Time for India to go truly Fedaral?
An article in today's IE tries to explain what policies should be adopted by the Hindi region for sustainable development.

Time and again, it has been pointed out that, poorly performing states namely Bihar, MP, UP, Rajasthan, and now the newly created Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttaranchal in India are a burden on the other prosperous states like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamilnadu etc. Classifying linguistically, its the non-Hindi region that is doing well and the Hindi region thats not. A look at Indian political history tells us that its the Hindi region that has had the majority of the influence. Though I have not heard or read of any official demand issued by any of the non-Hindi states explicitly asking for a complete federal structure, I have come across a lot of people from these states who support the fedaral model.

I believe that if India goes fedaral then India runs the risk of a complete balkanisation with every state doing things their way. The reason for this is the fact that the states in India are divided on linguistic basis. You go from one state to another, you encounter a totally different language. Language being the medium through which people interact also influences cultures of those places and hence, you also encounter a totally differnt culture. In such a scenario, what is that thing, that bond, that will keep India together? On the other hand I also believe that if the burden on the non-hindi region is not taken away fast there would be outright demands of breaking away. So what should be done? Should India go federal, try and give it a shot? or Should the Hindi region get their asses to work and come at par with the non-Hindi region? Is India stuck between a rock and hard place?