SEPARATE CAPITOL TOWNS

Separate Capitol Towns

Situation 1

In Lucknow, the State Capitol of U.P., the State Assembly is situated smack in the centre of the town on its main arterial road. So whenever there is a Dharna, Protest march, Sit down protests, etc, the road is closed for about a km, for 4 to 6 hours during peak time of the day. Detours are through narrow roads which immediately clog up and become as useless as the main road blocked by the strikers. And Dharna, Protests are numerous whenever the Assembly is in session. Since Dharna, Protest marches cannot be banned, being rights in a democracy, what happens ?

The strikers are happy that their message has gone to a vast majority of people, by inconveniencing and affecting a majority of the city’s population.

The Assembly House being in the centre of the city on an arterial road, the population of the city on the south side cannot go to the north side where are situated the University, all the courts including the High Court, all the top colleges, the Medical College, the business offices and the markets on that side. Even the GPO and the Zoo. The population of the north side cannot go to the south where are situated the Railway Station, the Airport, the PG Institute of Medical Sciences (equivalent to AIIMS Delhi), and the wholesale &other markets on that side.

People miss their trains, flights etc. People die because they cannot reach the hospitals. Students miss their classes in the University, Colleges, etc. People who are caught in this blockade miss a whole day of whatever they had planned to do. Many Schools give over this time of the day and the children are stuck in the jam on empty stomachs and probably without drinking water waiting to go home

The Police department has a tough time maintaining law & order, as the protesters keep the road closed and want every body to share their problem.  The general public caught in this jam has no sympathy for the protesters, and wish to go about their normal work which opportunity is denied to them, want to use the road which is closed by the protesters and the police.

Situation 2

Bureaucracy always proliferates. Statistics show that the office space needed by the bureaucracy doubles every 10 years. Since no office building is going to be lying vacant, State government office gradually are scattered all over the city, instead of being grouped together at one place. Anyone who has to visit more than one office needs more than a day to locate and visit them.

Housing for MLA’s and Ministers continue to expand, being needed both for the current and ex numbers; so colonies for them are also scattered all over.

What Solution ?

Looking at the Situation 1 and 2 above it is abundantly clear that some out-of-the-box thinking is required to solve the problem.

It is observed by people who visit the USA, that most State Capitols are NOT the largest towns of that State. Rather they are usually a separate small town having only the State Assembly, bureaucratic offices, and residences for government officers etc.  

In India every State Capitol is the largest town of the State with one exemption. Gandhinagar in Gujarat is the State Capitol, while the largest town is Ahmedabad.

Advantages of having the State Capitol in a separate town (as in Gandhinagar)

All the offices of the State government are at one place, and close together.

The housing for the MLA’s and Ministers are also at one place.

The public is not inconvenienced due to any Dharna, protest marches etc.

The Police department has no difficulty in maintaining law & order situations.

As expansion of the offices is inevitable, it shall cause no problem since land is available on every side.

Visitors having work in the offices shall have no trouble as all offices are at one place.

Conclusion

It is never too late to adopt or start on any new idea. It requires foresight, courage and a vision. Also a thought about caring for the population. In Lucknows’ case the Assembly House, Secretariat along with government offices, housing for Ministers and bureaucrats can be shifted to a new township, Since it shall be built anew, all shortcomings of the old setup can be eliminated.  Ideal location can be any tehsil outside Lucknow, which is not very near and not very far off.

American thoughts

Let us see what Americans themselves have to say about this. The following remarks are gathered from internet sites.

“American mentality was that they wanted their cities smallish and focused on being the seat of government, rather than the area with the biggest economic and cultural pull “

“It was designed to keep the government and the economical power weight of the state in two separate cities.”

“In the early-to-mid 1800s there were various reform movements and ideas going on throughout the United States. One was that state government should not be subject to the temptations and corruptions of big city influences, party bosses, special interests, etc. By placing the Capital in a small, more remote location it was felt that government would function more efficiently and ethically.”

“Usually, it's the state capital that's first and the big city comes later. Government itself is an industry, plus various organizations and companies may want to put in a branch merely to deal with the government. This leads to many large cities for state governments.”

“State capitals were chosen for historical reasons (as is the case with most of the original thirteen colonies), or to be more centrally located (such as Jefferson City, Missouri -- it was deliberately chosen before a city actually existed!)  In fact, Alaska, at one point, considered moving the state capital from Juneau to Anchorage for this very reason. It also depends on what transportation connections were available at the time. Most are not small towns, though. Jefferson City (for example), while not one of the largest cities in Missouri, is not exactly a town (population is about 40,000).”

“Pierre, South Dakota, is probably the second smallest at about 15,000 and closer to being a town; Montpelier, Vermont holds the smallest size at about 8000. In case you're curious, the largest state capital is Phoenix, Arizona (about 1,000,000).”

“Sometimes the state capital was the largest city at the time it was picked, but then later other cities grew more. So it wasn’t practical to pick up all the government offices and shift them. Plus, as some others have noted, the state capital might be centrally located while the largest city might be at the edge of the state. For some states, smaller towns were picked intentionally because the rural people of the state didn’t want the big city to have too much power.”

“A capital is a place for government and could exist without anything around it. The businesses just happen to be around the capital but the government could function without the surrounding people/businesses (with the exception of basic services). This is why the capital does not have to match up with the largest city necessarily.”