Is Demand for Separate Vidarbha Justifiable?

One, who studies the social, economical & especially political developments in Maharashtra, constantly comes across the study of movement for Separate Vidarbha State. Neither Government, nor political leaders and local leaders from Vidarbha have been successful in resolving this issue. The movement has long history, strong following and strong reasoning from the region. The issue needs to be resolved; otherwise it may come out as one of the major obstacles in the path of development of present Maharashtra.

However, one needs to understand that, the Vidarbha Movement, i.e. Demand for separate Vidarbha state didn’t emerge overnight. To make a firm, unbiased and well studied opinion about the movement we need to go through the demographic, geographical, economic & political reasons which have still kept the movement alive.

Vidarbha (97,321 sq.kms) occupies around 31.6% of total area of Maharashtra and has population of 23 million according to 2011 census. It is the Eastern region of Maharahtra under administration of Amravati and Nagpur Divisions.  The region comprises of 11 districts (Akola, Amravati, Nagpur, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, Bhandara, Gondiya, Yavatmal, Vashim, Buldhana, Wardha). The region is dominated by Marathi speaking people. However, Hindi, Gondi and other tribal languages are common in the region.

Mentioning this factual data becomes important as because the proposed state of Vidarbha corresponds to this demographic structure.

The roots of Vidarbha Movement can be traced back in the British History. In 1853, British formed the ‘Nagpur Province’ with Nagpur as its capital. In 1861, central province was formed with addition of Chhattisgarh & Chindwara. Nagpur remained Capital of this region. By 1903, Berar was also brought under the control of Commissioner of Central province. By the Government of India Act, 1935 Central Province & Berar was given a status of the ‘State’. Even after independence, the region was renamed as Madhya Pradesh and Nagpur enjoyed the status of capital. The people of the region were never under the umbrella of Bombay state. These developments created a sense of independent identity among the inhabitants.

After the linguistic reorganization of states, Vidarbha was made a part of Maharahtra state, mainly due to the interference of congress leaders from Western Maharashtra. With this development, Nagpur became the first city in independent India which lost the state capital status. It is during this period, the movement rooted firmly in the region. With the ‘Nagpur Pact’ localities could see a ray of hope of having equal opportunities of development with the western region. However, Vidarbha Movement is still alive because it is claimed that no clause of the ‘Nagpur Pact’ has ever been followed by the Government of Maharashtra.

Economic backwardness of the region can be seen as the most important cause behind the movement. 65% of the population depends upon the agriculture. Lack of irrigation facilities & other technological advancements make the region totally dependent upon regular (actually ‘irregular’) monsoon rainfall. With the poor rainfall of around 400-600 mm, farmers suffer a huge loss. To overcome, they take loans and fail to repay which has unfortunately resulted into indebtedness of peasants. The vicious circle doesn’t end here! Due to the constant indebtedness, Vidarbha has become infamous for large number of farmer’s suicides. Government schemes continue to fail and thus the discontent among the people for inefficient & ignorant political system adds fuel to the demand for separate state.

While Western Maharashtra, Marathwada continue to prosper with industrial development at large level, Vidarbha has remained backward in this context too. Electricity & water are two most important components of any industry. Vidarbha is surplus in electricity. Also, East Vidarbha gets ample amount of rainfall, but due to the improper water management, it is not being utilized properly. Employment opportunities can be provided to the youth in vidarbha through development in industrial sector, but unfortunately these things generally remain ignored. State as well as Center is equally passive about this issue.   

  Back to the argument with some statistical analysis, Vidarbha possesses 2/3^rd of Maharashtra’s mineral resources, 3/4^th  of forest resources & is a net producer of ‘power’. Still it is economically poor. Followers of Vidarbha Movement claim that if Vidarbha is given the status of independent state, it can attain prosperity with caring and efficient government.

Ample amount of political reasons further strengthen the movement for Separate Vidarbha. Nobody can deny that the politics of Maharashtra is mainly dominated by western Maharashtra and somewhere Marathwada. Lack of political will, constant ignorance by the government, weak policies & ineffective implementation add to the plight of Vidarbha. More so, despite of having had chief ministers and other important political leaders from the region, basic demands of the region have not yet been fulfilled.

To cut a long story short, Vidarbha which is bestowed with the vast territory, large population, distinct culture, richness in resources and tourism attractions, is facing problems due to ineeficiency of political system. Hence, the demand for separate state cannot be declared as totally irrational.

However, despite of rationality of demand, the solution,i.e. separate state seems to be irrational, incomplete and immature. The fact is disheartening that the problems of localites are being politicized by the leaders of movement. Unfortunately, instead of paying attention towards resolving the issues, they are being considered as the ‘source of power’.

It seems that Vidarbha Movement is being driven by ‘Power Approach’ instead of ‘Developmental Approach’.

Secondly, the movement is based on the false notion that independent Vidarbha state will be totally self reliant. It cannot be so! For e.g. Natural resources in the region will need an industrial belt of Western Maharashtra as its processor as well as buyer. Because one must notice that the demand for natural mineral wealth of Vidarbha mainly comes from central and Western Maharashtra. Also, it is important to note that Maharashtra, having second largest territory, is one of the most advanced states in India considering the cultural, social, political as well as economic factors.

Another important point which I would like to bring your notice is the present political scenario in Maharashtra. With having Devendra Phadanvis as Honorable Chief Minister, there are also political representatives from the region like Sudhir Mungantiwar, Nitin Gadkari who are managing the important portfolios in the state and central cabinet. Hence, it is pretty clear that there is sufficient political representation from the region. As we have discussed before, strong political will can make a drastic change in conditions of Vidarbha.

Along with strong political will, there can be suggested few measures or steps which can be taken for the overall growth and development of Vidarbha:

1.     Joint initiative should be taken by the state and central government as well as financial institutions to ensure prosperity of farmers. For that, low interest loans, direct aids, advanced technology in subsidized rates can be provided

2.     Encouragement for adoption of allied activities with agriculture

3.     Increase in political representation and active participation from Vidarbha

4.     Establishment of independent government authorized group or association seeking the purpose of developed Vidarbha

5.     Creating the investment friendly environment to encourage economic activities

6.     Step towards transforming Vidarbha as a tourism attraction

7.     Encouragement to the ‘Make in India’ policy by providing positive concessions

8.     Single Window Clearance system for reputed and authorized companies

9.     Development of IT parks

10. Special agency to monitories economic development

To put my argument in simple words, merely giving the recognition to Vidarbha as independent state cannot solve the problems of the region. Despite of having considerable number of representatives, Vidarbha has remained backward. There are possibilities of further degradation in status of Vidarbha if these leaders do not take effective steps for growth after getting the recognition  as independent state.  If purely economic and social prosperity is the concern, it can be attained under the same roof i.e. Present Maharahtra with greater assuarance.

As presently there are many able leaders from Vidarbha are enjoying authority over very important portfolios, it is indeed a great opportunity and platform for development of Vidarbha, the beautiful eastern region of Maharashtra!   

   Pankaj Ghuge.