Telangana and Andhra

Gautam Pingle’s article (“The Historical Context of Andhra and Telangana, 1949-56”, EPW, 20 February) on the attempts to create Telangana is an absolutely fascinating article to read and reflect on. I read it four times and shared with several people in the World Bank and among friends from the Indian community in Washington DC.

In India, or in any country for that matter, creating a state is almost like creating a nation. Much of India’s economic and social development depends on how governance is achieved at the state level and in that sense if one reads the chronological account of the creation of Andhra Pradesh but non-creation of Telangana, one realises how complex the whole story has been for everyone involved for the past so many years. It also shows the reader how dissatisfied several groups in Andhra Pradesh must have been due to the constant uncertainty of their own geographical existence. The direct and indirect cost of such uncertainty can be imagined, and such cost has been and will remain a stumbling block for accelerating economic growth further.