THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary- September 9, 2016- Topic 1
Making A.P. special
How special can ‘special’
be? That Andhra Pradesh, post-BIFURCATION, needed a helping hand from
the Centre was never in question. But the modalities of the special status the
State wanted, needed to be worked out. Could it be declared a Special Category
State, or was the right way to grant it a special financial package that did
not require meeting the MANDATED requirements for Special
Category status? A.P. does not qualify as a Special Category State; it has
neither geographical disadvantages such as hilly terrain nor historical
disadvantages such as socio-economic and infrastructural backwardness and UNVIABLE finances. Eventually, when the Centre announced a special
package, the EMPHASIS was on assisting the State on the basis
of the road map laid down in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, an oral
commitment made in 2014 by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the report of the
14th Finance Commission and the recommendations of the Niti Aayog. The package,
valid for five years till 2020, might not have everything that Chief Minister
N. Chandrababu Naidu had asked for, but meets most of the reasonable
expectations of a State struggling to recover from bifurcation and dealing with
the IMMINENT loss of the capital city, Hyderabad.
The Polavaram irrigation project was declared a national project; a railway
zone was to be formed in the State and the Central Board of Direct Taxes was to
issue two notifications on tax concessions. Special Category status could only
have been a CRUTCH; the package might be the STIMULUS that it needs after bifurcation. Under
the circumstances, this is a good deal.
However, the political battle over the
Special Category status is not going to get over soon. Opposition parties, led
by the Congress and the YSR Congress, have targeted Mr. Naidu for failing to
convince the Centre. That his Telugu Desam Party is in alliance with the
Bharatiya Janata Party will invite charges of a sell-out of A.P.’s interests.
Union Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu of the BJP, perhaps anticipating this
reaction, indicated that the Centre’s support would be a continuous process.
The TDP government must look ahead, and use the special package to boost growth
and create conditions for employment generation. While concentrating resources
on building the capital at Amaravati, Mr. Naidu must not lose SIGHT of the immediate development goal: the
livelihood concerns of ordinary people. That could be his political legacy: a
Chief Minister who saw the State through a difficult phase and laid the
foundation for a ROBUST economy.
::::::::::::::::::::::Meanings with example
and Synonyms::::::::::::::::::::::
Mandated: give (someone) authority to act in a certain way.
Example: other colleges have mandated coed fraternities
Synonyms: instruct, order, direct, command, tell, require
Bifurcation: the division of something into two branches or parts.
Example: the bifurcation of the profession into social do-gooders and self-serving
iconoclasts
Unviable: not capable of working successfully; not feasible.
Example: the commission found the plan to be financially unviable
Emphasis: special importance, value, or prominence given to something.
Example: they placed great emphasis on the individual's freedom
Synonyms: prominence, importance, significance, value, stress, weight, accent
Imminent: about to happen.
Example: they were in imminent danger of being swept away
Synonyms: impending, close (at hand), near, (fast) approaching, coming
Crutch: a long stick with a crosspiece at the top, used as a support under the
armpit by a lame person.
Example: It's difficult to understand why so many crutches , white sticks and
wheelchairs remain unclaimed.
Stimulus: a thing or event that evokes a specific functional reaction in an organ or
tissue.
Example: areas of the brain which respond to auditory stimulii
Sight: manage to see or observe (someone or something); catch an initial glimpse
of.
Example: tell me when you sight London Bridge
Synonyms: glimpse, catch sight of, see, spot, spy, notice, observe
Robust: strong and healthy; vigorous.
Example: the Caplans are a robust, healthy lot
Synonyms: strong, vigorous, sturdy, tough, powerful, solid, muscular,rugged