Economics · Ch 4 — The Economy of Maharashtra
Regional Imbalance and the Role of the State
Regional Imbalance and the Role of the State
Every strength described so far coexists with the state's single greatest development problem: regional imbalance — the wide and persistent gap in income, industry, irrigation, infrastructure and human development between the state's regions.
The pattern of imbalance. Broadly, Western Maharashtra (the Pune–Kolhapur–Sangli–Satara–Ahmednagar belt) together with the Mumbai metropolitan region is prosperous — well-irrigated, industrialised, with a strong co-operative economy and good infrastructure. Against this, Vidarbha (eastern Maharashtra) and Marathwada (the central region) are comparatively backward — more dependent on rain-fed farming, less industrialised, with weaker irrigation and infrastructure, lower incomes and acute agrarian distress in their cotton and soybean tracts. This is why the state is often described as "more than one Maharashtra".
Why the imbalance arose. The three regions joined the state in 1960 at very different levels of development, having been governed earlier by different administrations (the Bombay Presidency, Hyderabad State and the Central Provinces). Western Maharashtra's early lead in irrigation, sugar co-operatives and industry then compounded over time — prosperity attracting still more investment — while the drier, later-integrated regions fell further behind.
The constitutional and policy response. Recognising this, the Constitution provides, under Article 371(2), that the Governor of Maharashtra may be given special responsibility for the equitable development of the state's regions, including through statutory development boards for Vidarbha, Marathwada and the Rest of Maharashtra (the boards were constituted in 1994). These boards were meant to assess each region's development "backlog" and ensure a fair share of state funds. Alongside this, the state uses balanced-development tools: directing MIDC industrial estates and incentives to backward regions, special irrigation and infrastructure packages for Vidarbha and Marathwada, and planned allocation of development spending. …
A persistent gap in development between the regions of a state. In Maharashtra it is the gap between prosperous Western Maharashtra and Mumbai and the comparatively backward Vidarbha and Marathwada regions — the s …
The constitutional provision empowering the Governor of Maharashtra to ensure equitable regional development, including through development boards for Vidarbha, Marathwada and the Rest of Maharashtra (constituted in 1994) that …