Formation of Telangana, Claims & Counterclaims

The principal bone of contention between the protagonists of the division of Andhra Pradesh and the votaries of a united state is unarguably Hyderabad. For the people of Seema-Andhra, Hyderabad city as it stands today is the fruit of the combined efforts of the people of all regions over a period of sixty years. They have therefore an emotional attachment to it and are quite appropriately chagrined when asked to give it all up and walk away. The protagonists of Telangana however argue that the city already had educational institutions, hospitals and infrastructure facilities for housing various administrative offices of the government even at the time of the formation of the state in 1956. By implication they wish to state that the role of the Seema-Andhra people in the development of the city, as claimed by them is a myth.

In the debate for and against bifurcation of the state, an argument put forth is about the

Courtesy Indicus Analytics

cultural discrimination of the people of the Telangana region allegedly at the hands of the Seema-Andhra People. The depiction of characters with a Telangana accent in Telugu movies is cited as an example of Seema-Andhra superciliousness, presumably because the Telugu film industry is largely owned by the Seema-Andhra people. Surprisingly members of the national media have swallowed this specious argument without verification.

Let us first examine the case of educational and research institutions and central Public Sector Undertakings in Hyderabad and the rest of Andhra Pradesh. Yes, Hyderabad is a four hundred year old city. Yes, it has plenty of land, monuments like the Char Minar and the Golconda Fort and some buildings for housing offices of the state administration, an example being the state Assembly building. What of the educational institutions which the protagonists claim pre-existed at the time of the formation of Andhra Pradesh in 1956. Here is a list of educational and research institutes with the dates of their establishment as far as they could be ascertained from an internet search. The lists may not be exhaustive. Corrections if any are welcome.

CENTRAL EDUCATIONAL / RESEARCH INSTITUTES – HYDERABAD

1.    Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University (1964)

2.    Administrative Staff College of India (1956)

3.    Advanced Numerical Research and Analysis Group (1988)

4.    Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (1948)

5.    C-DAC Hyderabad (1988)

[Established in Pune.  Hyderabad Centre later established as an offshoot.]

6.    Central Food Technological Research Institute (1950)

7.    Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Hyderabad (1967)

8.    Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (1959)

9.    Central Power Research Institute (1978)

10. Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (1985)

11. Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology – CCMB (1977)

12. Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (1990)

13. Centre for Economic and Social Studies, Hyderabad (1980)

14. CR Rao Advanced Institute of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science (2007)

15. Defence Electronics Research Laboratory (1961)

16. Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory (1963)

17. Directorate of Rice Research (1965)

18. Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University (1982)

19. DuPont Central Research (1957)

20. English and Foreign Languages University (1958)

21. Environmental Protection Training and Research Institute (1992)

22. Institute for Development & Research in Banking Technology IDRBT (1996)

23. Indian Geophysical Union (1964)

24. Indian Immunologicals Limited (1983)

25. Indian Institute of Chemical Technology – IICT (1983)

26. Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (1998)

27. Institute of Public Enterprise (1964)

28. Indian Institute of Technology – IIT (2008)

29. International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (1972)

30. International Institute of Information Technology – IIIT (1998)

31. Moulana Azad National Urdu University (1998)

32. NALSAR University of Law (1998)

33. National Academy of Agricultural Research Management (1976)

34. National Animal Resource Facility for Biomedical Research (2008)

35. National Balloon Facility (1961)

36. National Geophysical Research Institute (1961)

37. National Institute of Fashion Technology (1986)

38. National Institute for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises -  - NIMSME (1960)

39. National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad NIN (1958)

40. National Institute of Rural Development  - NIRD (?)

41. National Institute for Pharmaceutical Education & Research NIPER (2007)

42. Nuclear Fuel Complex (1971)

43. Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (2004)

44. Potti Sriramulu Telugu Universtity (1985)

45. Small Industries Development Bank of India - SIDBI (1990)

46. South Central Railway HQ

47. Sir Ronald Ross Institute of Parasitology (1955)

48. National Small Industries Corporation (1955)

49. University of Hyderabad (1974)

50. Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (2010)

CENTRAL EDUCATIONAL / RESEARCH INSTITUTES – Outside HYDERABAD

51. National Institute of Technology NIT Warangal (1959)

CENTRAL EDUCATIONAL / RESEARCH INSTITUTES – Rest of AP

1.    Kendriya Samskrut Vidya Peeth – Tirupathi

2.    Sri Padmavathi Mahila Viswa Vidyalaya – Tirupathi

The list does not include universities like the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University which has campuses in all the three regions. As may be seen from the Hyderabad list only two of the fifty institutes predate 1956.

Here is a list of central Public Sector Undertakings. The lists may not be exhaustive. Corrections if any are welcome.

PUBLIC SECTOR UNDERTAKINGS – Hyderabad

1.    Andhra Bank Ltd.

2.    Bharat Dynamics Ltd. (1970)

3.    Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (1964)

4.    Electronics Corporation of India Ltd. (1967)

5.    HMT Bearings Ltd. (1981)

6.    Hindustan Fluorocarbons Ltd. (1983)

7.    Indian Drugs & Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (1961)

8.    Misra Dhatu Nigam Ltd.

9.    National Mineral Development Corporation Ltd.

10. Praga Tools Ltd.

11. Sponge Iron India Ltd.

12. State Bank of Hyderabad (1941)

PUBLIC SECTOR UNDERTAKINGS – Rest of AP

1.    Bharat Heavy Plates & Vessels (1966) – Visakhapatnam

2.    Dredging Corporation of India Ltd.

3.    Hindustan Shipyard Ltd. (1952) – Visakhapatnam

4.    Hindustan Zinc Ltd. – Visakhapatnam [Disinvested in 2002.]

5.    Visakhapatnam Steel Plant Ltd. (1973) – Visakhapatnam

The lists do not include regional offices of central institutes or public sector undertakings located in the state.

The educational institutes and public sector undertakings are located in Hyderabad primarily because it is the state capital and are expectated provide opportunities for people all across the state.

In the early 1980s the PSU, Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (IDPL) became sick. Some scientists who worked in IDPL joined hands with some entrepreneurs, and founded companies like Standard Organics Ltd. (which later became SOL Pharmaceuticals Ltd.) The success of SOLPL and its splinter DRL spawned the growth of the pharmaceutical industry in Hyderabad. Today there are more than 250 bulk drug units making Hyderabad the largest producer of bulk drugs in the country. Most of the Pharma entrepreneurs, as in the case of the Telugu film industry which shifted from Madras to Hyderabad in the seventies, are from the Seema-Andhra region. However an interesting feature of the two industries is that over 70% of the workforce is drawn from the Telangana region.

The misconception about the cultural discrimination in Telugu films will be dealt with in the concluding part of this article.