 Hello everyone, my name is Deeksha Jain, I secured the 22nd Rankin Civil Services examination in 2008 and in this video we will be talking about regionalism. So let us begin with it, what is regionalism? Regionalism is based on socio-cultural and historical similarities or homogeneity which people belonging to a given geographical area, a given region feel towards each other. There is a sense of harmony and belongingness between among people on the basis of which identity of insiders and outsiders is created. So regionalism in its essence is basically a feeling of belonging to one's region. And if we talk about whether regionalism is a good thing or a bad thing then regionalism when it means working for the benefit of your region, addressing the problems that particularly your region faces, focusing on empowerment of your region then it is not such a bad thing. But when regionalism develops into something like subnationalism or when it becomes more aggressive then it is a problem. So if regionalism develops into aggression towards people from other communities, people who are not from the region then it is violent. When regionalism sort of ends up in Fisiparis national tendencies or it harms the unity and integrity of India then it is working against the national ethos of the country. So regionalism in its mild manner can be an empowering thing but when it becomes aggressive and it develops into subnationalism then it is not such a good thing and it has led to violent movements in India as well. So let us look at how regionalism manifests itself. One view of manifestation is suprastate regionalism. So one would consider the regional interest sometimes as more important than national interest. It has been seen in states like in northeastern states or in states of Tamil Nadu where the interests of the region have been highlighted above the national interest. Number 2, demand for separate states that has been seen for example in Mithilanchal in Bihar, Bundelkhand in UP even Gorkhalan movement was there. So by people of a particular subregion within a state may be demanding for statehood so that their aspirations can be met and can be addressed in a better manner. Then regionalism also manifests in centre state conflicts. For example the Bengal state government and the central government may not be on the same page about certain issues that conflict is also a manifestation of regionalism. Again there is also manifested itself in south-north politics in terms of economic political and cultural distance between the two and that has also been seen as a kind of regionalism that people from north India might face problems in south India. People from south India also might face problems in north India. There might be certain stereotypes that might be inflicted upon them. So that is also a form of regionalism. Interstate regionalism can also be there. So for example, riparian disputes which is basically suppose Karnataka and Tamil Nadu had a dispute because of the Kaveri water dispute then that is also a kind of regionalism because both the regions are trying to uphold their own interests as opposed to the general what would be good for the larger scheme of things. So now we will move to the causes of regionalism. The first is a geographical factor. So geographical diversity does create cultural and social diversity that can become a basis of regionalism. So for example, the Himalayan communities may have a very different culture and sense of identity from people in the plains. So that will and it has manifested itself in for example, when Uttarakhand was asking for statehood and eventually got statehood. So that is also manifestation of regionalism. Economic factor, imbalanced regional development also lead to regionalism. If a state feels neglected in the national scheme of things that it has not been given enough funds, the development in that state has been sidelined, industries are not being promoted in that state. So it leads to regional sentiments where people will try to promote the interests of their own region. This can also be because of government policy. If the policy is imbalanced, this can lead to regionalism. And because of imbalanced natural resources, also this regionalism can be because an area might have very rich natural resources and it may have benefited from it or not benefited from it. That might lead to certain regional forces. Political factors are also there. So rise of regional political parties has also strengthened regionalism and that is not necessarily a bad thing because regional political parties, one, they are a bulwark against a whimsical center. I mean, they uphold the interests of their states just in case it is not being heard at the national level and they espouse the local demands which the central government may not be aware of but the regional parties, they make sure that the demands of their people are heard. So to that extent, it is not a bad thing that regional parties have come up. It is a sign of healthy democracy. However, if the regional parties start espousing, they go against the national integration and unity, then of course it will be more towards separatism. But healthy regionalism here is a very important factor in regional empowerment. There are also socio-cultural factors. Linguistic factors have been a major cause of regionalism. So a certain area where people speak the same language would feel that may get regional sentiments. So when Madras used to be a single state, but Telugu-speaking people felt that they are being discriminated on a linguistic basis and their rights are not being met by the Madras government, then it led to the bifurcation of the state. So linguistic factor is there. Religious factor can also be a source of regionalism. For example, the Khaldistan movement which happened in Punjab was basically on the demand for a separate state for Sikhism. So regionalism can manifest like that as well. So there can be, as I said, there are positive and negative consequences of regionalism. So how do we overcome the negative consequences of aggressive regionalism? Because it leads to social disharmony, violence, cultural rigidity, stereotypes, human rights violation. So it sort of stops people from integrating the mobility of Indians within the countries also constrained. So how to overcome these negative effects of regionalism? First is the fostering the spirit of nationalism. And that has been done in many respects in terms of the respect that we have for the national anthem, national flag, national emblem, the sense of identity which is promoted because of being an Indian. So for example, a person like Himadas from Assam, so Himadas from Assam got a gold medal for India, but the entire country was happy. So even these things, these incidents, they promote a sense of national identity and that can help to counter regionalism. Number two, promotion of balanced economic development. Especially the states which are backward, they need to be taken care of because if they are not taken care of and if they feel that they are being neglected in the growth story of the country, then it may lead to regional aggression. At the same time, the more developed states should not feel that they are not being, that the effort that they had made, that the social and economic progress that they have got, they are not being paid in the same manner by the country that they are also being discriminated against. So that balance needs to be found so that regionalism in its aggressive form does not develop. The second point is the promotion of balanced regional development. In this case, especially the regions which are backward, which have where development has not reached to the same extent, they need to be taken care of because if they feel that their rights or they are not part of the national growth story, then it might lead to aggressive regionalism. At the same time, the states which have done well on the social economic side, they also need to feel that they are being respected and paid back by the country because if that is not, they will feel that their resources are being used and they are not being used for them. So a balanced development between all the states in the country so that aggressive regionalism does not rear its head. The next one is decentralization of development. This is again, you know, a similar point in terms of that development should not be development of one region. It should be development of every country, every city and every village in that country, so in that city. So when in development, everybody is taken along, then everybody feels part of the larger country. So the more balanced development is there, the less regionalism will be promoted. If you look at the political aspect, then promotion of cooperative federalism is a very important aspect because what it does is that it promotes positive regionalism because the genuine demands that certain regions have and the needs that they have, they can be met through cooperative federalism and at the same time, the region will also cooperate with the center and with the larger nation for the overall development of the country. And in this respect, the role of interstate council is very important. Lastly, promotion of multiculturalism and cultural exchange among various states is also an important aspect. There are government schemes which promote people to go to other states and take students to other states and learn from them. There are exchange programs between states. So these things also need to be promoted so that distance between different regions is reduced through more knowledge dissipation. So that will be all for regionalism and thank you so much.