New Delhi, Feb. 15 -- Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the former deputy chairman of the erstwhile Planning Commission, is spot on in advocating for splitting large states into smaller ones to boost India's growth.

The specific benefit he sees arising from new states is the creation of new cities as capitals of the new states, or the expansion of existing towns into larger ones to take on the new role as administrative centres that also often end up serving as business hubs. Additionally, this restructuring could improve governance, resulting from shortening the distance - physical as well as in terms of the chain of command - between the state headquarters and the administered units.

After the reverse migration of people from towns to villages ...