. Similarly, the population of Muslims is as high as 12.5 per cent in Telangana when compared to 6.9 per cent in the rest of the AP State. As many as 61 per cent of Muslims of AP live in Telangana, of whom 60 per cent are spread over in different districts other than Hyderabad. They too can be expected to have greater political clout in separate Telangana in determining their fortunes as they can more easily relate themselves with the rest of the disadvantaged sections of the society in the struggle for a better and more secure livelihood. It must be noted in this context that social harmony between people professing different religions and speaking different languages has been proverbial in Telangana because of their shared history and traditions spanning over centuries. Radical land reforms were the prime agenda for the peasant movement in the 1940s. However, not enough time was available for this process of agrarian reforms and radical social transformation to run its course. In Telangana Academy of Excellence Page 38 - 47

fact, it was interrupted with the integration of Telangana with the SeemaAndhra region, so that it still remains an unfinished revolution or an unfinished task. In a larger and heterogeneous State like AP there is no adequate perception of this problem by the dominant political leadership which hails basically from the developed parts of the State. Thus the weaker sections constituting a large majority of population in Telangana and, for that matter, in SeemaAndhra would be better able to articulate their problems and politically assert themselves in separate, smaller and relatively homogeneous States. The formation of a Telangana State would thus strengthen the forces of social inclusion and secularism in both the States. Inclusive Governance feasible in smaller States The population of Telangana is over three-and-a-half Crores now - much more than three crores for the whole of Andhra Pradesh at the time of its formation. The demands on governance have multiplied over this half-a-century. Apart from commitment to the development of the region, a smaller State being more easily accessible to the common people can intelligently and speedily grapple with their problems. Moreover, governance at the grassroots can be improved in a smaller State by strengthening the Panchayati Raj Institutions which have been deprived of their functions, finances and functionaries. It is indeed ironical that the ruling party in Andhra Pradesh, which owes allegiance to Rajiv Gandhi, who visualized the 73rd and 74th Amendments to the Constitution, has not taken any initiative to revitalize these institutions. On the contrary, every attempt has been made to undermine these institutions by floating several topdown schemes and parallel implementation structures, even naming some of these schemes after Rajiv Gandhi! In smaller and relatively homogeneous States like Telangana and Andhra, the empowerment of these local, elected institutions can be expected to be high on the Telangana Academy of Excellence Page 39 - 47

agenda, among other things, because of the greater pressures these elected representatives can bring to bear on the new establishments. Consensus for Telangana All the major political parties in Andhra Pradesh have come out in favor of the formation of a separate Telangana State. Even within the Congress party, there is a consensus in its favor among the leaders, legislators, ministers in the state as well as the centre belonging to Telangana. The demand for the Telangana State is not opposed by the common people from the rest of the State of Andhra Pradesh, not withstanding hostility from certain sections of business and political elite. This is amply borne out by the stand taken in favor of separate Telangana state by parties like the Telugu Desam headed by Chandrababu Naidu, CPI, BJP, Praja Rajyam Party Chiranjeevi in 2009 Elections and congress during 2004 Elections, even in All Party meeting on 8thDec2009 consensus were taken. But then what does one mean by consensus? The first States Reorganization Commission (SRC), which recommended in 1956 formation of the separate Hyderabad State consisting of Telangana, defined consensus as the one reached among the Telangana people themselves. This is clear from its recommendation that after five years Telangana could be merged with Andhra only if two-thirds of the Telangana legislators opted for it. But consensus has come to mean among everyone at the national and State levels, except the people of Telangana! This is not quite fair because, in the first place, Telangana was merged with the Andhra region in 1956 without ascertaining the wishes of the people of Telangana through their elected representatives as recommended by the SRC. Secondly, when there is a clear opposition to Statehood for Telangana from sections of the power elite belonging to the Telangana Academy of Excellence Page 40 - 47

dominant region of the State, it is not fair to insist upon consensus among all the constituent regions when the issue concerns a particular region only. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister, had openly stated that there should be a divorce between Andhra and Telangana, if the latter so desired at any future date The demand for the Second SRC to settle the issue could have some basis if the first SRC recommended the formation of composite Andhra Pradesh State, and disrupting such an arrangement, it could be argued, would require re-examination of the whole issue by a similar high level expert and quasi-judicial body. But the First SRC had recommended the formation of Telangana State after examining all the relevant aspects and their recommendation was not honored. In a situation like this, the will of the people of Telangana, as expressed by the large majority of the legislators from the region, can alone be the guiding principle. This has been expressed time and again in favor of separate Statehood in the last four decades through the democratic process vindicating the position taken by the SRC. Even in the byelections held in May 2008, it is common knowledge that the major political parties, including the Congress, approached the voters pledging themselves in favor of Statehood for Telangana. Therefore, in the case of this last election, the rallying slogan of different parties favoring Telangana should be taken as an index of support for separate Statehood. Despite this background, the recent decision of the State Government on the last day of the final session of the State Assembly to constitute a Committee, consisting of the representatives of both the State Assembly and the Legislative Council, for examining the issues connected with Statehood for Telangana will not carry any credibility whatsoever. This Telangana Academy of Excellence Page 41 - 47

has only strengthened the suspicion that it is a diversionary move on the eve of the general elections, especially in the light of the past experience that even the recommendation made by a high level body like the SRC favoring Telangana was ignored by the powers-that-be. This move is virtually a non-starter as major political parties have declined to nominate their representatives on this Committee. Statehood for Telangana: The Current Stalemate The newly created smaller States, namely, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, have achieved much higher growth rates in their GSDP than the targets set for the Tenth Five Year Plan, whereas the growth rates achieved by their parent states, namely, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh fell significantly short of the targets. (Planning Commission, 2008; Rao, 2009) Further, the growth rates achieved in the first two years of the Eleventh Plan, that is, 2007-08 and 2008-09, by Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand were significantly higher than those achieved by their parent States. Apart from releasing the creative energies of the people, viability of smaller States may have contributed to better governance, attracting greater private investment from outside as well as planning and utilizing resources more efficiently. (World Bank, 2007) An extremely encouraging development is in respect of Bihar, where the average growth rate achieved at 9.7 per cent per annum during these two years was significantly higher than for Jharkhand at 5.8 per cent per annum. (Aiyar, 2010; Rao, 2010) This may be explained by improved governance, of late, in this State, facilitated not the least by the fact that with the creation of Jharkhand, Bihar has become less heterogeneous and much smaller in area, with the size of its population getting reduced by about 25 per cent. Telangana Academy of Excellence Page 42 - 47

Experience has demonstrated the failure of regional planning to ensure adequate development of backward regions within the larger States. This is explained by the politics of planning in democracy inherent in such States characterized by regional unevenness in development. The experience of Maharashtra and Gujarat amply illustrates the failure to develop backward regions, despite the existence of constitutional provisions for setting up Regional Planning Boards and the powers entrusted to the Governor to review the progress of development under such regional plans. This experience underlines the need for conceding separate Statehood for certain backward regions like Telangana and Vidarbha. The observations of B.R. Ambedkar, the principal architect of our Constitution, on the desirability of smaller States are prophetic. He welcomed the recommendation of the States Reorganization Commission in 1955 for the creation of Hyderabad State consisting of Telangana region and creation of Vidarbha as a separate State. Further, he envisaged the division of Uttar Pradesh into three States (Western, Central and Eastern); Bihar into two (North and South or present Jharkhand); Madhya Pradesh into two (Northern and Southern); and Maharashtra into three (Western, Central and Eastern). He was for linguistic homogeneity of a State in the sense of one State-one language and not one language-one State. He thus envisaged two Telugu speaking States, three Marathi speaking States and a large number of Hindi speaking States. (Ambedkar, 1979) While arguing for smaller States, Dr. B.R.Ambedkar was guided basically by two considerations. One, no single State should be large enough to exercise undue influence in the federation. Drawing from the American Telangana Academy of Excellence Page 43 - 47

experience, he thought that smaller States were in the best interests of healthy federalism. On this issue, his views were similar to those of K.M. Panikkar, set out in his note of dissent to the Report of the States Reorganization Commission. Second, he thought that socially disadvantaged sections are likely to be subjected to greater discrimination in bigger States because of the consolidation of socially privileged or dominant groups. (Dr. B.R.Ambedkar, 1979) Over the last half-a-century, two new dimensions have been added. Population growth and the multiplicity of developmental functions have rendered governance in large-size States inefficient. Secondly, in the context of development planning under democracy, significant regional diversities with respect to the historically inherited levels of infrastructure and institutions within certain large States have given rise to severe tensions concerning the distribution of benefits from development. These tensions have reached a point where harmonious development seems no longer possible without their break-up into smaller States which are relatively homogeneous. The agitations for separate Statehood for Telangana in the Telangana region as well as for Samaikhya (United) Andhra Pradesh in the Andhra region are in full swing now. The agitation in Telangana is unprecedented in its sweep, being universal or, at any rate, far more widespread than in 1969, involving, among others, students, farmers, women and even children. The movement is virtually taken over and led by the students, all of whom were obviously born at least a decade after the agitation of 1969. It appears as if history is repeating itself or time is standing still for over four decades so far as this issue is concerned. Curiously, in the case of the Andhra region, history appears to have been overturned. Telangana Academy of Excellence Page 44 - 47

The Jai Andhra or separate Andhra agitation of 1972-73 was triggeredoff by the land reform legislation and the validation of Mulki Rules (preference for natives of Telangana in employment) by the Supreme Court, because of which the big landed sections as well as educated youth could lose in the integrated State. Over the last four decades, however, certain leading business sections, including those involved in real estate business from the SeemaAndhra region developed a big stake in Telangana, particularly in and around Hyderabad City. Thanks to the lop-sided urbanization and concentration of financial sector services and IT industry in Hyderabad in the post-reform period, the educated youth most of whom were born after the Jai Andhra agitation like their Telangana counterpartscould understandably have developed an emotional identification with the capital city and so a stake in Samaikhya (United) Andhra Pradesh. Guided by the consensus among the major political parties in favor of formation of separate Telangana State, as espoused in their election manifestos and reiterated by them as recently as on December 7, 2009. The Central Government on December 9 announced its decision to initiate the process for the formation of the Telangana State. Within hours, this decision triggered off a counter-agitation in the Andhra region for a united Andhra Pradesh, leaders of the major political parties taking sides by getting divided horizontally on regional lines. It is not clear whether these leaders did not mean what they promised earlier on Telangana in the expectation that no worthwhile initiative would come from the Centre or could not anticipate the adverse public reaction in the Andhra region in the event of any favorable move on the issue. In any case, this has placed the Centre in a difficult situation leading to the stalemate in the resolution of the crisis. Telangana Academy of Excellence Page 45 - 47

As it is, the Constitution fully empowers the Centre to carve out new States, the role of the State legislatures being limited to merely expressing their views on the proposed Bill by the Centre. While politics cannot be wished away in a democracy and the Centre cannot normally be expected to proceed against the wishes of the majority of legislators of a State, ultimately, politics in a democracy have to come to terms with the provisions of the Constitution and respect the universal demand of the people of a region for separate Statehood. Also, in the long-run, the youth of any region in the modern age, imbued as it would be with the democratic spirit, would come to respect the peoples wishes from the other region for separate Statehood. Besides, a pride in the capacity to develop opportunities in ones own State is bound to come into play. Addressing the legitimate concerns of the stakeholders is essential to facilitate this process. There is no alternative to the Centre as well as the leaders of both the regions taking initiatives for a constructive dialogue for resolving the outstanding issues by addressing the legitimate concerns of the stakeholders, to pave the way for separate Statehood for Telangana and thus end the perpetual uncertainty undermining the harmonious development of both the regions. While agitations are necessary for the assertion of legitimate rights, in a democracy, constructive dialogue is indispensable for bringing such aspirations to fruition. History tells us that it is the will of the people that ultimately prevails. It is only a question of time. I would like to request you to visits our place and consider our consensus, grievances and how we were betrayed by SeemaAndhra rulers last 53 years in all the aspects.

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If you happen to receive hundreds of copies of this text, you may safely conclude that this is the collective opinion of educated, open-minded and socially conscious of Telanganites.

Jai Hind - Jai Telangana

Yours Sincerely, Arjula Shashi Kumar Reddy B.E., AMIETE, AMIE, MIEEE, Executive MBA, PMP. President - Telangana Academy of Excellence
(Associate NGO of Telangana Development Forum Global Registered Trust)

(Telangana Academy of Excellence is a registered Non-Political & Not for Profit Organisation with a registration number 243/2010 under Public Societies Registration Act 2001. TAE works for creating Employable, Resourceful Telanganites & Young Social Entrepreneurs in Telangana)

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