Survival kit for a separate Vidarbha
If carved out, will the Vidarbha state survive? Irrigation expert Madhukar Kimmatkar and state BJP unit president Devendra Fadnavis explained different reasons of why Vidarbha would not only survive, but also become a state with no other competitor.
Vidarbha will become the 30th state after Telangana if the demand for separate statehood is accepted. Rich in minerals, Vidarbha region has 93 per cent of the total minerals available in Maharashtra. “Vidarbha consumes only one-third of the energy it produces, while two-third of the energy is transmitted outside the region. If separated, it could make energy available to industries at cheaper rates and could attract more industries. This will also help the development of industries in the region,” said Mr Kimmatkar.
The irrigation expert informed that Vidarbha is also self-sufficient in terms of water. It receives sufficient rainfall every year. Apart from this, it is capable of irrigating 85 per cent of its agricultural land. “The land of the region is very fertile in nature. We produce cotton in big numbers unlike any other region of Maharashtra. We have natural sites for tourism, tiger corridor and all that is required for the development of a state,” Mr Kimmatkar explained.
He recalled that the Fazal Ali Commission had also stated in its report that, if separated, Vidarbha would be a revenue surplus state of the country. He also accused western Maharashtra for the exploitation of Vidarbha for the last 60 years.
According to Mr Fadnavis, Maharashtra gets all the environmental clearances on the basis of the forest land in the Vidarbha region, because 90 per cent of the forest of Maharashtra is in Vidarbha alone.
Mr Fadnavis also claimed that the Vidarbha state would get more financial assistance from the Centre and it would be able to take loan of around `1 lakh crore from the open market.
“Finance commission determines the allocation of central assistance for the state plan of every year, which depends on the per capita income of that state. Maharashtra gets limited assistance as it is in the category of developed states and only backward states get a big share of the Central assistance,” Mr Fadnavis said.
He added that if Vidarbha was formed then as a backward state it would get an outlay of `30,000 crore for the first five years as Central assistance.
However, Rishikesh Dubey, spokesperson of Akhand Maharashtra Kruti Samiti claimed the Vidarbha has nothing to survive on its own. He said that Vidarbha couldn’t survive only on basis of minerals. “Is there any city in Vidarbha that can afford to bear 25-30 per cent of the expenditure of the region like Mumbai, which bears around 25-30 per cent of expenditure of Maharashtra?” he asked.
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