Telangana empowered to write its own destiny

Tomorrow (Monday), a 40 year old agitation will enter history books as one which succeeded in its quest. The new state of Telangana, the 29th state of India, is being formed on June 2.

The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill, 2014, which was introduced in the Lok Sabha on February 18, 2014 was meant to reorganise the state of Andhra Pradesh. The Bill got the assent of the President of India on March 1 and was published in the official gazette. Now, referred to as The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, it comes into effect on June 2.

Both, Telangana and the rest of Andhra Pradesh are to have Hyderabad as their common capital for a period of 10 years. Ask those who have seen the movement over the years and it is apparent that all eyes are now on how things will pan out going forward. Says C H Hanumantha Rao, an economist, who has studied the whole matter, "One of the elements in the demand for Telangana had to do with political empowerment of the people of the region, to enable them to take their own decisions."

As is to be expected, on June 2, the focus will shift to what the new government will do. There are several issues which the new government will have to look into from power shortages, resolving issues around taxation to apportionment of assets, liabilities and employees between Telangana and Andhra.There are sectors like pharmaceuticals, IT/ ITES, education and biotechnology that have emerged and grown around Hyderabad, an important hub and growth engine for the Telangana region and industry will be looking to see ways in which investments into these sectors will be encouraged. Also, industry will be keenly watching the incentives Telangana will provide or seek to provide entrepreneurs in the region.

This becomes all the more important at a time when the Andhra region, led by N Chandrababu Naidu's TDP party is seeking grant of special status from the central government and incentives for the region. The day, the election results were announced on May 16th, K T Rama Rao, the senior party leader of ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi, and son of its founder K Chandrasekhar Rao, tweeted: "Sincere, heartfelt gratitude to all those that have voted/worked for TRS. Time for us to endeavour & deliver on the promise & expectations."

Here is how the 23 districts of the current state of Andhra Pradesh will be divided:

Telangana and its 10 districts:
Adilabad; Hyderabad; Karimnagar; Khammam; Mahbubnagar; Medak; Nalgonda; Nizamabad; Rangareddi; Warangal

The rest of the state - Andhra Pradesh and its 13 districts:
Anantapur; Chittoor; East Godavari; Guntur; Krishna; Kadapa Karnool; Nellore; Prakasam; Srikakulam; Vishakhapatnam; Vizianagaram; and West Godavari