Globalisation and Reorganising Indian States: Retrospects and Porspects

This book has a modest aim – setting up a stage for debating the backlash effects of globalisation, so that corrective measures could be contemplated. To be specific, the book combines globalisation trends with those of socio-economic and political developments taking place in the country to indicate the future outcome. The author tests the hypothesis that globalisation induced changes produce economic frustrations among people. And these are easily exploitable into demands for smaller states by the political class given the dynamics of changes and their inter-relationships which are certainly taking place in socio-economic and political structures of the Indian society. Chapter I lays down the theoretical and conceptual framework of globalisation and emerging pressures for smaller states. Chapter II analyses the dynamics and interconnections of a number of socio-economic and political changes taking place in the multilingual, and multicultural, post-colonial democratic federal setting of India; and how they would lead to peoples’ frustrations which will be exploited into demands for smaller administrative units. Chapter III discusses the historical background of reorganization of states in India. Chapter IV brings out all possible factors, which matter and should be considered while formulating an approach to reorganize states in India. Chapter V focuses on the backgrounds and district profiles of the newly formed States – Chhatisgarh, Jarkhand, and Uttaranachal. The emerging socio-economic and political pressures for other regions like Bodoland, Gorkhaland, Harit Pradesh, Mithilanchal, Telangana, and Vidharbha along with their backgrounds and district profiles are discussed in Chapter VI. Chapter VII concludes the above analyses alongwith discussing prospects and future directions.