India carving out its 29th state

India is preparing to carve out the new state of Telengana from the current state of Andhra Pradesh. What is more interesting is that the district of Hyderabad could also end up as a part of Telengana. This will only leave Andhra Pradesh broken and without a capital!

For the people of Telengana this comes as a huge victory. The Central government's announcement on the formation of a new state ends their 50-year long battle.

Residents of the Telangana region accuse the Andhra Pradesh government of neglecting their economic development in favour of the other fertile and developed regions of the state. According to them, carving out Telengana as a independent state is the only way to ensure the development of the region.

However justified this might sound, I believe the Indian government could try and come up with a better solution to this problem. Carving out a new state every time there is a shout, a demand, a protest and a fast will only end up in India being rechristened as the 'Country of Thousand States'. It may not come as a surprise when I say that the fight for a separate Gorkhaland has already begun.

The Indian government, rather than agreeing to carve out a new state, should have made sure that the people of Telengana received their fair share of financial support. The Centre could earmark a specific amount to be used for the developement of the Telegana region. It could establish certain 5-year or 10-year schemes for the betterment of the region and lives of the residents.

The real issue here is the development of Telengana and not the formation of a new state. The demand for a new state is due to the negligence of the Andhra Pradesh government. The Centre should have realised this. A new state is not the answer to this problem.

Whether the formation of a new state will help the people of Telengana is still unsure. But this move will surely provide the greedy and corrupt politicians more seats to fight for!