North Vs. South Divide Controversy
Five days ago, Congress MP DK Suresh, brother of Deputy CM of Karnataka DK Shivkumar, claimed that "Funds that were supposed to reach the South are getting diverted and distributed to North India." He stated that there was no choice but to demand a "separate country". However, DK Shivakumar attempted to cover up the comments saying that the Bengaluru Rural MP was speaking not only about the pain of South India but also the public perception.
Most importantly, Karnataka's Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah has followed it up by leading a protest in Delhi, citing the alleged financial discrimination against his state by the Centre. leading to states like Karnataka not receiving their fair share. As per report in the public domain, the issue has stirred a controversy over the need for unbiased financial allocation, as prescribed by the 15th Finance Commission.
The Finance Minister, however, refutes these allegations maintaining that the financial distribution is following the Commission's guidelines rigorously. The incident emphasizes the ongoing tension between regional states and the Centre over financial resource allocation and calls for an impartial interpretation of the Finance Commission's rules.
What are the realities? Irrefutable data of major allocations of key Central Organizations, DRDO Labs, IITs, IIMs, Medical colleges, and Engineering Colleges to states is produced for the readers to understand the real picture.
The statewide breakup of 277 Central Public Sector Undertakings in India Includes: Delhi – 75; Maharashtra – 36; , West Bengal – 35; Karnataka – 22; Uttar Pradesh – 22; Tamil Nadu – 11; Telangana – 10; Jharkhand – 9; North East – 9; Haryana - 6, Kerala – 6, Madhya Pradesh – 6; Rajasthan – 6; Orissa – 5; Andhra Pradesh – 4; Gujarat - 4; Bihar – 2; Chattisgarh – 2; and Others – 7.
There are 60 Defense Research and Development Organizations in the country to include: Delhi(13); Karnataka (10); Telangana (8); Maharashtra (8); Uttarkand (4); Tamil Nadu (2); Orissa (2); UP (2); West Bengal (2); and One each in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Chandigarh, Ladakh, Chattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh.
Furthermore, there are 21 ISRO organizations in the country to include; Karnataka (8); Kerala (4); Gujarat (3); Andhra Pradesh (2); Uttarkhand (1); Telangana (1); Tamil Nadu (1); and Meghalaya (1).
Add to them, there are 30 Department of Atomic Energy establishment in the country to include: Maharashtra (15); Tamil Nadu (4); Telangana (3); West Bengal (2); UP (1); Gujarat (1); Harayana (1); Orissa (1); Jharkahand (1); and Madhya Pradesh (1).
There are 15 Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) National Research Institutes to include: NRC for Banana, Trichi; NRC for Grapes, Pune; NRC for Litchi,Muzaffarur; NRC for Pomengrante, Solapur; NRC for Camel, Bikaner; NRC for Equines, Hisar; NRC on Meat, Hyderabad; NRC on Mithun, Nagaland; NRC on Orchids. Sikkim; NRC on Pig, Gueahati, NRC on Plant Biotechnology, New Delhi; NRC on Seed Spices, Ajmer, NRC on Yak, West Kemang; NRC on Integrated Pest Management, New Delhi; and Mahatma Gandhi Integrated Farming Research Institute, Motihari,
As of 2023, there are a total of 21 IIM campuses to include: Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Calcutta, Lucknow, Indore, Kozhaikode, Udaipur, Trichy, Raipur, Rhotak, Shillong, Kashipur, Ranchi, Nagpur, Bodh Gaya, Simaur, Amritsar, Jammu, Sambhalpur, Vizag and Bombay.
India has a total of 612 [321 (52.45%) government-run and 291 (47.55%) private] medical colleges to include: Tamil Nadu (70), Uttar Pradesh (67), Karnataka (63), Maharashtra (62), and Telangana (34) are the top five states with 296 (48.37%) medical colleges.
As of January 2022, a total of 19 AIIMS colleges are functioning. The list includes; Delhi, Jodhpur, Rishikesh, Bhopal, Patna, Raipur, Bhubaneshwar, Raebareli, Nagpur, Mangalgiri, Gorakhpur, Bibi Nagar, Bhatinda, Kalyani, Deoghar, Guwahati, Rajkot, Vijaypur, and Bilaspur. Five more AIIMS are expected to be fully operational by the end of 2025 to include: Darbhanga, Rewari, Awantipora, Madurai, Bengaluru.
As of January 2024, there are 23 IITs in India include: Uttar Pradesh (Kanpur, Varanasi, Allahabad); Kharagpur, Madras, Delhi, Bombay, Guwahati, Patna, Roorkee, Dhanbad, Hyderabad, Indore, Ropar, Mandi, Gandhinagar, Jodhpur, Bhubaneshwar, Tirupati, Palakkad, Jammu, Dharwad, and Bhilai.
There are 5911 Engineering Colleges to Include: Maharshtra (849); Tamil Nadu (727); Uttar Pradesh (527); Madhya Pradesh (524); Andhra Pradesh (517); Karnataka (439); Telangana (438); Kerala (275); Gujarat (257); Haryana (190); Odisha (186); Rajasthan (170); Punjab (155); West Bengal (147); Bihar (104); and others less than 100.
The review of location of various key organizations is presented to provide a perspective which needs to be comprehensively analyzed with the inclusion of all other Central Government Departments. Even the Armed Forces – Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard – and Central Para Military Forces establishments (all high income generating organizations for local growth) can be added to the list.
However, some of the deductions that can be culled out of the data in the foregoing clearly highlights that for a variety of reasons – Management, Infrastructure, ease of accessibility etc – majority of organizations are concentrated in Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka, West Bengal and Telangana.
Most important it is to note that the growth of Bengaluru and Hyderabad in particular is due to organizations like ECIL, NFC, Defence Electronics Research Laboratory (DLRL), Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory (DMRL), Defence Research & Development Laboratory (DRDL), Research Centre Imarat (RCI), Indian Drugs & Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (IDPL), Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) among many others dating back into 1960s and 1970s.
Let me highlight that the growth of central organizations gave a boost to private organizations particularly in the Drugs & Pharma and Electronics sectors covering the full spectrum of MSMEs and other small scale industries. Similarly the fast pace of growth of Bengaluru can be attributed to private orgnaizations spin offs from central organizations.
Consequently, the income/revenue generating capacities of States like Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana among few others was far more than those other States that were denied the setting up of variety of central establishments.
To sum up, the North vs. South Divide over discrimination in financial allocations myopically viewed from “Income/Revenue” generation angle to score brownie political points is grossly unfair and unjust. Surely, all those other States, particularly BIMARU States like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh that have historically lagged in economic indicators besides Punjab, J & K, and other North East States need to be given a higher proportion of allotments to bring them on par with other advanced states due to far more and higher allocations and allotments of Central Organizations. Viewed without bias and prejudice, allotment of AIIMS each to Tamil Nadu with 70 Medical colleges and Karnataka with 63 Medical colleges surely could have been avoided when considered from the States with least number of Medical Colleges.
Historically viewed, it is the more advanced States that usually demand separation; otherwise far more greater autonomy forgetting that their growth was due to partial patronage by ruling regimes due to a variety of reasons mostly political.
What is needed, therefore, is balanced development of all “Regions and States”. To do so, a Parliamentary Committee assisted by experts must be constituted to carry out a comprehensive study and present accurate picture for posterity to avoid political bickering.
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