Telangana nativity clause puts students' future in dark

Hyderabad: Going on with the nativity factor decided by the Telangana government and other allied issues associated with the fee reimbursement scheme of the students, the most important issue turns to be the owning of responsibility of those students from the villages which were under the jurisdiction of East Godavari before 1956 and later merged with Khammam district for ease of governance.

If we look into the history of Bhadrachalam, initially, it was under the Kakatiya rulers till 1324 A.D. and then was ruled by the Delhi based Muslim rulers. Later, it was ruled by Golconda Navabs. History reveals the fact that during the regime of Tanisha, the temple of Rama in Bhadrachalam was built by Kancherla Gopanna, who is more significantly known as Bhakta Ramadasu. The temple was built with the tax collections made by Gopanna, without the knowledge of Tanisha. The furious Tanisha caged Ramadasu for this act of Ramadasu. As on this day, the temple of Bhadrachalam is one of the most famous temples of Telangana. Officially, the sate government of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh used to offer sacred clothes on the eve of Rama Navami, every year. This honor is given to only few selected temples of the state.

On the other hand, Nizam rules handed over the Bhadrachalam region to the British, as the later promised to better utilize the Godavari water to turn the region fertile. But, wisely, Nizam retained the powers related to the temple with him. During this period, Arthur Cotton built Davaleswaram barrage on Godavari River. The other two major projects, Dummugudem and Yellampalli undertaken by him could not be finished due to his sudden transfer.

Later, in the year 1847, Bhadrachalam division was shifted to Madras presidency. So, it was under the British rules till India got its independence in 1947. After the formation of Andhra state in 1953, the region was with Andhra state. Later, when Andhra Pradesh has come into force w.e.f. November 01, 1956, the region was the part of East Godavari district. However, for the sake of better governance, the division was included in Khammam district in 1959. After this episode, the relations between the people of Bhadrachalam division have been tightened with people of Telangana. It is learnt that the people of this division faced lot many hardships when it was part of East Godavari district as all the way the people had to travel for more than 500 kms to meet their needs.

Clear analysis of the history of Bhadrachalam division reveals the fact that the region has been influential with heritage and culture of either region. So, both stakeholders have equal right to claim or deny the ownership of this region. Who will decide the ownership? Surely, a third party should decide. However, the one who takes the responsibility should consider the feelings of the people of this division for the decision made by the third party will have an impact on them. Whatsoever the decision may be and whosoever may take the decision the process should consider the feelings of the students without having any second thought.