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Aspiring to or making special efforts to develop one's state, to remove poverty, implementing social justice is not branded as regionalism. However, if any state asserting its pride & interests above the national interest and against the nation in a hostile manner, then that can be dubbed as regionalism.
American scholar and journalist, Selig Harrison in his book India – The most dangerous decades, wrote that there would be threat to Indian unity because of conflict between national and state governments. But contrary to this apprehension, India quite well managed to accommodate and even celebrate India's cultural diversity.
The linguistic reorganization of India and the resolution of the official language controversy have played a very important role by eliminating a patent cause of the feeling of cultural loss or cultural domination. Despite such great amount of amity and peace, there exist many regional disputes which create friction between regional states like on sharing of river waters between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, Karnataka & Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh etc.
Economic inequality among different states and region could be a potential source of trouble. Hence from the beginning, the national government felt a responsibility to counter the imbalance in regional development. To influence the rates of growth in poorer states and regions and to reduce economic distance from richer states, the central government adopted a whole range of policies.
♤ A major instrument in government's hand in bringing development to the poor state was transfer of financial resources, which was done by Finance Commission, a constitutional body.
♤ Planning was also used as a powerful instrument to remove regional inequality. Planning Commission allocated greater plan assistance to the backward states. The assistance was given in both the forms, grants and loans.
♤ Public investment by the central government in major industries such as steel, fertilizers, oil refining, petro chemicals, heavy chemicals, and in power and irrigation projects has been a tool for the reduction of regional inequality.
♤ Government incentives have been provided to the private sector to invest in backward areas through subsidies, tax concessions, concessional banking and institutional loans at subsidized rates.
Inspite of above mentioned initiatives and programmes the backward states have a lower level of infrastructural facilities such as power, irrigation, roads, telephones and modern markets for agricultural produce. Political and administrative failure also bolsters backwardness.