A State in Periodic Crises

Agitations and political crises are not new to the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh: its very existence has been challenged by repeated confrontations. This book is a compilation of essays, speeches, and official notes from an individual who has been intimately associated with the state’s development, from its initial formation and its planning and development to the Telangana region’s separatist challenges first articulated in the late 1960s. Without taking sides on the question of Andhra Pradesh’s future, this account examines the basis of its persistent grievances and the social, political, economic, and emotional foundations of its statehood.

B P R Vithal is a former deputy chairman of India’s Andhra Pradesh State Planning and Development Board, a former advisor to the International Monetary Fund, and a member of the Tenth Finance Commission.