MULTIPLE STATE CAPITALS
2022 MAR 10
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Constitution > Union and States > Governance
IN NEWS:
- The Andhra Pradesh high court has scrapped the ambitious “three-capital” plan ruled and that Amaravati shall be the only capital city of the state.
MULTIPLE CAPITALS:
- A capital of a nation-state or state is the seat of the government. The word "capital" originates from the Latin capitalis, meaning "of the head".
- Capital cities hosts the seat of government and are often historical centres of trade, communication, and transportation.
- The idea of multiple capitals has been around for a while:
- South Africa has three capitals: Pretoria as the administrative capital, Cape Town as the legislative capital and Bloemfontein as the judicial capital.
- Malaysia has two capitals: Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya
- Sri Lanka has two capitals: Colombo and Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte
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ANDHRA’S 3 CAPITAL PLAN:
- Identifying the capital city for the residuary Andhra Pradesh began a few months before the bifurcation of the combined state.
- The UPA government constituted the K Sivaramakrishnan committee:
- Though the committee did not recommend any particular place for the capital, it opposed the concept of building a Super City.
- It also suggested a decentralised model for the capital city through three zones, instead of concentrating all the offices at one place.
- However, the TDP government headed by N Chandrababu Naidu constituted a separate advisory committee, which came up with the suggestion of a single capital, equidistant from all regions of the state.
- Hence, the fertile agriculture zone between Vijayawada and Guntur was chosen as the capital city and named as Amaravati:
- 33,000 acres of fertile land was acquired from the farmers. Agreements were signed, promising the farmers residential and commercial plots in the new capital whose value would match their land’s original land value.
- The foundation stone for the new capital Amaravati was laid in October, 2015 and the Naidu government moved its seat of power from Hyderabad to Amaravati.
- But the subsequent Andhra government under Jagan Mohan Reddy dropped this plan and instead came up with the idea of three capital cities: executive capital at Visakhapatnam, judicial capital at Kurnool and legislative capital at Amaravati.
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ARGUMENTS FAVOURING MULTIPLE CAPITALS:
- Promote regional development:
- Multiple state capitals act as growth poles, attracting investments which will allows regional development and hence resulting in balanced and inclusive growth.
- Participative governance:
- India is a country of 1.38 billion people, with 1,650 spoken languages and dialects, multiple religious and ethnic identities, and cultures. Having multiple power centres can improve the connection between the governing and the governed.
- Deeper regional integration:
- Concentration of power and pelf at certain poles have resulted in ignorance of far-flung and remote regions, thereby fueling separatist tendencies. (Eg: Vidarbha, Maru Pradesh, Purvanchal). Having multiple capitals can help reduce the feeling of alienation.
- Existing examples:
- Besides the global examples, several Indian states are also following the idea of multiple capital in one way or the other.
- Eg: Many states have separate judicial capitals: Uttar Pradesh has state capital at Lucknow and High Court at Prayagraj. Similarly, Kerala has state capital at Thiruvananthapuram and high court at Ernakulam.
- Accommodate growing urban population:
- The 2018 Revision of World Urbanization Prospects, released by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, projects India’s urban population to rise to 52.8% in 2050. Most of this growth will be witnessed in the capital cities which are already unable to keep pace with the demography.
- Improve quality of living:
- Unplanned urbanization and rising population in capitals have resulted in overstressed infrastructure, severe pollution, high cost of living and safety concerns. Having multiple capitals can reduce the pressure on the existing capital cities.
ARGUMENTS AGAINST MULTIPLE CAPITALS:
- Declining relevance of physical capital:
- In the age of e-governance, digital technologies are utilized for delivering public services, planning and monitoring as well as grievance redressal. Hence, the geographical significance of capital as an administrative pole is declining.
- Exorbitant cost:
- The costs of creating new capitals are steep and will be an excessive burden on the State’s post-covid finances. For instance, Egypt is spending over USD 45 billion to build its new administrative capital. Indian states can hardly afford such expenses.
- Impact on administrative coordination:
- In a parliamentary system, the executive, legislature and judiciary have to work in resonance as most of their work is interlinked. However, multiple capitals will result in excess traveling and delays.
- Politically motivated:
- Opponents argue that most cases of demand for multiple capital are not based on facts or research, but rather fueled by regional parties aspiring to reap political benefits.
- Concern for investors:
- Frequent policy changes, like in the case of Andhra Pradesh, will lead to loss of trust of investors. Moreover, companies like to invest in big cities with a massive service sector, while areas identified for new capitals are usually backward regions.
- Ignores root causes:
- Capital cities emerged as islands of prosperity in an ocean of poverty because of ineffective wealth redistribution and poor governance. Creation of a new capital does not address these issues.
WAY FORWARD:
Multiple capital idea holds merit. However, the demand for a new national capital, or a second capital, or multiple rotating capitals, emerges primarily from a concern for adequate representation. Hence, if the government’s goal is to decentralize development, the best way possible is the decentralisation of functions and finances, along with empowering people down to the bottom most rung of governance that make local bodies’ self-governing institutions.
PRACTICE QUESTION:
Q. The idea of having multiple state capitals holds merit, but is not a panacea to resolve regional inequalities in India. Discuss?
