Thursday, January 06, 2011

Telangana XV: Why the SKC's 'best option' is bound to fail

SKC’s mentions the following 2 as the best out the 6 options it considered: The remaining 4 options are examined but are seen unviable. So they don't merit a discussion at this stage.

SKC’s best option:
1)    Creating a constitutional/statutory regional council for Telangana with and also an apex committee that would coordinate between the council and the AP state government as and when required.

    This is mentioned as option VI - Keeping the State united by simultaneously providing certain definite Constitutional/Statutory measures for socio-economic development and political empowerment of Telangana region – creation of a statutorily empowered Telangana Regional Council

SKC’s second best option:
2)    Demerger with Telangana as a state with Hyderabad as capital.

    This is mentioned as option V - Bifurcation of the State into Telangana and Seemandhra as per existing boundaries with Hyderabad as the capital of Telangana and Seemandhra to have a new capital

The report came out as expected reserving its strongest recommendation for setting up the regional authority for Telangana. I blogged about this option earlier and predicted why the SKC would prefer this over the demerger. While this line of thinking is understandable, what is perplexing is the lousy way SKC put the idea across.

Why SKC’s best option (Option VI) in present form is bound to fail:
The report itself states “Earlier, a Regional Committee of the Legislature had been constituted by a Presidential Order under Article 371 through the Seventh Amendment in 1958. However, after the introduction of Six Point Formula, the Regional Committee was done away with by the Thirty Second Amendment in 1974. It has already been discussed in the Report (Chapter 1) that the Regional Committee did not fulfil the role envisioned for a statutory Regional Council under the Gentleman‟s Agreement, 1956“. So it was all the most imperative that the SKC bolster this option and make a strong pitch for it for this option to have any chance. 

There are 2 questions the SKC should have pondered over and put in more work.

1)    If the committee did not fulfill its role earlier, how would it do now? How would Telanganites buy a failed experiment again? 
2)   Why would the Andhra people now accept the separate committee that they got removed earlier?

The 1st question would bring an answer that this time the regional committee should be different and powerful with legislative powers if indeed it needs to considered seriously. But no, the SKC just mentions this could at best be a legislative consultative mechanism that submits its annual report to Andhra Pradesh assembly! And guess what it does not even cover HMDA. And reason? SKC lamely says “However, the area under HMDA will not be a part of the development sub-plan since there is a separate authority for this purpose headed by the Chief Minister.” Why could not the SKC think about a comprehensive solution for all Telangana regions? They did not even try. And this is when they themselves say “As it will possibly be the first case of an empowered Regional Council outside of the Sixth Schedule Areas, every care should be taken to ensure that the proposed Regional Council is fully empowered in real terms. This will be critical both for making the model acceptable across the board and for winning the confidence of the people.”

Regarding the 2nd question, the SKC mentions nothing that made them think Andhras will be happy with Telangana having its own regional council. They just assumed they will support. Same assumption went wrong in the past and it will wrong again. It is a matter of time before there is a ‘telugu atmagaurava udhyamam’ that demands parity across the telugu state and we would be back at square one.

With these flaws, option VI indeed has no chance to make people think and discuss. That would leave only the ‘second best option’ as the best for not just Telangana, but even Andhrites!

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Sunday, January 02, 2011

Death of a doyen - K.G.Kannabiran

An year after losing K.Balagopal, we lost yet another voice of reason and justice - K.G.Kannabiran. Hardly a few weeks before, SR Sankaran passed away. The brave good men are indeed getting fewer.

In an age where governments are getting more unscrupulous by the day in their greed and declining moral centre, it is all the more tragic that we don't have souls like these anymore to defend what is right and show the silent majority that courage of convictions is not a lost virtue. Their clarity of thought and courage of convictions is what that keeps any democratic civil society inspired and hopeful about a gradual transformation of our establishment for the better. They have shown with their struggle for civil rights that truth indeed would triumph if persisted with.

My earliest experience of Kannabiran is in my adolescence when I was plagued with questions about state's violence and social unrest around. Around 15 years ago, I heard him speak in a seminar in Warangal lucidly touching upon a question he said he was asked time and again by the press. He was asked why are the Naxalites seeking 'rights' cover under the constitution when they are in fact waging war over it and its product- the state? Mr Kannabiran in his eloquent style said the state has its constitution under which it should act. It should try outlaws as per its constitution. If it goes out of its way with fake encounters and extra-judicial killings, may be it feels it's constitution and it's system are inadequate! And that it's sense of law and justice is flawed! And that only would vindicate the left wing argument that the state is exploitative and discriminatory against the powerless and the poor. Thus, Mr Kannabiran stressed, the state should act within its limits while dealing with the Naxal 'outlaws', for its own good. The objectivity was striking and his defiance was inspiring. 

That is precisely the feeling he did not want the crowds to lose by hearing about his death. So he seemed to have requested to his kith and kin that the news of his death be not publicised. And that the world should keep thinking he is alive and his inspiring spirit is still around. What a beautiful thought and how beautiful life ?
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Friday, December 31, 2010

Telangana XIV: Will SKC strongly recommend a 'state-within-a-state'?

As Sri Krishna Committee(SKC) submitted its report yesterday, there has been anticipation and speculation on the 'options' the committee members said they will recommend to meet the aspirations of Telangana movement. This is what I feel. Looking at the committee members' statement that their report is seeking to achieve the "highest satisfaction of the largest number", the SKC seems to have given their strongest recommendation for a 'middle way' - one that results in Telangana as a separate administrative unit, but not a separate state. In short, Telangana could be a 'state within a state'.

Obviously, the SKC would list out a separate state as one of the 'choices' with its pros and cons but I guess they will make a strong case for the 'middle way' so that it is seriously considered by political parties and people of Telangana. Only after exhausting this option in all its forms, I guess the SKC would recommend central Government to consider granting statehood.

Present situation in Andhra Pradesh
Telangana movement has come to a point of no return. It is certain Andhra Pradesh would not continue politically for a long time as it is now. The state government's writ no more runs in Telangana, whether it is job recruitments or exams. Parties like TDP opposing the demerger (albeit covertly) are paying heavy political price. On the other hand, the demerger process has been 'too quick' and has not gone well with Andhrites, especially those who invested in Hyderabad and made it their home. One year the committee took did little to quell this disquiet.

It is this situation SKC could report and suggest a staged approach for gradual transition for the change to sink in. In this light, Telangana as a state may be realised only after a few years but the aspiration could be addressed immediately with an interim setup that initiates the demerger. This interim setup could be a 'state within a state', a middle way to assure both Andhra and Telangana that their concerns are taken care of.

Will Telangana get an interim setup?

After the SKC report submission, there could be discussions on laying down an interim setup in Telangana. This would while assuring Telanganites that things are moving would also buy time and make Andhrites involved to get assurances on their concerns - mainly river waters and their Hyderabad investments. The earlier experiment with a Telangana regional board failed because it had no constitutional mandate and it was a half-hearted token measure brought into effect to resemble self-rule. The board did not even have executive powers. Justice Fazal Ali in First SRC too suggested this would fail as these kind of regional authorities do not have constitutional mandate and hence no real teeth to implement their policies. This time the centre could hardsell this regional autonomous authority with a constitutional mandate with executive powers which means budget and policy at its disposal. Will the Telangana advocates be happy? I guess No. Telangana has now become a political aspiration more than anything. A matter of self-rule where they want their own real leaders to govern, not stooges as ministers and deputy CMs who are on 'Mute' mode all the time.

Telangana: State-within-a-State?

Telanganites now are in no mood to just settle for an administrative body, they will demand a law-making body - namely a legislature of their own. The Telangana regional authority/board, if recommended by SKC and proposed by centre would have a chance to get accepted by Telangana advocates only if the authority/board is given legislative powers. Now an authority with legislative powers would be equivalent to a state government. This is what is referred to as a 'state within a state'.

As this would be a state within a state, Hyderabad could serve as a 'joint-capital' of the regional authority and the Andhra Government in the interim period. The demerger could be completed after the stipulated interim period during which Andhra gets to build its political capital. This staged approach also can get support of common Andhrites who are opposing the demerger due to their emotional attachment and investments in the Hyderabad. In short, the demerger would be done without redrawing the map immediately! A revenue-sharing agreement could be mooted over the resources of Hyderabad for next 10 years or so with revenue being shared by Telangana regional authority and Andhra Govt. Over the years, the river water sharing will have to be worked out. After a stipulated number of years, the authority could metamorphose into a separate state and the demerger would be complete. Once this plan gets going, automatically Andhrites would be channelising their resources onto a new business capital in Coastal Andhra and Hyderabad would start losing the attention it has now as the crux of the problem.

Will anything other than statehood accepted?
If this is how the proposal comes, it would be interesting to see how the responses could be. Legislative powers and revenue-sharing over Hyderabad are tricky issues to agree over. Congress as a political party will salvage something on both sides - Andhra and Telangana. Right now it is in a pathetic situation and is seen as indecisive and rudderless. This proposal would be seen as affirmative and will score a few brownie points against TRS and YS Jaganmohan Reddy's unborn party. In Telangana, congress can prove it can do things on its own and deliver the state instead of just being a 'deer-in-the headlights' ready to be run over by the TRS juggernaut. After the disastrous by-polls, TDP too may not excuse itself out of the solution but may try along with the crony capitalists in congress to subvert the chance of the regional authority endowed with any legislative powers as that would mean losing the power to manipulate Hyderabad's resources.

It is again difficult to gauge Telanganites' reaction to the proposal. no meaningful debate happened over the last year and nothing prepared them for accepting a solution like this. They are expecting a 'state' in conventional sense. But if the legislative powers come through, especially without any clauses over Hyderabad, this could work for them. But with a specific time period after which the authority gives way to a full-fledged state. Till then, maybe the authority would have to report to the Governor.

Why I think a proposal like above can come up for discussion is because:
  • It won’t sound like someones triumph or defeat.
  • More importantly, this methodology could solve serious problems elsewhere in the country, like in Darjeeling, with constitutionally supported regional authorities which over time with or without a second SRC would metamorphose into separate states.
  • This is the only solution that will cool the tempers in AP and brings back a semblance of governance.
If the center tries to push for an authority without any legislative powers, I guess the streets would be full again of another round of agitation which would only result in a hardening of stance that would then settle for nothing less than statehood straightaway. 


Telanganites have relentlessly fought through democratic means to get their state and it is now time they are rewarded for their faith in democratic and constitutional means. They displayed patience and maturity and it is time that is acknowledged by the powers that be through a solution. Even in the pervasive political crookery we see every day, I have a hope the greatest civil movement I saw would fructify.

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