THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary- October 14, 2016- Topic 1
Do smaller units make for better
administration? It is no surprise that Telangana Chief Minister K.
Chandrasekhar Rao thinks so. After all, that was an important reason for the
movement demanding the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh and statehood for
Telangana. But it is a telling commentary on the development so far, that
people geographically removed from the district headquarters feel a sense of
alienation from centres of power. Actually, Chief Minister Chandrasekhar Rao
originally intended to create just 14 new districts; this was one of the
election promises for the 2014 polls. Later, on the basis of the report of a Cabinet
subcommittee, a draft notification was issued for 17 new districts. But after
fresh demands from sections of the people, the Chief Minister finally settled on 21 new districts for
a total of 31. Also, 25 additional revenue divisions, 125 new mandals, four new
police commissionerates, 23 new police subdivisions, 28 new circles and 91 more
police stations have been carved out. The new units could facilitate better
monitoring of government schemes, and provide a more even distribution of
resources. Indeed, one of the few intended benefits of the Members of
Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) is just this: an even spread
of resources, and local inputs into framing of development work. A bottom-up
approach to development that allows local stakeholders greater say in
decision-making on issues directly affecting their lives is certainly welcome,
if undertaken after studying the cost to benefit ratio.
But the government’s reasons for
creating new districts morphed from administrative to political. The decision
to increase the number of districts was taken following the spiralling of an
agitation in Jangaon, Sircilla and Gadwal. Undivided Andhra Pradesh had fewer
districts. Alongside the benefits in terms of ease of governance of smaller
districts, there are costs to be borne: creation of additional administrative
infrastructure, transfer of personnel, and replication of paperwork. The Rs. 1
crore sanctioned for each district for initial arrangements will hardly
suffice. At present, the existing staff are being redeployed, and existing
buildings are being utilised for administrative purposes. But in the longer
term the State will have to incur huge expenditure to create administrative
infrastructure in each new district headquarters town. Increasing bureaucratic
work at the village level will not automatically lead to better governance
outcomes. The Chief Minister must use this opportunity to involve local
communities in all decision-making on the development road map in their areas.
Vocabulary
Bifurcation: the division of something into two branches or parts.
Example: The bifurcation of the profession into social do-gooders and self-serving
iconoclasts
Commentary: an expression of opinions or offering of explanations explanations about an
event or situation.
Example: An editorial commentary
Alienation: the state or experience of being isolated from a group or an activity to
which one should belong or in which one should be involved.
Example: Unemployment may generate a sense of political alienation
Intended: planned or meant.
Example: The intended victim escaped
Synonyms: deliberate, intentional, calculated, conscious, planned, studied
Carve: cut (a hard material) in order to produce an aesthetically pleasing object
or design.
Example: The wood was carved with runes
Synonyms: engrave, etch, incise, score
Morphed: change smoothly from one image to another by small gradual steps using
computer animation techniques.
Example: 3-D objects can be morphed into other objects
Spiralling: a spiral curve, shape, or pattern.
Example: He spotted a spiral of smoke
Synonyms: coil, helix, corkscrew, curl, twist, gyre, whorl, scroll, volute, volution
Borne: carried or transported by.
Example: Waterborne bacteria
Replication: the action of copying or reproducing something.
Example: Machines accelerate, the near-deafening audio intensifies, and the rate of
image replication reaches viral speeds, spawning a climactic mosaic of more
than 2,200 constituent frames.
Suffice: be enough or adequate.
Example: A quick look should suffice
Synonyms: be enough, be sufficient, be adequate, do, serve, meet
requirements