The Birth of India’s 29th State

After years of much hardship for the formation of a new state, India’s 29th state – Telangana was finally born this morning.

A break from the manner in which Indian states have so far been formed, for the first time, two linguistically identical states have come into existence – Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. 28 of India’s 29 states were formed based on similarity in language and culture, however, the formation of Telangana is a new development that might set the ball rolling for formation of new states, based on this premise, in the future.

Made up of 10 districts, Telangana is now the 13^th largest state in the country. It boasts of a population of 3.56 crores, out of which 96.7% are rural and 3.3% are urban in nature. Its wealthy reserve of natural resources and occupations related to acquiring them is the reason for this newly formed state’s concentration in rural areas. The remainder of its urban population on the other hand is only limited to Hyderabad, the common capital for both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for a period of 10 years.

The region of Telangana is a Naxalite hot spot, which means that attacks could break out at any given time thus causing problems related security of its residents and law and order in the region.

Will this archetypal move via the Telangana Act prove to be a bane or a boon for similar endeavours in the future? Only time will tell.