Phenomenon of regional parties

I READ Mr K. Gopalakrishnan’s article “Federal assertions: the phenomenon of regional parties” (October 23) with interest. It is true that regional identities are a reality of the Indian polity and the emergence of regional parties a natural corollary to it. But whether they have a useful role to play in the growth of Indian nationalism is not yet finally decided. While the inevitability of regionalism — as a consequence of mass politicisation — and its utility as a means for the gratification of a powerful urge of the people are being appreciated, the debate on the subject is still based on the nation-versus-region dichotomy.

The liberal plea for more concessions to regional sentiments and the nationalist plea to keep them within limits so as not to threaten the national interest also imply a recognition of this dichotomy. Both reduce the entire problem to finding out the right mix or balance of the two sentiments.

All manifestations of regionalism are not always healthy. But, then, are all manifestations of nationalism always healthy? And should national interest be the sole measure of its health? Should the interest of the people of a region be no less valid a criterion?

While regional chauvinism would be invariably seen as harmful for the enlightened interest of the region itself, even a healthy form of regionalism would often remain inadequate to satisfy the entire multiplicity of human urges in a modern society. Its proper quantum and form need not be determined exclusively by a distant national interest but also by the people of the region whose needs and aspirations have regional as well as national dimensions.

The governance of India requires a political arrangement which responds to the needs of unity and diversity. The recent truck drivers’ strike is the best illustration of the existing inter-linkages in India. The national market can get regionalised and balkanised if regions are allowed to manage them according to their local needs and priorities. An active role of the central government is essential to maintain a proper balance between the local needs of regions and the national and international priorities of India.

However, competitive regionalism and political exploitation of regional dialectics can cause immense damage to the polity. At the party level, regional outfits seek to settle scores with each other — like the dismissal of the government headed by the rival and seeking scandal probes or pressurising to drop them, as the case may — as a price for their support to a national party. For the first time, a government at the Centre was pulled down by a regional outfit in Tamil Nadu. On all earlier occasions, the Central coalitions fell due to internal dissensions in the main ruling party or a threat from an all-India party. This has to be compared with the concessions made by the regional partners of the National Front and the UF for the survival of the two governments.

K.M. VASHISHT
Mansa

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Ground-water: a gloomy picture

Mr Richard Mahapatra (The Tribune, Oct 28) has painted a very gloomy picture of the mismanagement of ground-water in Punjab. What is true of this state is equally true of Haryana.

With the arrival of high-yielding varieties of crops, it was realised that canal water alone was unable to meet their requirement as they not only needed more of it but also more punctually. Schemes were, therefore, drawn by both states for exploiting their ground-water. Neither had they had any previous experience of doing this on a big scale. Both violated the fundamental rule of exploiting ground-water, not allowing the withdrawals from the ground to exceed the recharge into it. The inevitable result of this mistake was that the level of ground-water started falling some 20 years ago and is continuing till today. This has put a question mark on the working of over 14 lakh tubewells, in these states. A stage has now been reached when a large number of these have gone out of the reach of centrifugal pumps and need submersible ones. Nobody knows as to what their fate shall be after another 10 years.

Neither of the states has shown any inclination for grappling with this problem in a professional manner. When the mistake of the withdrawals having exceeded the sale limits was discovered, immediate action should have been taken to step up the recharge by artificial means. Both states are late by more than a decade in making any meaningful start for getting any time-bound result. What is surprising is that this important lapse has not only escaped the notice of the Press, the watch-dog of democracy, but also failed to catch the imagination of farmers in general and the bureaucracy in particular. That is why this issue is not even on the agenda of these states.

In both states there is no dearth of the raw material needed for recharging — surplus water. Both are allowing a large quantity of their rainwater and the overflow from rice fields to go waste into the rivers via a network of drains.

A recharging station can be constructed on all these drains. These stations can work round the clock during the rainy season without consuming any energy. Thus these will be environment friendly. Economically, these will be self-supporting as their cost will be more than offset by the saving in the amount of subsidy being paid to farmers. A very good solution to the man-made problem facing the tubewells is, therefore, within the reach of the two governments. Let them make up their mind to act and save their tubewells which have been the backbone of the green revolution.

S.P. MALHOTRA
Formerly Engineer-in-Chief,
Irrigation Deptt, Haryana
Panchkula

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Legal profession & delays

This has reference to the column “Profile” by Mr Harihar Swarup (October 24) regarding Mr Arun Jaitley, the lawyer-turned-politician, wherein the writer states, “He has been brought up in the different culture — the legal profession — in which delays have no place.”

I beg to differ with this view. This may be true of a few individuals like Mr Jaitley but certainly not so of the legal profession as a whole.

The proverb “Justice delayed is justice denied” was coined much less because of the courts. Investigating agencies and the legal profession should bear the larger responsibility for this malaise.

The legal profession was once considered a noble profession next only to medical profession, but alas both have now fallen victim to the malady or degenerating moral values.

Wg Cdr C.L. SEHGAL(Retd)
Jalandhar