Vidarbha Information

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vidarbha

Vidarbha (Marathi: विदर्भ) is the eastern region of Maharashtra state made up of Nagpur Division and Amravati Division. Its ancient name is Berar.[2][3] It occupies 31.6% of total area and holds 21.3% of total population of Maharashtra.[1] It borders the state of Madhya Pradesh to north, Chattisgarh to east, Andhra Pradesh to south and Marathwada andKhandesh regions of Maharashtra to west. Situated in central India Vidarbha has its own rich cultural and historical background distinct from rest of Maharashtra. The largest city in Vidarbha is Nagpur, second largest is Amravati followed by Akola, Yavatmal,Chandrapur and Gondia. A majority of Vidarbhians speak Varhadi a dialect of Marathi.

The region is famous for growing oranges and cotton. Vidarbha holds two-thirds of Maharashtra's mineral resources, three quarters of its forest resources and is a net producer of power.[4] Throughout its history, Vidarbha has remained much calmer during the communal troubles than the rest of India; but it is plagued very much by poverty[5]and malnutrition.[6] It is less economically prosperous compared to the rest of Maharashtra.[7]
In recent times, there have been calls for a separate state of Vidarbha, due to the continuous negligence from the Government of Maharashtra towards this region and the incompetent political leaderships in Vidarbha, except a few. The farmers in the state are living in the worst condition compared to the rest of India. There have been more than 32,000 farmers suicides in Maharashtra in a decade, of which 70% being in the 11 districts of Vidarbha region.Though rich in minerals, coal, forests and mountains, this region is always underdeveloped because of the continuous dominance of the political leaderships form the other parts of the state, especially Western Maharashtra. Though being culturally, politically and financially different than the rest of Maharashtra, the calls to a separate state come in picture only when the leaders from this region are sidelined by the other higher authorities in the govt. of Maharashtra.[9] It has largely become a myth as a separate Vidarbha state, mainly due to the opposition from the state political party Shiv Sena.[10]