{"id":1141,"date":"2023-12-04T14:24:59","date_gmt":"2023-12-04T08:54:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/knowledgekart.in\/blog\/?p=1141"},"modified":"2024-05-11T16:07:20","modified_gmt":"2024-05-11T10:37:20","slug":"regionalism-its-dimensions-meaning-and-issues-for-upsc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/knowledgekart.in\/blog\/regionalism-its-dimensions-meaning-and-issues-for-upsc\/","title":{"rendered":"REGIONALISM ITS DIMENSIONS, MEANING AND ISSUES for UPSC"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Introduction<\/strong> REGIONALISM DIMENSIONS MEANING ISSUES
To understand regionalism, we need to know the various dimensions of the region. Region as a geographical unit,\u00a0is delimited\u00a0from\u00a0each other. Region as a social system, reflects the relation between different human beings and groups. Regions\u00a0are\u00a0organized\u00a0cooperation\u00a0in cultural, economic, political, or military fields. The region acts as a subject with a distinct identity, language, culture, and tradition.
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Regionalism is an ideology and political movement that seeks to advance the causes of regions. As a process, it plays a role within the nation as well as outside the nation i.e. at the international level. Both types of regionalism have different meanings and have positive as well as negative impacts on society, polity, diplomacy, economy, security, culture, development, negotiations, etc.
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At the international level, regionalism refers to transnational\u00a0cooperation\u00a0to meet a common goal or to resolve a shared problem or it refers to a group of countries such as-Western Europe, or\u00a0Southeast Asia, linked by geography, history or economic features. Used in this sense, regionalism refers to attempts to reinforce the links between these countries’ economic features.
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The second meaning of the term is regionalism at the national level refers to a process in which sub-state actors become increasingly powerful, and power devolves from the central level to regional governments. These are the regions within a country, distinguished in culture, language and other\u00a0sociocultural\u00a0factors.
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Now, we will discuss in detail about regionalism within nation w.r.t. INDIA only and then next we will discuss about regionalism at the international level.
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Regionalism within nation<\/strong>
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If the interest of one region or a state is asserted against the country as a whole or against another region\/state in a hostile way, and if a conflict is promoted by such alleged interests, then it can be called as regionalism.
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If someone is aspiring to or make special efforts to develop one\u2019s state or region or to remove poverty & make social justice there, then that cannot be called as regionalism. Regionalism doesn\u2019t means defending the federal features of the constitution. Any demand for separate state, autonomous region or for devolution of power below the state level is also, sometimes confused as regionalism.
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Regionalism in INDIA<\/strong>
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Roots of regionalism is in India\u2019s manifold diversity of languages, cultures, ethnic groups, communities, religions and so on, and encouraged by the regional concentration of those identity markers, and fueled by a sense of regional deprivation. For many centuries, India remained the land of many lands, regions, cultures and traditions.
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For instance, southern India (the home of Dravidian cultures), which is itself a region of many regions, is evidently different from the north, the west, the central and the north-east. Even the east of India is different from the North-East of India comprising today seven constituent units of Indian federation with the largest concentration of tribal people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regionalism has remained perhaps the most potent force in Indian politics ever since independence (1947), if not before. It has remained the main basis of many regional political parties which have governed many states since the late 1960s. Three clear patterns can be identified in the post-independence phases of accommodation of regional identity through statehood.
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First, in the 1950s and 1960s, intense (ethnic) mass mobilisation, often taking on a violent character, was the main force behind the state\u2019s response with an institutional package for statehood. Andhra Pradesh in India\u2019s south showed the way. The fast unto death in 1952 of the legendary (Telugu) leader Potti Sriramulu for a state for the Telegu-speakers out of the composite Madras Presidency moved an otherwise reluctant Jawaharlal Nehru, a top nationalist leader and it was followed by State reorganisation commission under Fazal Ali paving way for State Reorganization Act, 1956.
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Second, in the 1970s and 1980s, the main focus of reorganization was India\u2019s North-east. The basis of reorganization was tribal insurgency for separation and statehood. The main institutional response of the Union government was the North-eastern States Reorganisation Act, 1971 which upgraded the Union Territories of Manipur and Tripura, and the Sub-State of Meghalaya to full statehood, and Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh (then Tribal Districts) to Union Territories. The latter became states in 1986. Goa (based on Konkani language (8th<\/sup> Schedule)), which became a state in 1987, was the sole exception.
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Third, the movements for the three new states (created in 2000)\u2014Chhattisgarh out of Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand out of Bihar and Uttaranchal out of Uttar Pradesh\u2014 were long-drawn but became vigorous in the 1990s. And the most recent one, we can see with the division of Andhra Pradesh, giving a separate Telangana, which started in 1950s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Potential cause for regionalism:<\/strong> Regionalism could have flourished in India, if any state\/region had felt that it was being culturally dominated or discriminated against.
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Regional economic inequality is a potent time bomb directed against national unity and political stability. But, this potential cause did not take shape of regionalism, because of government steps, which focussed on the balanced regional development and fulfilled the aspiration of states.
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Few of them are \u2013 Industrial Policy, 1956, National Integration council, 1961. Transfer of financial resources to poorer states on the recommendation of Finance commission.
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Planning became an important tool through Planning commission and Five year plans. But the new government is planning to devolve the planning power to the respective states, so that they can do planning with real-time approach of their respective needs and requirements.
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The central government has categorized states on the basis of backwardness and accordingly gives grants and loans. In September 2013, Raghuram Rajan, recommended a new index of backwardness to determine- which state need special help from central government. It is composed of 10 equally weighted indicators. According to that, Orissa and Bihar are the most backward states.
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Regular public investment by central government through centrally sponsored schemes have focussed on development of necessary infrastructure and poverty eradication, integrated rural development, education, health, family planning, etc. For example- Prdhan Mantri Gram sadka yojana, Mid day meal, MGNREGA, etc.
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Government at centre and states give incentives to private players to develop in backward states through subsidies, taxation, etc. Nationalisation of banks, granting new banking licences, making mandatory for banks to open rural branches are few other steps for inclusive development and balanced regional development.
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There are certain discrepancies at the implementation part of these schemes. Few areas have been neglected like irrigation, which has created agricultural disparity. Rain fed and dry land agriculture also have been neglected, which became cause for suicide of farmers in various states (Coverage of P. Sainath, gives us more insights on such issues.)In reality, the interstate industrial disparity, agricultural disparity, number of BPL, etc. are decreasing. But, more actions are needed to completely eradicate the disparities
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Why regional disparity still persists?<\/strong>
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Low rate of economic growth:<\/strong> The economic growth of India has been fluctuating since independence. But with respect to High population growth, the economic growth has been not enough to catch the development with full speed. In the last decade, the economic growth were progressive, but now they are reeling under the influence of world economic crisis and other bottlenecks at domestic level.
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Socio-economic and political organisation of states:<\/strong> The states have been unable to do the adequate land reforms and the feudal mentality still persists. Bhoodan and Gramdaan movements, after independence, were not enthusiastically carried and even land under land Banks were not efficiently distributed. The political activities in the backward states were limited to vote bank politics and scams.
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Lower level of infrastructural facilities in backward states:<\/strong> The level of infrastructural development, such as- power distribution, irrigation facilities, roads, modern markets for agricultural produce has been at back stage. All these are state list subjects.
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Low level of social expenditure by states on education, health and sanitation:<\/strong> These subjects are core for human resource development. The sates which have invested heavily on these subjects, fall under the developed and advanced states, for example Tamil Nadu, where health care services in Primary health centre is bench mark for other states.
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Political and administration failure<\/strong>: This is source of tension and gives birth to sub-regional movements for separate states. Jarkhand, Chattisgarh, Uttrakhand and recently Telangana are result of these failure only. Many such demands are in pipeline such as- Vidarbha, Saurashtra, Darjeeling and Bodoland, etc. These failures also weakens the confidence of private players and do not attract investors in the states.
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\u201cSon of the soil\u201d<\/strong> doctrine explains a form of regionalism, which is in discussion since 1950. According to it, a state specifically belongs to the main linguistic group inhabiting it or that the state constitutes the exclusive homeland of its main language speakers, who are the sons of the soil or local residents.
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Why son of the soil?<\/strong>
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