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RESTRUCTURING INDIA WITH SMALLER STATES


The biggest states of India -- Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh -- are also its worst-off states and hence the acronym “Bimaru” for them is most appropriate. They are also predominantly Hindi-speaking states, and hence quite clearly there is no linguistic or historical basis for their creation and existence as they are. Yet within their blanket linguistic conformity, these states cover a vast diversity of distinct regions, with characteristic commonly spoken languages, culture and historical traditions. Each of these states, either in terms of land mass or population, would still be much larger than many countries in the world. Uttar Pradesh is larger in terms of population than Brazil, Japan or Bangladesh.


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