Former Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of India Montek Singh Ahluwalia has said that large states can be split so that new cities can emerge, giving impetus to urbanisation. According to him, if India is going to grow at 8 per cent, then the urban population is going to grow more rapidly than cities' infrastructure. Ahluwalia said 'We should seriously consider cutting down many of the largest states into two or three.’ He stated ‘Gandhiji said India lives in its villages, and many people still regard that as a sort of romantic vision. But I don't think he said India will continue to do so 100 years later.’
He said picking up some tier-2 towns and developing them into near-metros is the solution for over-saturated cities like Bengaluru, for instance. He said even though there ought to be spilling over into other cities, this does not happen organically. He added ‘The only known cases in India where this happens is when a new state is carved out and a capital has to be created.’
Ahluwalia recalled former UP Chief Minister and BSP leader Mayawati had suggested splitting her state into three. Moreover, he said ‘Had this been done, there would have been a political willingness instantly to create three new good cities.’ He also pointed out that people have said this could be done in many other states. Besides, he said In Maharashtra, for example, there are people who said the Vidarbha region should be made a separate state with Nagpur as its capital. While stating that tough decisions such as this are not politically easy, he said change happens only with interesting reforms.
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