A native of Guntur district, he was born at St. Ann’s Hospital, popularly known as American Hospital in Vijayawada city. After education, he moved to Chennai, where he has been working in the Department of Politics and Public Administration at the University of Madras for the last 34 years.
G. Koteswara Prasad has had the opportunity to have a ringside view of the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh and its cascading effect on the people and the new political dispensation. “Whenever the division of a State happens, it throws up colossal challenges. But, the good thing about it is that challenges spur innovation, as people desperately try to identify resources and make their optimum use. The division-induced problems are huge, making it difficult for the government to identify the priority areas,” says the political scientist.
The biggest challenge for the government, he says, is to operate with considerably low revenues as against the high expectations of people. Speaking of the customary ability of those in power to delay, deny and prevaricate until something blows up in their faces, he says: “Promises made to the people of the State by the Telugu Desam Party and the Centre to the AP government are big. Sincere efforts must be made to implement them in toto.”
People of Andhra Pradesh are too dependent on the government. They are always looking to FDI rather than focusing on indigenous development,” says Prof. Rao, adding that “entrepreneurial spirit must come now. This transition period must be utilised properly.”
There are other flip sides that bother him. “Think tanks have not been working well in Andhra Pradesh. They are weak. Empirical research must be developed, and the higher education sector should be strengthened,” he asserts.
On the sudden spurt in the number of universities across Andhra Pradesh, he says lack of accountability and resource crunch are ills that paralyse their effective functioning. “Focus should be on starting front-ranking research institutions in all areas. The vast population of NRIs from the region could be helpful in realising the goal,” he says.