PART II
WILL MAHARASHTRA BE A VIABLE PROVINCE ?
WILL MAHARASHTRA BE A VIABLE PROVINCE ?
Tests of Viability
13. Coming to the specific question of Maharashtra Province it is necessary to be satisfied that it will be a viable Province. For being declared a viable Province, a Province must satisfy certain tests. It must be of a certain size, it must have a certain volume of population and a commensurate amount of revenue. A Province must not only be self-supporting—which any Province can be by choosing to live on a lower plane—but it must have sufficient revenue to provide for a minimum standard of administration required by efficiency and the needs of social welfare. Is Maharashtra Viable?
14. Does the Province of Maharashtra satisfy these tests? The following are the figures which show the size and population of the Maharashtra Province as constituted on a linguistic basis :
Territory
|
Area in square miles
|
Total Population of the territory
|
Total Marathi speaking population of the territory
|
Percentage of Marathi speaking population to total population
|
Twelve districts of the Bombay Presidency
|
47284
|
12913544
|
10045100
|
77.8
|
Eight Districts of C.P. and Berar
|
36865
|
7020694
|
5388300
|
76.7
|
Total
|
84151
|
19934238
|
15433400
|
77.4
|
States within Bombay Presidency
|
11314
|
2720207
|
2120700
|
77.9
|
Marathi speaking Districts of Hyderabad State
|
22766
|
4249272
|
3299300
|
77.6
|
Goa
|
1534
|
580000
|
520000
|
89.6
|
State of Bastar
|
13701
|
633888
|
212300
|
33.5
|
Total
|
49315
|
8183367
|
6142300
|
---
|
GRAND TOTAL
|
133466
|
28117605
|
21585700
|
76.8
|
Area and population of Maharashtra
15. The above table gives figures for the Maharashtra Province in its two forms (1) abridged and (2) unabridged. In its unabridged form which means if all the area occupied by the Marathi-speaking people was constituted in one single Province the area and the population of Maharashtra will be 1,33,466 square miles with a population of 2,15,85,700. In its abridged form which means that if the area and population of the Marathi-speaking people comprised within the States was for the moment omitted, even then the proposed Maharashtra Province would comprise an area of 84,151 square miles with a population of 1,54,33,400.
Revenue of Maharashtra
16. Turning to the revenue side of the Province, it has been estimated that the total annual revenue at the existing rate of taxation which will accrue to the abridged Maharashtra Province will be approximately Rs. 25,61,51.000.
Comparison of Maharashtra with other Provinces
17. Some comparisons are necessary to get an idea if a Province of this size, with this population and with so much revenue will be viable. For this, I give below figures of the first or the biggest and the forty-seventh or the smallest states within the U.S.A. in order of their size and population :
States
|
Area in Square Miles
|
1st Texas
|
2,67,339
|
47th Delaware
|
2,057
|
States
|
Population
|
1st New York
|
1,26,32,890
|
47th Wyoming
|
2,57,108
|
18. It is obvious that Maharashtra whether one takes its abridged edition or the unabridged edition of it will be several times bigger than Delaware which is the smallest State in U.S.A. in point of area and also several times bigger than New York which is the biggest state in U.S.A. in point of population.
19.Comparison of Maharashtra with the existing and prospective
Linguistic Provinces of India may also be useful. Their position in point
of area, population and revenue is as follows :
Province
|
Area in square miles
|
Population
|
Annual Revenue
|
Existing Linguistic Province -
|
|||
United Provinces
|
106247
|
55020617
|
326508000
|
Bihar
|
69745
|
36340151
|
162678000
|
Orissa
|
32198
|
8228544
|
46062000
|
New Linguistic Province -
|
|||
Andhra
|
70000
|
19000000
|
---
|
Karnatak
|
25000
|
4500000
|
---
|
Kerala
|
6000
|
3500000
|
---
|
These figures when compared with the figures for Maharashtra leave no doubt that Maharashtra will not merely be a viable Province but a strong province in point of area, population and revenue.
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