Few months ago I was travelling from Chennai to Hyderabad on
personal visit; i had booked tickets on bus operated by “Orange Travels” as I
did not get tickets on train. This bus was fitted everything that any modern
traveller can look for, as bus movement
could be tracked from internet as this was fitted with a GPS device, also you could
preorder food and sweets from any chosen good restaurants in Hyderabad and they
deliver at your seat and they serve some free snacks and water as journey starts.
On top of all it was said they are punctual and in fact, they were. By any
standards, this is quite luxury any traveller can afford.
As I was not carrying any book, so my concentration drifted
to the conversation that drivers were having- they were talking in chaste Telangani
(if I may term Telangana Telugu as that way). The moment drivers notice that
passenger is from Andhra, these drivers started adding “andi” for every word
they utter and also changed their slang to Andhra dialect flawlessly and
continued their conversation in chaste Telangani as the passenger settles in
his seat. It was amazing to see a Telanganite displaying so much business
acumen and was wondering “you can’t keep your natural skills in dormant forever
and given an opportunity every skill can be acquired and used to the perfection”.
As I get off the bus, I asked bus boy where he belonged and who were the owners
and he replied he was from Mahabubngar and owners are “Manolle”-that means
Telanganites.
In hostile environment where government heads are having no
love for Telanganite, we are making headway in many places. “Orange travels”
story is the best example. There are many green shoots like a orange travel in
otherwise barren land- Telangana.This small incident throws away many lessons
to the Telangana society –we have all it takes to build institutions,-we are
bold when it comes to doing business as we are lion hearted thanks to our
Muslim rulers and friends
What should be our economic Model?
As we have seen in “Orange case”, in small scales we did
better without much of the support of government. How can we take it further to
build bigger and better companies to employ more people and bring joy to everybody and what
economic philosophy we should be wedded to achieve great joy. Given the fact
that state is around the corner, what kind of economic model we have to choose.
It is high time Telangana society should recognize the fact that jobs can’t be
created only in government. However larger number should be created in private
only. We have to drive out the thought that jobs means only government jobs .We
need to encourage private sector in a big way and across the state. And also we
need to ensure that all the un-skilled and semi-skilled jobs are reserved for
the local people and government do it best to create enough pool of
semi-skilled people.
For historic reasons, Telangana society and Telangana
intelligentsia has love for red way (left wing model-communism) .In changed
circumstances globally “red way” model may not work well given the
insurmountable challenge ahead of us. We may need to embrace “white way (right
wing model-capitalism)”. ”White way” in totality may not suit society as such
as we were the major victims of “Andhra Capitalism” in the past 20 years as it uprooted most of the villagers to give land to Andhra
capitalist forces. We need to have right wing economic policy with left heart
which is judicious mix of both. We need to trek the middle path-if I may say so
– “Orange way”. It is tough task ahead for Telangana political establishment.
Environment to experiment:
The only way we can create more entrepreneurs is -giving the
people an opportunity to experiment and fail. Part of it has to be created by
the society, parents and education system. And other part should be supported
by the government by promoting the environment in terms of easy loans for
entrepreneurs of all sizes. Historically loan disbursement is the lowest in
Telangana. Partly reason is that most of the Bank managers were from Andhra and
they were circumspect and also never understood the society. Government must
make it a point to populate most of the banks with people of the land.
This can be done at three levels. Micro level – Allowing
easy loans for un-skilled people so that they can be entrepreneurial and move
away from agriculture. Macro level – For medium level entrepreneurs through
state finance corporation and third, most importantly, for students at the
university level.SFCs must provide portion of their allocated money for
universities so that students can get a chance to experiment. Even money squandered,
that is social cost.
Education:
Lack of education damaged the Telangana prospects two times
greatly in the past 50 years. In the early 1960s, we did not have English
medium educated workforce helped Andhra lobby a lot and that way they have
developed strong hold on the administration. In the second wave lack of
technical education did not help us to gain entry into so many central government
backed PSUS in Hyderabad like ECIL, BHEL and all that. We could not capitalize
on that though they are sitting at the epicenter of Telangana society because
of lack of technical education. These two things put us at historical disadvantage
.It is high time that we correct it.
General Education
Telangana parents are scarifying everything possible to
educate their children English medium coupled with KCR vision to create
government run English medium residential schools should solve the main issues
of modern education across the board from village level to city. Current
history books make us to believe that history started from 1956 Nov 1 itself
and they conveniently ignore the fact there was a state before that. And
children are made to study about all the important places in Andhra like Annavram
temple and all that, though historical and famous places in Telangana are neglected.
There many wrongs we are made to study. We need to rewrite the whole history
and also all Telangana great people stories must be told to younger generation.
We need to set up “Indoctrinate
committee” to rid of all negative portrayal of Telangana in the text books
and set the records straight. We also need to fill up all our text books with
stories that people can achieve anything.
Skill education
We need to solve our historical second problem- giving
technical and vocational training to Telangana people. Andhra governments have
succeeded in not skilling the people of Telangana to grab all technical
opportunities in technical field. We need to take this on war footing basis to
skill the people with what industry demand. We need to do this in a big way.
Mind you Telangana has least number of Polytechnics and ITIs. We need to consolidate
all of technical institutes we have and make them centers of excellence. There
is no point in allocating few more polytechnic institutes to districts based on
the demand. Instead we need to take holistic picture and consolidate these
institutes and make them center of excellence and creating them across state
and move the students from region to other. We need roughly organize our polytechnics
and ITI under one banner something like following.
·
Telangana Skill building Institute
(Construction-Carpentry and House wiring, Plumbing)
·
Telangana Skill building Institute (Electronics)
·
Telangana Skill building Institute (Human
Resources-Office Works, English Speaking)
University education
For the namesake or appease few districts there is point in
giving university to each distircts.Yes, universities should be spread across Telangana
but they should be center of excellences not mere universities with all
courses. We have general universities covering all disciplines like OU and Central
and all other universities must be “Centre of excellence”. For example –
Palamur University be science university and Nalgonda university be some other.
We need to kill all our private engineering colleges that mush roomed across Telangana who are not
maintain any quality by withdrawing the largesse that current government
handing – fee reimbursement. That will have natural death. Then build few
engineering schools with public-private partnership in the lines of
polytechnics.
Health:
We have the worst government health facilities perhaps in
south India. We need to have government hostotal coupled with college in every
district head quarter. And major hospitals in every Parliamentary constituency
to deburden on Osmania and other hospital as they can concentrate only on major
cases. As KCR said many times if at least two major hospitals are created in
the army lines and nothing could be asked more.
Irrigation:
Telangana farmer was as much killed by lack of major irrigation
as much as minor irrigation. Andhra government’s systemic paralysis they
inflicted on Telangana tank system more unpardonable than major irrigation.
There goes a story that Brahmananda reddy went on record saying that if your
tanks were full how come water reaches coastal lands. What Nizam did to
Telangana tank system and Andhra government undone by killing all our lakes.
We need to rebuild and relay the most of the lakes. Let us
not go behind big projects. Let us start small. One big project on Krishna and
one on Godavari and nothing more. Let us rebuild all our lake as they need
immediate repair and support. Let us not do the same mistake as what AP has
done by siphoning so many funds into contractors pockets and instead filling their
pockets let us fill the trusty throats and parched lands of Telangana. By
sticking to the simple philosophy start small and simple and solve one problem
at a time.
Migration Policy:
Great Nizam rulers did as part of their policy encouraging
other people to come and contribute to the society and we need to continue that
and apply the same within region as well. If I have to single out biggest
problem of Andhra Pradesh experiment had – one way migration or lack of
migration of one region to other within State. Intra migration and inter
migration helps a lot in making of any society. The policy of migration should
be encouraged and inculcated as a part of the public policy of the government
of the day. Telangana government should encourage this to avoid any future conflicts.
Let us not forget that there are bound to be issues within
Telangana in future. Some kind of disparities within Telangana. It is possible
that north Telangana may dominate Telangana as they were the protagonist of
whole Telangana movement. I hope that will not happen. Simply reason being to
make Telangana prosperous we need to exploit two rivers Krishna and Godavari.
The moment you exploit Krishna water south Telangana gets its due and the
moment you exploit Godavari you will have north Telangana gets its due.Thoguh
first Telangana movement was primarily led by central and south Telangana and
second Telangana movement south Telangana failed to throw up a strong leader to
shoulder the movement. We need to solve this potential problem. This has very
simple solution- let us move people from one region to other and this should be
kind of forced migration. When people movement happens, sub regional cultures
can be understood and in turn problems .Problem is half solved when it is
understood.
I never ventured into north of Telangana nor my family
entire life as there was never a need to do that. I do not know how Nizamabad
or Karimnagar looks. This might be the problem of many in south and does not
augur well for future of Telangana.
Intra State Migration
Migration can’t happen on its own and we need to have some
public policy in place to encourage that. The only way government can encourage
is by building center of excellences across the state and forcing the people to
move there to work and study. Creating industries across width and breadth of
state can force migration naturally. Taking district as unit to for government
transfers is another policy. Yes I understood they are radical but in the best
interest of state we need to do that.
Inter State Migration
As much as we want intra state migration, we need to
encourage interstate migration. Great learning can happen by interacting with
different cultures and people. This has to be part of public policy and must be
state funded one. We need to build “Telangana Bhavans” across neighboring
states and also in some major cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata- where
subsidized accommodation must be provided. So that people have a nest for them
even if they go out to faraway place in search of job or poets and social scientists
go there to establish interactions with other society. They must be culture
centers and meeting points for all the Nonresident Telangana people.
Culture and Cinéma
Urdu Proéminence:
We have seen how language can be used as political weapon to
suppress the democratic aspirations of other region and also how danger it is
to tie you to language based politics. And it is high time if we, as a society,
realize and stop seeing language through political or religion prism. Unfortunately
some people started equating language with religion and we have to shun it.let
us not treat Urdu as language of Muslims alone and instead see it as means to
understand a part of the society. Urdu needs to be given as much prominence as
any language gets. Let us not have Telugu university and let it be named as
University of Languages and let each language flourish there.
Folk Artists
Promotion
I do not think in independent India if any movement created
so many folk songs as much as Telangana movement. Telangana sensitization
happened mostly through the writing of Telangana artists than KCR speeches.
Telangana movement and society thrived on artists we should never forget their contribution
either to Telangana movement or to the society.
We need to promote it so that even in future they represent
voice for the voiceless. Some of the artists may not be at largesse of the
government just to avoid conflict of interests. Government of the day must
promote wholeheartedly and understand the true meaning what their artist
represent and take corrective actions instead of suppressing their voice. The
true way we can honor them by giving all prominent artists as honorary
professors in University of Languages and Culture to do their work from their
own comfort and Creating separate chairs in the universities for each folk arts
so that they can be passed on next generations.
Mini Telanganas
We need to create Mini Telanganas- good housing society
which equally represents every districts in Telangana- this should roughly in
the “Kutapllay Model”- NTR and Chandra Babu created these housing society to
migrate Andhra people from there to Telangana. This also helps Telangana other
way- sub regional cultures can be understood better and bond better. We also
need to create more Mini Telanganas where Andhra settlement is more to
neutralize their effect . Let us not forget the fact that-even in Telangana
there might some Andhra pockets that will influence. We need to neutralize them
politically fully by infiltrating Telangana population there. Let us create
‘Mini Telngana” in Kukat pallys across Hyderabad and in Khammam also. This
great way to neutralize their effect on policies.Mini Telanganas can also be
created by deploying the Industries in those areas.
Cinema
My Kerala friends say that Kerala cinema has many stories on
Telangana situation and conflicts with in Telangana. Given long turmoil
Telangana went though there are many human stories to be told to the world. Let
us give good cinemas to the India by telling human stories in the lines of
Kerala, Bengal or Iranian cinema not amalapuram types.Let us take Narsinga Rao
or Syam Benegal for inspiration not
Raghavendra rao.We need to build “Telangana Institute of Drama and Fine Arts”
in the lines of Prithvi theatre in Bombay ,in each and every distict all kind
of arts can be encouraged and performed for a nominal or subsidized cost. Let
those institutes be served as cultures centers and artists makers to the nation
and world.
Sports
It is bitter fact that Telangana youth are succumbing to bad
habits at very early age in villages, their energies must be channelized for
right sports. Creating residential sport school in every district may be good
idea.
Police Reform:
To suppress the leftwing extremism, police were given too
many powers. It really went too far.It went to an extent that normal crimes are
often dealt with encounter killings by utter disregard to constitutional rights.
Even recently for not allowing a police to have drinking in my farm, I was threatened
to be arrested put behind the bars. Common constable is so much powered under
the grab of handling naxalism as anybody can be termed as naxal. The way they
treated citizen while Telangana movement is on, under the instructions of high
office, is in public domain.
Telangana government must make every effort to humanize them
by involving them in social programs and making them accountable for even
certain social obligations like every student under his jurisdiction must be in
school and also divesting some powers. Even in police training, it was taught
to them that Telangana movement was not a just one. If Telangana officers are
not there we must ensure to take more neutral police officers from north India.
We need to handle all these issues at the root.
Close scrutiny of Telangana history reveals the fact that
Telangana is never at peace for the last 70 years or so.I reckon that Telangana
is inching towards most peaceful state now. I understand some of the ideas are
utopian. And it is high time that we sit together and build our dream land.
Jai Telangana.
