Does India need smaller states ???

After the creation of Telangana, many smaller regions have demanded for the statehood.

Gorkhaland, Vidarbha, Bodoland, Bundelkhand, Saurashtra etc. are the frontrunners in the list. Many people are saying that this is ablow on the country’s unity while many are saying that it’s a process of decentralization which must be done. The matter of statehood shouldn’t be seen politically, it’s an administrative, cultural and social matter.

Smaller states are better than bigger states in many perspectives like electoral representation, development, administrative ease etc. Let us consider the following three arguments in favour of smaller states.

First, the argument that ‘small is beautiful’ does find resonance in the developmental experiences of the newly created smaller states. Factual analysis shows the development and efficiency
argument does work in favour of the new states when compared with the parent states. During
the tenth five-year plan period, Chhattisgarh averaged 9.2 percent growth annually compared
with 4.3 percent by Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand averaged 11.1 per cent annually compared with
4.7 percent by Bihar, and Uttarakhand achieved 8.8 per cent growth annually compared with 4.6
percent by Uttar Pradesh. Arguably, getting ‘a territory of their own’ unleashes the
untapped/suppressed growth potentials of the hitherto peripheral regions.

Second, comparatively smaller but compact geographical entities tend to ensure that there is
better democratic governance, as there is greater awareness among the policy makers about the
local needs. Smaller spatial units having linguistic compatibility and cultural homogeneity also
allow for better management, implementation and allocation of public resources in provisioning
basic social and economic infrastructure services. A relatively homogeneous smaller state allows
for easy communicability, enabling marginal social groups to articulate and raise their voices.

Third, smaller states provide gains for the electorates in terms of better representation of their
preferences in the composition of the government. In a patronage-based democracy like in India,
the amount of the transfer of state resources/largesse a constituency/region gets depends crucially
on whether the local representative belongs to the ruling party. Understanding this electoral logic
of patronage distribution, the electorates of a smaller region have a propensity to elect
representatives with preferences more closely aligned to those of the bigger region within the
state. Such a motive, however, would no longer operate once the region constitutes a separate
state.

So, if political parties really want to work for the betterment of society and people, smaller states should be made in India. That can also help in India’s quest of being SUPERPOWER !!!