No case for separate Gorkhaland state

Saumitra Mohan, Deccan Herald, Oct 10, 2013: It is really quite disturbing and disconcerting to see some dormant statehood movements rearing their heads in the wake of the recent initiative to form a new Telangana state through division of the extant state of Andhra Pradesh. One also feels that most of these statehood movements are more of a reflection of the selfish and egotistic desires of the local elites of different hues than being embedded in the genuine aspirations of the local inhabitants. 

The proponents of the Gorkhaland movement have also intensified their demands recently advancing many reasons in support of their demands. They argue that Darjeeling was never geographically a part of West Bengal, that Darjeeling has been hugely exploited and underdeveloped by West Bengal and that Gorkhas being a different ethnic community, they deserve a separate state of their own. 

If we dissect and discuss all these reasons dispassionately, the demand for a separate Gorkhaland state definitely does not appear more than emotional outpourings. If we really consider the historicity of Darjeeling as a ground for formation of a separate state of Gorkhaland, then all the hard work done by our founding fathers of unifying those 565 motley princely states into a united India might come apart. 

Let's consider some other issues involved here. The hill areas of Darjeeling has a population of around 9.75 lakh of which around seven lakh people can roughly fall into the category of Gorkhas, the remaining being non-Gorkha communities. So, if a recognition were to be given to a statehood demand for a people of seven to nine lakh population, then how many constituent provinces should we be having in this country of over 125 crore people. If Gorkhas were to be given a separate state, then how many states are we actually bargaining for in a country where we have over 5,000 ethnic communities and castes with around 850 languages. 

Again, the alleged historical exploitation of Darjeeling by the state of West Bengal does not hold because Darjeeling has the best of social development indicators in the country and is definitely among the best in West Bengal as per the latest state Human Development Report. If underdevelopment and exploitation of Darjeeling can be cited as a justification for statehood, then Darjeeling ought to fall much behind in the queue for promotion to statehood. 

But still, if the statehood proponents believe that Darjeeling needs more development, then statehood is definitely no solution. We are all well conversant with the experiences of some of the already existing states. The fact remains that the proponents of any such statehood movements including those of Gorkhaland should actually be talking of good governance and holistic development than anything else. 

Given its size, Darjeeling already receives a disproportionate per capita share of resources compared to many other parts of the country. And a substantial share of these resources come from the state of West Bengal meaning thereby that West Bengal has traditionally been providing disproportionate resources to Darjeeling, often at the expense of the more backward and deserving areas of the state. The extant Gorkhaland Territorial Administration’s revenue from all sources is around Rs 3 crore annually. If we also include the revenue received by the state government from different sources, then at most the figure shall go up to around Rs 30 crore. 

Moreover, GTA has a plan and non-plan expenditure of around Rs 1,400 crore. If at all Darjeeling comprising the three hill sub-divisions becomes the cherished Gorkhaland state, the combined plan and non-plan expenditure is likely to shoot up to, at least, Rs 2,000 crores. So, if a region which has the best of developmental indicators and which has the revenue generation potential of only around Rs 30 crore, why should it be getting a disproportionate Rs 2,000 crore at the expense of the more deserving parts of the countries. 

The Gorkhaland champions should show that they are in a position to bear all the non-plan and, at least, a portion of the plan expenses of the proposed Gorkhaland state before demanding the same. If such a new entity expects to be spoon-fed through the Central government's doles, would not there be similar demands from other parts of the country. 

We ought to understand that a Gorkhaland state is not just about the emotional wishes of our countrymen in Darjeeling, but has much far-reaching insidious implications for the rest of the country. 

Many observers feel that our policy makers should consider all such statehood demands dispassionately once and for all through the instrumentality of a second States Reorganization Commission. 

Any such decision by the said Commission should be predicated on some logical pre-determined criteria including geographical contiguity and compactness, a suitable demographic size, administrative cohesiveness and financial viability