Maddala Soundaryarao - 'Abolitionof Provincial Governments'

Maddala Soundaryarao,
Ramarao Peta,
C[unclear]ocanada,
10th May 1949.

The Honourable
Dr. Rajender Prasad,
President,
Constituent Assembly,
New Delhi

Subject: Abolitionof Provincial Governments.

Sir,

I enclose herewith my letter to the [unclear]onourable Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel dated 19th Apri[unclear] 1949 on the above subject for the information of the Constituent Assembly.

The proposed alterations in the units of administration are intended to put an end to the growing evil of Provincialism, unhealthy rivalries and unnecessary Controversies. Provincial legislatures are but costly shows serving no useful purpose. Their abolition will conduce to economy and efficiency in administration and to concentration of power in the Federal Government to enable it fight successfully against all forces of evil, corruption and disintegration that are eating into the vitals of our body politic.

Irequest that the Constituent Assembly may pass the ne[unclear]essary legislation to bring about such a change. It may be the Government are contemplating to bring about such a change, but the sooner it is don the better. Jai Hind.

Yours Faithfu  y[unclear],
Maddala Soundaryarao.

Copy.

Maddala Soundaryarao,
Ramarao Peta,
Cocanada.
219th April, 1949.

The Honourable
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel[unclear],
Ag. Prime Minister of India,
New Delhi
Subject: Abolition of Provincial Governments.

Sir,

I venture to place before the Government of India proposals for the abolition of the existing provinces, individual S a and the States’ Unions together with their Legislatures, and substituting in their stead, smaller units of administration for the better government of India. The existing provinces or the future[unclear] linguistic provinces envis ed in the Press and the Platform are too unweildy and unequal in size to have a uniform and efficient adm[unclear] nistration.

(I) Formation of smaller units about fifty in a , each consisting five districts on the average, is desira[unclear]e in the present political atmosphere. For example take the case of the envisaged Andhra Province. The districts of Vizagapatam, East Godavari, West Godavari, Kistna and Guntur may be formed into one state; the districts of Nellore, Chiltore, North[unclear] Arcot, Chengalpat and Madras into a second State, Rayalsima consisting of C[unclear]udappah, Karnool, Bellary, Anantapur and Banganapalle into a[unclear] third; Warangal, Nalgonda, Balda (Hyderabad), Karimnagar, and Adilabaddistricts into a fourth state; Mea[unclear]k[unclear], Nizamabad,Mahboobnagar, Gadwal and Wanaparti into a fifth . Thus the linguistic are asof Tamil, Kanarese, Malayalam, Maharastra, etc., can be rearranged in smaller groups.

P.T.O

(2) The head of each state is to be appointed by the Federal Government and he is to be assisted in the administration of the State by a council of advisers elected by the people on adult franchise.

(3) The regional language must be used for all work in the internal administration of the State. Some places in a few districts are bilingual,such as Chanda district in C.P., Ganjam district in Orissa, and Chengalpat district in Madras Province. Both languages spoken in those districts must be recognised asofficial languages.

(4) In interstate relations and relations with Federal[unclear] Government English or the Federal Language (Hindustani) with Nagari script may be used.

(5) The isting High Courts also may be abolished, Chief courts being created for each state. The Federal Court must be located in a central place of our Union, and it ma[unclear] be ex panded so as to serve as a Court of appeal for all Chief Courts.

(6) To safeguard the cultural and other interests of the people speaking the same language, the existing Provincial Congress Committees formed on linguistic basis must continue to function. The jurisdiction of the existing universities o need not be changed, with the formation of the new states.

The division of Federal India into fiftyor more states as[unclear] stated above will put an end to all controversies, regarding linguistic provinces,boundarydisputes, conflicting claimson the cities of Bombay and Madras and the accession of Hyderabad. All forces of disintegration ch as Communalism, nepotism and corruptions of all kinds can be more easily eradicated. The cost of administration will be reduced and more money can[unclear] be spent [unclear] Constructive work to improve the happiness and prosperityofthe Common people.

If the scheme is acceptable to Government it maybe placedbefore the All India Congress ittee at its next meeting for elucidation of its opinion.

In the context of world events that followed the Second World War the need for a strong, united and Independent India is greaterat the present time than it was ever before. India with its vast resources and manpower working for peace, happiness, and prosperity for all will be a world forc to count, which can resolve allfuture conflicts and ensure peace andsecurity in the world. All efforts of the people and the Government must be concentrated to that end. Jai Hind.

Yo[unclear] s Faithfully,
Maddala Soundaryarao .

(Notes:
1.Certain content in the document was unclear or incompletely written. The same has been marked as [unclear].
2.Typographical errors in the original document have been retained to ensure authentic reproduction of the original document.)