Telangana growth & policy concerns

In view of considerable backlog of development in vital sectors in irrigation, power, education and health, public expenditure on these need to be raised considerably. The new government is addressing vital needs in irrigation, securing nod of neighbouring States wherever necessary. In other sectors, besides stepping up public investments, accountability and quality have to be ensured at the grassroots level. Governance can be improved by greater accountability of performance through Panchayat Raj institutions

The revenue ‘surplus’ inherited by the new state of Telangana is spurious, as it arises because of under-spending in Telangana in the past. There is thus a considerable backlog of development in vital sectors like irrigation, power, education and health, requiring huge investments.

In the last fifty years, there was a steep decline in area under tank irrigation and slow increase in irrigation under major and medium irrigation projects in Telangana, leading to the sharp rise in area irrigated through private wells. This has made farming costlier, highly uncertain and unsustainable.

The new government is trying to reverse this process through a big drive for the repair and renovation of tanks by involving the local people through Mission Kakatiya, as well as by stepping up public investment for tapping river water for irrigation, especially from Godavari, for which there is considerable potential.

Towards this end, the government is actively engaged in negotiations with neighboring states for clearing the projects by redesigning them wherever necessary. The present supply-demand gap for power in Telangana, arising from long-standing neglect in the creation of capacity in the region, can be met, in the short-run, through special measures from the Centre.

Surprisingly, contrary to the fears expressed, there have been fewer power cuts in the new State, because of prompt measures by the government to purchase power from other States. Since irrigation water cannot be so purchased, there has been acute distress in rural areas this year because of widespread drought.

There is a growing demand for education in Telangana, particularly at secondary and higher levels, as a means of employment. This is attributable mainly to the low and uncertain incomes from agriculture. Surprisingly, this phenomenon noticed way back in the 1960s continues to persist. But the cost of education in Telangana has been rising because of increasing privatisation consequent to inadequate public provision.

What is worse, the rise in the cost of education has been associated with deterioration in its quality. The drop-out rates for students at primary level are quite high in Telangana. Indeed, the increasing demand for education through private institutions is explained basically by the deterioration in the quality of education in government schools and colleges.

The major victims of this process of privatisation are students from low income groups, especially the SCs and STs, many of whom cannot afford costly education. It has adversely affected their competitive position in the job market. This is reinforced by high spatial inequality, as, except in Hyderabad and Rangareddy districts, the provision of education is inadequate in the rest of Telangana.

The major challenge, therefore, is to ensure affordable and quality education to students at all levels in large parts of Telangana. This requires a significant rise in public expenditure on education. The proposed scheme of KG-to-PG education is promising in this context. It also calls for greater accountability of school management to the stakeholders through the local elected institutions for the provision of essential services like sanitation, ensuring attendance of teachers as well as their periodic training.

Telangana had inherited good health infrastructure from the former Hyderabad State. But, as in the case of education, there has been a concentration of facilities in Hyderabad, leaving the rest of Telangana far behind. There has been a neglect of health services on public account while private sector gained ascendance. Annual per capita government expenditure on health care is now well below per capita household expenditure on health services which accounts for a little over 70 per cent of total per capita expenditure on medical care.

Therefore, one of the major tasks confronting the Telangana State is to substantially step up public expenditure on health services, especially on primary healthcare in rural areas, by making them accountable to the stakeholders. At the same time, there is a need for the regulation of private corporate sector with a view to ensuring minimum standards and for preventing questionable practices.

As much as 60 per cent of the Scheduled Tribe population of the undivided Andhra Pradesh State is concentrated in Telangana. The issue of concern for them is to ‘restore’ to the original tillers land alienated illegally, apart from distribution of land to the landless poor, to the extent feasible. This includes checking further alienation of their land by reopening and re-examining of orders in favour of non-tribals and review of a large number of cases of illegal occupation by non-tribals.

Finally, governance at the grassroots can be improved by ensuring greater accountability of performance through the Panchayat Raj institutions. But the devolution of functions, finances and functionaries to these institutions in the undivided state was far from adequate when compared to the other Southern states. The Gram Jyothi campaign launched recently in Telangana by the government could hopefully lead to greater empowerment of Panchayats and Gram Sabhas.

(The writer is Founder-Member and Honorary Professor, Centre for Economic and Social Studies, Hyderabad. The article is based on the presentation at the Panel Discussion on ‘Development of Telangana: Policy Concerns’, at the 98th Annual Conference of the Indian Economic Association, at Prof Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, Hyderabad, on December 29, 2015)

By C H Hanumantha Rao