Reorganisation Of Indian State

At the time of independence, India was divided into two types of political units: British provinces (governed directly by the British government) and princely states (governed by native princes but subject to the British Crown's supremacy). The Indian Independence Act of 1947 established two independent and separate dominions, India and Pakistan, and provided princely states with three options: join India, join Pakistan, or remain independent. 549 princely states within India's geographical boundaries joined the country, while the remaining three (Hyderabad, Junagarh, and Kashmir) refused. 

 

However, they were eventually integrated into India—Hyderabad through police action, Junagarh through referendum, and Kashmir through the Instrument of Accession. The Indian Union's states were divided into four categories in the 1950 Constitution: Part A, Part B, Part C, and Part D. They totaled 29 people. Nine former governor's provinces of British India made up the Part-A states. Nine former princely states with legislatures made up the Part-B states. Part-C states included some of British India's former chief commissioner's provinces as well as some princely states. These Part-C states (a total of ten) were administered from a central location. The solitary Part-D state, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, was preserved.

 

STATES IN PART –A	STATES IN PART –B	STATES IN PART –C	STATES IN PART –D
ASSAM	HYDERABAD	AJMER	ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS
BIHAR	JAMMU & KASHMIR	BHOPAL
BOMBAY	MADHYA BHARAT	BILASPUR
MADHYA PRADESH	MYSORE	COOCH-BEHAR
MADRAS	PATIALA AND EAST PUNJAB	COORG
ORISSA	RAJASTHAN	DELHI
PUNJAB	SAURASHTRA	HIMACHAL PRADESH
UNITED PROVINCES	TRAVANCORE-CO­CHIN	KUTCH
WEST BENGAL	VINDHYA PRADESH	MANIPUR
		TRIPURA

The relationship between princely states and the rest of India is purely ad hoc. Various regions, particularly in South India, have called for state reorganisation based on linguistic criteria. As a result, the Government of India established the Linguistic Provinces Commission in June 1948, chaired by S K Dhar, to investigate the feasibility of this. In December 1948, the commission issued its report, which recommended that states be reorganised based on administrative convenience rather than linguistic factors.

The Dhar Commission's report sparked widespread outrage, prompting the Congress to appoint a new Linguistic Provinces Committee in December 1948 to re-examine the entire issue. It was popularly known as the JVP Committee because it included Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel, and PattabhiSitaramayya. In April 1949, it issued a report in which it formally rejected language as a basis for state reorganisation.

 

However, the Indian government was forced to create the first linguistic state, Andhra Pradesh, in October 1953, by separating Telugu-speaking areas from the Madras state. This came after a long public outcry and the death of Potti Sriramulu, who had gone on a 56-day hunger strike for the cause.

 

The creation of the state of Andhra Pradesh heightened the demand for linguistically-based states in other regions. This compelled the Indian government to appoint (in December 1953) a three-member States Reorganization Commission, chaired by Fazl Ali, to re-examine the entire issue. K M Panikkar and H N Kunzru were the other two members. It submitted its report in September 1955, with widely accepted language as the foundation for state reorganisation. It did, however, reject the theory of 'one language, one state.' It was of the opinion that, in any redrawing of India's political units, the country's unity should be the primary consideration. It identified four major factors that can be considered in any state reorganisation scheme:

 

a) The country's unity and security must be preserved and strengthened.

b) Uniformity of language and culture.

c) Aspects of finance, economics, and administration.

d) Planning and promotion of the people's welfare in each state, as well as the nation's overall welfare.

 

The commission proposed that the original Constitution's four-fold classification of states be abolished, and that 16 states and three centrally administered territories be created instead. These recommendations were accepted by the Indian government with a few minor changes.

 

The States Reorganisation Act of 1956 was a landmark reform that reorganised India's states and territories along linguistic lines. On August 31, 1956, the States Reorganization Act was passed. An important amendment to India's Constitution was made before it went into effect on November 1st. The distinction between Part A, Part B, Part C, and Part D states was abolished by the Seventh Amendment. The distinction between Part A and Part B states was abolished, and the term "states" was coined. The classification as a Part C or Part D state was replaced by a new type of entity known as the Union Territory.

 

The States Reorganisation Act of 1956 merged the Travancore – Cochin State with the Malabar District of Madras State and Kasargode of South Canara (Dakshina Kannada) to form the new state of Kerala. It created the Andhra Pradesh state by merging the Telugu-speaking areas of Hyderabad state with the Andhra state. It also merged the states of Madhya Bharat, Vindya Pradesh, and Bhopal into the Madhya Pradesh state. 

 

Similarly, the Saurashtra and Kutch states were merged into Bombay, the Coorg state was merged into Mysore, the Patiala and East Punjab States Union (Pepsu) was merged into Punjab, and the Ajmer state was merged into Rajastan. Furthermore, it separated the Laccadive, Minicoy, and Amindivi Islands from the Madras state to form the new union territory of Laccadive, Minicoy, and Amindivi Islands.