Heights of doubt

Although Uttaranchal is born, the viability of the 27th state of the Indian Union will continue to be questioned. That it is the least viable of the three new states 8212; the others being Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand 8212; is borne out by the fact that it does not even have an adequate number of legislators to constitute a proper Assembly. Till fresh delimitation of constituencies takes place to make up the requisite number of legislators, the status of the Nityanand Swami government is that of an interim one. There are other imponderables as well. Unlike Raipur and Ranchi, on which a consensus exists, there has been no settlement on Dehra Dun as the capital of the state. Thus, for all practical purposes, it remains in a limbo. All this is not surprising given the fact that not much planning went into Uttaranchal. It would be pertinent to recall here that the demand for the state arose as a result of the Mandal agitation when the people of the hills feared that all the government jobs in the region would be grabbedby the Mandalites from the plains seeing that there were virtually no backward classes in the region. And when the Mulayam Singh government resorted to strong-arm methods to deal with the Uttarakhandis8217;, it played into the hands of the protagonists of separate statehood.

The inclusion of Udham Singh Nagar in the new state despite protests from the Sikh settlers there is a recognition that a state consisting entirely of hills is unviable. This has in its wake created fears among the Sikhs, and addressing these trepidations will be Governor Surjeet Singh Barnala8217;s primary task. The state is blessed with some of the most picturesque regions in the country and is home to some of its most sacred religious shrines but its tourist revenue, compared to that of a state like Rajasthan, is peanuts. Industries are practically non-existent in Uttaranchal, which means that it will necessarily have to depend on the Centre for its survival. The lack of progress in some of the states in the Northeast, which have a similar dependence, should have been an eye-opener for those clamouring for the new state. Given these constraints, it was quite bold and imaginative of the new chief minister to indicate that electronics would be made a cottage industry and students would have easier access toschools and colleges. But the taste of the pudding is in the eating. Swami cannot shy away from the stark fact that Uttaranchal comprises areas that are among the most backward in the country.

All these problems can be sorted out only if there is a modicum of political stability. Right now the BJP enjoys a steamroller majority in the interim Assembly but that need not necessarily translate into a stable government. The new chief minister is perceived to have been foisted on the state by the Centre and there is already considerable resentment among party MLAs over this imposition. Some of the party legislators even question Swami8217;s bona fides as a native of the region and a BJP activist, given the fact that he is originally from Haryana and had spent most of his political life in the Congress. Much will, of course, depend upon whether the Swami succeeds in ensuring that those who dreamt of a state that can fulfill the aspirations of the hills people don8217;t feel cheated, now or ever.