PANTNAGAR, (Udham Singh Nagar), July 29 — Consensus may be emerging on the vexed question of the merger of the district of Udham Singh Nagar in the proposed hill state of Uttaranchal, with a Bill proposing creation of the new state due to be debated in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

Both sides, the hardy Punjabi farmers and other settlers who oppose the merger and the hill people from Kumaon and Garhwal, the big gainers in creation of the hill state, are veering around to the idea that similar contiguous areas from the districts of Saharanpur, Bijnore, Shajahanpur, Moradabad, Bareilly, Pilibhit and Rampur be made part of the new hill state.

A cross-section of those who met the committee under Union Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes, Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr Ram Parkash Gupta, who was represented by Uttar Pradesh BJP president and Irrigation Minister Mr Om Prakash Singh today, were of this view.

The three-member committee was virtually besieged by milling crowds opposing the merger. Those in favour of Udham Singh Nagar being part of the hill state also spoke in great detail with the committee but in a separate hall, to avoid possible clashes. As it was, the district administration had a tough time controlling the crowds although the sprawling green campus of the premier agricultural university had been converted into a virtual police camp for the panel's visit. Dr J.B. Singh, University Vice-Chancellor was at hand to help the leaders meet opinion makers and the general public. Mr Badal, who had struggled hard to make the committee pay at least one visit was happy that the people had at last been heard.

Farmers, traders, industrialists and politicians cutting party lines and business interests argued that the proposed new state should not be a pauper. It was also clear that local Congress Lok Sabha Member and former UP Chief Minister, Mr N.D. Tiwari who had opposed the merger of other areas in the hill state, had not sensed the pulse of the people of the area. But state BJP leader Mr Om Prakash Singh told TNS, he had some reservations on expansion of the state. ‘‘We wish to have further talks in this matter. We heard the people today. If changes are to be effected in the resolution passed by the Uttar Pradesh Assembly then it will delay the Bill as all sides shall have to be consulted afresh. But people do not want any delay in the matter," he said.

The settlers, who softened their stand and agreed to the merger in return for expansion of the state had three main reasons to offer to the committee. One was economic. The present areas in the proposed state have a tax revenue of the Rs 350 crore and no state could exist with such meagre resources, leaders of the Congress, BJP, Samajwadi Party and traders and farmers said. Out of this Rs 100 crore comes from Udham Singh Nagar district alone which has 380 modern rice mills, 12 sugar mills besides several khandsari units etc. This prosperous middle class was not happy at its inclusion in the district as it fears heavy taxation to finance the new state. "We could be ruined by the rabid hill people who are already threatening to take away our farms’’, said Mr Daljit Goraya of the Samajwadi Party.

He was supported by scores of other including former Minister, Mr Samarpal Singh and Mr Rajinder Rastogi. The majority view was that the new hill state should have more sources of revenue if it was to develop. ‘‘How can you develop with an economy based on salaries and pensions, the mainstay of the people of the hills,’’ they said forcefully.

Another argument was political. At present the population of the proposed state is 70 lakh in which US Nagar with its 15 lakh people would be politically marginalised by hill people. If other areas are included in the state the balance would be restored.

While local BJP leaders openly supported this move here the state BJP leaders developed cold feet in committing themselves on the issue as elections are due in UP next year.

The question of contiguity and cultural affinity also cropped up. Udham Singh Nagar has major highways which separate three UP districts and the new hill state would have a porous border that could be a problem for times to come.

One common refrain in the bagful of memorandum that the committee collected was " We are so very different from the hill people". Punjabis, Haryanvis, Bengalis alike had opposed the merger, although the local MLAs and Zila parishad chairmen were unimpressed by their logic. "This is an absurd argument in a diverse country like India’’, said Mr Baba the local MLA. Also there was some dispute on how many panchayats favoured merger and how many opposed it.