A weak-kneed government caved in to demands for Telengana, firing the first shots of an Indian future full of secessionist movements and Central subsidies to mismanaged states
The editorial paints an extremely bleak picture of India’s future. It begins thus:
The year is 2030. India, far from being a great power or a prosperous nation, is a poor country. Hobbled by secessionist movements and crippled by subsidies to keep a restive population at bay, it is a country past its prime. The first shots towards that possible scenario were fired late on Wednesday night. A weak-kneed Manmohan Singh government caved in to the demands of a fasting man and some stone pelting in Andhra Pradesh. Ancient Greeks called such behaviour akrasia, or weakness of will. The government of India is exhibiting it in ample measure.
On the other hand, we have Ramesh Srivats’ new blog, where he asks for “a hundred more Telengana’s please.” Srivats’ arguments favour independent cities and towns. He is a resident of Bangalore and concludes with the wish that his city could become one such independent city some day.
Both these opinions are correct in their own way. Of course, the model of a Bhateeja State is useless and unworkable. The only gainers will be politicians and bureaucrats. See Chhatisgarh or Jharkhand. Dehra Doon has gone down the tubes after the Uttarakhand State was formed.
I lived in Pondicherry for 3 years in the mid 1980s, taking my dog for a walk every night on Beach Road. It is about 2 km one way. As you begin you pass the new Secretariat building, where there are many IAS officers under a Chief Secretary. You pass the residence of the Lieutenant-Governor, the Legislative Assembly, the offices of the Inspector-General of Police, the residence of the Chief Minister… and so on. It is a tiny place, Pondicherry; and it has all this huge Bhateeja State government – while The City is a mess.
However, there is one disused building on Beach Road, left behind by the French, which never failed to amuse me – the Mayor’s Hall.
We must not think in terms of Bhateeja States. We must think of economically viable and politically independent cities and towns, each with its own Mayor, free trading and self-governing, and, what is most important, maintaining the city or town excellently.
We must reform not just the Chacha State, but all his Bhateejas as well. It is a huge task, I agree. But it must be done. It is what reason says will work. We need a system that works. Chacha and his Bhateejas are not the answer.
Recommended: Click the labels "civil government" and "subsidiarity" below and read the various posts under those heads.
That is it. Sauvik Da, you know how to crack the core of Indian state. I only think sometimes what particular point would come in history when these reforms in urban governance would no longer be obstructed by these Chachas and bhateejas.
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