Even as India got Independence on August 15, 1947, the Nizam of Hyderabad,Mir Osman Ali Khan,refused to accede to the Indian Union and it required the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the Home Minister of newly Independent India to launch a military action – Operation Polo – from September 15-18, 1948, to liberate the region from the Nizam’s tyrannical rule. On September 17, 1948, Hyderabad-Karnataka (Kalyana Karnataka) region merged with the Union of India.
With this, there was a fervent hope that the newly found independence and liberation will lead to unleashing creative energies by the people to achieve economic freedom and prosperity along with the political freedom and participation.
The hopes and aspirations of achieving economic prosperity in the new arrangement in a place with plentiful natural resources was not misplaced. The rich heritage of the region dating back to 6th Century gave the hope of reviving the glorious past.
The place ruled by Rashtrakutas, Chalukyas, Hoysalas and Kakatiyas of Warangal among others reminded the people of the golden past. The cult created by saint Basaveshwara, the 12th century philosopher and a social reformer had enriched the discourse of the region. The rich cultural heritage interspersed with a large number of historical monuments and several places of historical and religious significance.
Despite these endowments, the region continues to be the least developed in the State even after 75 years of liberation and the young population is still in search of developmental identity and looking for elusive opportunities leading to frustration.
Little did the people realise that endowments are not enough for development and the vestiges of the exploitative rule with its perverse incentive structure could continue to impede development.
The High-Power Committee headed by Dr DM Nanjundappa appointed to identify the backward regions and recommend measures for its redressal in 2002 identified that 21 of the most backward taluks in Karnataka were in Kalyana Karnataka region.
Altogether, the Committee identified 28 of the 31 taluks in the region as backward of which 21 were the most backward. A Special Development Plan was initiated from 2007-08 to make additional allocation of financial resources for the creation and strengthening of physical and social infrastructure.
The Constitution was amended to insert 371- J in 2012 to enable special focus on the development of the region. A new Institution, Kalyana Karnataka Regional Development Board (KKRB) was established in 2013 to steer the developmental process by identifying the gaps in infrastructure in the region as compared to other parts of the state and submit it to the Governor of the State.
The Board is required to prepare the medium-term plans and consistent with it the annual plans, create institutions and make the required professional appointments to accelerate development in the region.
Thus, in spite of political liberation 77 years ago, the people are yet to see economic freedom which can be achieved with the level of development comparable to other regions in the state. Political liberation without economic freedom is incomplete as a welfare proposition. According to Prof. Amartya Sen, people have their economic freedom only when they acquire capabilities.
Freedom to achieve wellbeing is important and it is by acquiring capabilities people can expand the opportunities to gain economic freedom. Thus, it is important that the region must develop economically to harness the vast potential by imparting capabilities to the young population.
Keeping the uneven developmental scenario, the government of Karnataka has appointed the Karnataka Regional Imbalances Redressal Committee headed by Prof M Govinda Rao to identify the backward regions and to recommend measures to accelerate development in these regions.
The Committee has been engaged in understanding the developmental pattern, identifying the backward taluks and analysing the reasons for the continued backwardness in such taluks with a view to recommend appropriate measures for its redressal. In doing so, the Committee has to recognize the resource potential of the region and recommend policies to harness the potential.
The most important resource of the region is its young population and empowering them with education, healthcare and skill development will be the most important intervention. It is also important to promote industrial investment to create employment opportunities.
The region has tremendous tourism potential and by creating the basic infrastructure and introducing tourism circuits can help in attracting many tourists and can have significant development potential. Urban areas are engines of economic growth and focus on providing urban infrastructure and services can help in creating the ecosystem. Similarly, improving connectivity will help in faster movement of goods and people and will create better communication systems.
Most of all, it is important to realise that institutions determine the structure of incentives and reforms in institutions and ensuring responsive governance should be a priority area.
(The authors are, Chairman and Member-Secretary, Karnataka Regional Imbalances Redressal Committee. The views are personal).