Chapter 7 - Union & Its Territory (PART- I)

Articles 1 to 4 under Part-I of the Constitution deal with the Union and its territory.

Articles	Subject Matter
1	Name and territory of the Union, describes India as "Union of States"
2	Admission or establishment of new states
3	Formation of new states and alteration of areas, boundaries or names of existing states
4	Laws made under Articles 2 and 3 to provide for the amendment of the First and the Fourth Schedules and supplemental, incidental and consequential matters.

• The term "Union" was first used by Dr. Bheem Rao Ambedkar.
• Conditions for Article 3 to implement

1. A bill is required to introduce changes with the prior recommendation of the President.
2. Before recommending the bill the President has to refer the same to the State Legislature for their views.

• The President is bound by the views of the state legislature.
• After Berubari Dispute, it was decided that Indian Territory can be ceded to a foreign state only by the amending constitution under Article 368.

Evolution of States and Union Territories

• The Indian Independence Act (1947) created two independent and separate dominions of India and Pakistan and gave three options to the princely states viz., joining India, joining Pakistan or remaining independent.
• Of the 552 princely states situated within the geogra-phical boundaries of India, 549 joined India and the remaining 3 (Hyderabad, Junagarh and Kashmir) refused to join India.
• However, in course of time, they were also integrated with India—Hyderabad by means of police action, Junagarh by means of referendum and Kashmir by the Instrument of Accession.

 Commissions

1. Dhar Commissions 

• For integration of princely states with the rest of India
• For reorgani-sation of states on linguistic basis in June 1948, the Government of India appointed the Linguistic Provinces Commission under the chairmanship of S K Dhar.
• Recommended the reorganisation of states on the basis of administrative convenience rather than linguistic factor.

     2. JVP Committee

• It consisted of Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallahbhai Patel and Pattabhi Sitaramayya and hence, was popularly known as JVP Committee.
• It submitted its report in April 1949 and formally rejected language as the basis for reorganisation of states.

Result :-

• In October 1953, the Government of India was forced to create the first linguistic state, known as Andhra state, by separating the Telugu speaking areas from the Madras state.
• This followed a prolonged popular agitation and the death of Potti Sriramulu, a Congress person of standing, after a 56-day hunger strike for the cause.

Fazl Ali Commission or States Reorganisation Commission

• The creation of Andhra state intensified the demand from other regions for creation of states on linguistic basis.
• This forced the Government of India to appoint (in December 1953) a three-member States Reorganisation Commission under the chairmanship of Fazl Ali, other two members were K M Panikkar and H N Kunzru.
• Submitted its report in September 1955 and broadly accepted language as the basis of reorganisation of states. But, it rejected the theory of ‘one language–one state’.

Result :-

• GOI accepted their recommendation & By the States Reorganisation Act (1956) and the 7th Constitutional Amendment Act (1956) 14 states and 6 union territories were created on November 1, 1956.

New States and Union Territories Created After 1956

1. Maharashtra and Gujarat (1960)

• The bilingual state of Bombay was divided into two separate states- Maharashtra (Marathi speaking) & Gujrat (Gujrati speaking)
• Gujarat was established as the 15th state of the Indian Union.

     2. Dadra and Nagar Haveli

• 10th Constitutional Amendment Act (1961) - It was converted into a union territory of India
• The Portuguese ruled this territory until its liberation in 1954.

     3. Goa, Daman and Diu

• India acquired these three territories from the Portuguese by means of a police action in 1961.
• 12th Constitutional Amendment Act (1962) - constituted as a union territory
• In 1987, Goa was conferred a statehood & Daman and Diu was made a separate union territory.

     4. Puducherry

• 14th Constitutional Amendment Act (1962) - it was made a union territory
• Territory of Puducherry comprises the former French establishments in India known as Puducherry (TN), Karaikal (TN), Mahe (Kerala) and Yanam (AP). The French handed over this territory to India in 1954.

     5. Nagaland (1963)

• Nagaland was the 16th state of the Indian Union, formed by taking the Naga Hills and Tuensang area out of the state of Assam.

     6. Haryana, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh

• In 1966, the State of Punjab was bifurcated to create
• Haryana, the 17th state of the Indian Union, the unilingual state of Punjab & Himachal Pradesh as 18th state of the Indian Union.

     7. Manipur, Tripura and Meghalaya

• In 1972, the political map of Northeast India underwent a major change.
• Manipur 19th, Tripura 20th and Meghalaya 21st state of the Indian Union

     8. Sikkim

• Till 1947, Sikkim was an Indian princely state ruled by Chogyal.
• In 1947, after the lapse of British paramountcy, Sikkim became a ‘protectorate’ of India.
• In 1974, Sikkim expressed its desire for greater association with India.
• 35th Constitutional Amendment Act (1974) - conferred Sikkim the status of an ‘associate state’ of the Indian Union.
• 36th Constitutional Amendment Act (1975) - Sikkim became a full-fledged state of the Indian Union (the 22nd state).
• For this purpose, a new Article 2A and a new schedule (Xth) were inserted in the Constitution.

     9. Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Goa

• In 1987, three new States of Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Goa came into being as the 23rd, 24th and 25th states of the Indian Union respectively.

     10. Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand

• In 2000, three more new States of Chhattisgarh (26th), Uttarakhand (27th) and Jharkhand(28th) were created out of the territories of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar respectively.

      11. Telangana

• On 2 June 2014, Telangana was separated from Andhra Pradesh as a new 29th state of India, with the city of Hyderabad as its capital.

Thus, the number of states and union territories increased from 14 and 6 in 1956 to 29 and 7 in 2014 respectively.