The duality of India

Context: In the history of Independent India, the South India States have reacted to the policy moves by the Centre quite differently from their counterparts in north India.

How was the response of south India to the Centre’s major policy initiatives different from the response of north India?

(1) Demonetization Period: In North India, there were long queues of customers at banks waiting to exchange old currency notes. The traders were reluctant to accept online payments at the place of cash. However, in South India, there were hardly any queues outside banks. In fact, the shopkeepers accepted online transactions instead of pushing for cash payment etc.

(2) 2020 & 2021 Farmer’s Protest Period: It was largely restricted to Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. However, South Indian Farmers ignored the new laws on agriculture.

(3) Agnipath Protest: The protests are largely concentrated in the north Indian states.

(4) 1975 Emergency Period: The states in south India responded in a completely different way than those in the north.

Why is the response from south India so different from that of north India?

Economically, the south of India has been growing better than both the north and east of India.

The average population growth in most south Indian states has been much lower than that in states in the north, particularly in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.

The South Indian states have witnessed a higher rise in per capita income than the northern states.

In the South, the population’s dependence on agriculture as a livelihood has seen a gradual reduction. The state’s economic activities are dominated by the manufacturing and the technology-enabled services sector.

The southern states have better equality of education, health-care services, and infrastructure.

The southern states do not enjoy the same political influence in national politics as enjoyed by the northern states and western states of India.

What are the possible implications of this scenario?

At present, the southern states are already protesting the parameters (like population and development) used by the finance commissions to allocate central resources to states. The northern states received a higher share.

The southern states feel that they have lost out in the new framework for the GST. The consuming states collect more taxes than the states producing goods and services.

There is a danger of increasing political disempowerment of the southern states. For example, the delimitation exercise post- 2026 will lead to an increase in the political influence of the northern states in national politics. They will send a larger number of representatives in both the houses of Parliament.

The Way Forward

The Union government should take positive interventions through policy initiatives to remove these problems.

Source: The post is based on an article “The duality of India” is published in the Business Standard on 22^nd June 2022.