Debate with members of Jan Manch in August 2014

For many, the issue about not wanting a separate Vidarbha is an emotional issue; the language, ‘Marathi manus’ and being part of the same identity. For me, it's a lot more than that. First of all, I really like the romantic notion that becoming a separate state will lead to unbridled development and progress of the region! I am all for development, I love Nagpur and there is nothing more that I would like than progress and prosperity for people in this region….

But lets look at some hard facts before succumbing to this dream….

Maharashtra State was formed with three regions, Vidarbha (from CP), Marathwada (from Nizams Hyderabad) and the rest of Maharashtra, mostly from Bombay Presidency.

1.     Districts of Marathwada, most of Konkan and Vidarbha are pretty much at par, as regards HDI & PCI. So in fact when we talk about Vidarbha being backward, we talk about the rest of Maharashtra languishing behind the Mumbai/Pune region.

2.     We need to compare ourselves with neighbouring districts of MP, as for a century, we were capital of the Central Provinces, lets look at Seoni, Betul and Balaghat. They have a similar demographic, Human Development Index and climatic conditions…..where are they today and where are we? CP & Berar were in pretty much in a similar state in 1960, today the gap is huge. Growth in Vidarbha has actually been totally disproportionate with that of rest of MP that we left behind. Can we even compare the HDI for Vidarbha districts with those of CG & MP?

3.     The attitude! Of the Common Man and the Business community. We are always waiting for a miracle! In just my memory, it was Butibori first, Asia’s biggest industrial estate. Then MIHAN, and now separate Vidarbha. But what is the attitude of the  leaders of our business and political Community? Are we industrious, entrepreneurial and prepared to put in enough efforts…..or do we just want to make a quick buck from speculation? Who invested, profited and became stake holders in the MIHAN project? Was there anyone who came forward (with the notable exception of VED) to become key stakeholders in the development of this crucial project? NO….the only people who benefitted were those who speculated in real estate. In fact, speculation is the only thriving industry here. Then who do we blame? Leaders of Maharashtra? Were we not given enough opportunities?? So are our local leaders and the local business community to blame or those from Mumbai/Pune??

4.     We keep talking about Chattisgarh, yes, there was criminal negligence of CG by MP (already a very undeveloped state), but for all talk about development in CG, the mini-state seems to have really benefitted only very few, HDI is among the lowest in the country, lower than Bihar, Orissa and MP itself! And lets talk about Jharkhand. Mineral-rich, small state….but in what condition?? What about governance? Who leads this state? Smaller states (like mineral rich Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand) are much more vulnerable to the pressures of the corporations and multi-nationals due to their small- scale economies and the greed of the newly emergent regional elite.

5.     What is the political leadership here? And who will lead this state in politics and bureaucracy?

Lets be thankful…….thanks to Maharashtra, atleast we have a functioning legal, civic and administrative system here.  There will be political and bureaucratic anarchy benefitting very few here. Do we have the governance that is needed? The correct mentality for development? And how will we handle the naxal problem? I shudder to think that like CG, Jharkhand, the Coal Mafia, Mineral Mafia will move in quicker than we can imagine…..

All talks about larger states not working are irrelevant if the machinery functions properly. Look at Texas and California, the largest states of the US that lead the way in the worlds largest economy.

Yes, things in MH are not all great, yes the Government needs to pull up its socks, we need sops for underdeveloped regions, and the huge developmental backlog needs to be cleared on priority!

BUT is separate Vidarbha our ticket to progress or the end of a lifeline that keeps this region way ahead of immediate neighbours? I leave that to your discretion….