Regionalism

The first principle

Regionalism is the attachment of people to a region, defined by language, culture, history or economy, and the demand that the region's interests be recognised by the state. In a country as large and varied as India, this attachment is natural and often healthy, so the real question is not whether regionalism exists but whether it is expressed through democratic bargaining within the Union or through hostility, violence or secession. Federal institutions are the means by which India turns regional pride into a source of strength.

The core

Meaning and two faces

• Regionalism can be positive, when it asks for fair development, protects a language or culture, or seeks a smaller state for better governance, and it can be negative, when it turns against people from other states, blocks water or trade to neighbours, or seeks secession.
• Rajni Kothari and other political scientists have argued that the accommodation of regional demands, starting with linguistic states, strengthened Indian unity by giving each linguistic group a stake in the Union.

Forms of regionalism

• Demands for statehood: Telangana (achieved in 2014), and continuing demands for Gorkhaland, Vidarbha, Bodoland and others.
• Demands for autonomy within a state: autonomous councils under the Sixth Schedule and the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (2012).
• Secessionism: armed movements in Punjab in the 1980s, in Jammu and Kashmir and in parts of the North East, most of which have since declined after accords and elections.
• Sons of the soil: the demand that local people get preference in jobs, as by the Shiv Sena in Bombay from 1966 and in recent state laws reserving private jobs for locals, such as Haryana's 2020 law, which the Punjab and Haryana High Court struck down in November 2023.
• Interstate disputes: over rivers such as the Cauvery, Krishna and Mahadayi, and over borders such as Belagavi (Karnataka and Maharashtra) and Assam and Mizoram, where a clash in July 2021 killed several police personnel.
• Linguistic regionalism: the anti Hindi agitation in Tamil Nadu in 1965 and continuing debates over language in education and examinations.

Dimensions

• Economic. Uneven development is the most common driver; regions that feel left behind, such as Telangana within united Andhra Pradesh or Jharkhand within Bihar, demand control over their own resources.
• Cultural and linguistic. A distinct language, script or tradition gives a region its symbols, as in the Dravidian movement and the Gorkha identity.
• Historical. Memories of separate kingdoms, princely states or broken promises, such as the Gentlemen's Agreement of 1956 for Telangana, keep grievances alive.
• Political. Regional parties and leaders mobilise regional sentiment because it wins votes, and coalition governments at the Centre give them bargaining power.
• Demographic. Migration into a region, as in Assam and Mumbai, can produce fear of being outnumbered and demands for protection of locals.

In practice

Is regionalism a consequence of rising cultural assertiveness?

• Yes, in part. The Dravidian movement grew from Tamil linguistic pride and resistance to the imposition of Hindi, and the Gorkhaland demand rests on Nepali language and Gorkha identity. The linguistic reorganisation of states in 1956 was itself a recognition of cultural assertion, and Marathi assertion through the Samyukta Maharashtra movement and later the Shiv Sena drew on language and history.
• But not wholly. Telangana and Andhra share the Telugu language, yet Telangana sought separation because of grievances over water, jobs and funds, which the Srikrishna Committee (2010) examined. Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand were created in 2000 mainly on grounds of underdevelopment and tribal or hill identity, and sons of the soil movements usually rise when jobs are scarce. The Dravidian movement itself began with a demand for non Brahmin access to education and government posts.
• Balance. Culture gives a regional movement its symbols and its sense of "we", while economic grievance and political mobilisation usually give it mass support and timing. Regionalism is therefore best explained as cultural identity activated by economic and political causes, not by culture alone.

Constitutional and institutional framework

• Article 3 lets Parliament form new states and alter boundaries by a simple law after seeking, but not being bound by, the views of the state legislature.
• States Reorganisation Commission (SRC), 1955 (chaired by Fazl Ali, with K M Panikkar and H N Kunzru) accepted language as the main but not the only basis for states, and the States Reorganisation Act, 1956 created 14 states and 6 Union Territories.
• New states: Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand in November 2000, and Telangana on 2 June 2014 under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014. In 2019, Jammu and Kashmir was reorganised into two Union Territories.
• Article 371 to 371J give special provisions to particular states, such as development boards for Vidarbha and Marathwada (371), protection of Naga customary law and land (371A), and reservation in jobs and education for the Hyderabad Karnataka region (371J, 2012).
• Sixth Schedule sets up autonomous district councils in tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram with powers over land, forests and customary law.
• Inter State Council under Article 263 was set up in 1990 on the recommendation of the Sarkaria Commission (1988), and five zonal councils under the States Reorganisation Act, 1956 discuss common problems of neighbouring states.
• Interstate River Water Disputes Act, 1956 allows tribunals to settle water disputes, such as the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, whose award the Supreme Court modified in 2018.

Regional parties and cooperative federalism

Regional parties have given voice to regional concerns within Parliament and coalition governments, which channels grievance into bargaining rather than conflict. Forums such as the Goods and Services Tax Council (2016), the Governing Council of the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog) and the Finance Commission give states a share in national decision making, and this is what makes cooperative federalism a safety valve for regionalism.

Unity in diversity despite regionalism

Linguistic states were once feared to be a threat to unity, yet they have made India more stable by giving each group a home within the Union. Peace accords such as the Mizo Accord (1986) and the Bodo Accord (2020) show that even armed movements can be brought into the democratic fold, so regional diversity has been managed by accommodation rather than suppression.

Issues and way forward

• Regional imbalance. Lagging regions breed resentment; balanced development through Finance Commission transfers that reward need and through programmes such as the Aspirational Districts Programme (NITI Aayog, 2018) is the remedy.
• Water and border disputes. Tribunals take decades and awards are resisted; the Inter State River Water Disputes (Amendment) Bill, 2019 proposed a single permanent tribunal and was passed by the Lok Sabha in July 2019, and the Punchhi Commission (2010) recommended strengthening the Inter State Council.
• Hostility to migrants. Sons of the soil politics violates Article 19 (freedom to move and settle) and Article 16; portability of welfare through One Nation One Ration Card helps migrants, and courts have struck down domicile quotas in private jobs.
• Under used federal forums. The Inter State Council has met rarely, last in 2016; the Sarkaria and Punchhi Commissions recommended regular meetings and a standing secretariat.
• Unresolved statehood demands. A second States Reorganisation Commission, suggested by several political leaders and scholars, could assess demands on objective criteria rather than agitation.

Common confusions

• Regionalism and secessionism. Regionalism seeks recognition within India; secessionism seeks to leave India, and only a small part of regionalism is secessionist.
• Article 3 and Article 368. Creating a new state under Article 3 needs only a simple majority law and is not a constitutional amendment under Article 368.
• Sixth Schedule and Fifth Schedule. The Sixth Schedule gives autonomous councils to tribal areas in four North Eastern states; the Fifth Schedule covers Scheduled Areas elsewhere, run through the Governor and tribal advisory councils.

For the exam

• Keyword bank: positive regionalism, sons of the soil, linguistic reorganisation, statehood demand, autonomy, secessionism, interstate water dispute, Article 3, Article 371, Sixth Schedule, Inter State Council, zonal council, cooperative federalism.
• Previous year questions: Practise the previous year questions on this topic →
• Use in an answer:
  • Introduction (data): India has 22 scheduled languages and 28 states, and most of these states were drawn on linguistic lines, which shows that the Republic chose to accommodate regional identity rather than suppress it.
  • Introduction (judgement, quote or report): The States Reorganisation Commission (1955) accepted language as a basis for states but warned that national unity must remain the overriding consideration, a balance that still guides the response to regional demands.
  • Conclusion: Regionalism becomes a threat only when it is ignored or exploited, so fair development and active federal forums are the best guarantee of unity.
  • Conclusion: India's experience shows that a strong Union and strong regions are not rivals, because each regional identity secured within the Constitution adds to the strength of the whole.