“While the national political parties in India favour centralization, the regional parties are in favour of State autonomy.” Comment.
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Essay
NCERT Questions
03-06-2023
11:58:AM
145 Views
The political and administrative reorganization of states and territories has been a continuous ongoing process since the mid-nineteenth century. Discuss with examples. [UPSC-2022]
Approach:
- Introduction: Introduce by mentioning the context
- Main body: Chronologically delineate the data asked in question.
- Conclusion: Conclude accordingly.
Introduction:
The political and administrative reorganization of states under one umbrella power began after the interventions of British East India Company in the local functioning.
Main body:
- The BEIC first consolidated the Bombay, Bengal and Madras presidencies. They were provided with separate legislative councils.
- The Revolt of 1857 and the Government of India Act, 1858 gave the official authority of administration to the British crown. A Secretary of State for India to be a British MP was appointed as the channel of communication between the British government and the Indian administration.
- The Indian Councils Act, 1861 provided for the formation of legislative councils and for the creation of new provinces. Legislative councils were formed in other provinces in Bengal in 1862, North-West Frontier Province in 1886 and Punjab and Burma in 1897.
- The north-western districts of Punjab were created into the North-West Frontier Province in 1901.
- Bengal was partitioned in 1905 on the basis of religion and language.
- The capital of British India was shifted from Calcutta to Delhi in 1911.
- Between 1947 and 1950, 565 princely states were politically integrated into the Indian Union.
- The Constitution of India came into force on 26 January 1950, which made India a sovereign democratic republic. The new republic was also declared to be a "Union of States" classified into Part A, Part B, Part C and Part D States on a political and administrative basis.
- In 1953, the States Reorganisation Commission under Fazl Ali was constituted to recommend the reorganisation of state boundaries on linguistic basis.
- Subsequently, the 7th Constitutional Amendment Act was passed which removed the 4 classes and laid out two classifications- States and Union Territories.
- The States Reorganisation Act was enacted in 1956.
- Andhra Pradesh became the first state to be formed on a linguistic basis in 1956.
- Several territories like Goa, Daman, Diu, Dadra Nagar Haveli, and Puducherry acquired from the Portuguese were incorporated into the Indian Union by 1961.
- Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand were created in 2000, from the existing States of Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, respectively.
- The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 was passed that carved out Telangana State from Andhra Pradesh.
- In 2019, the State of Jammu and Kashmir was reorganised for administrative and security purposes, into the Union territories of Ladakh, and Jammu and Kashmir.
Conclusion:
The reorganisation of states and union territories, also validated by Article 3 of the Indian Constitution has been a continuous process due to the dynamism of socio-political or administrative requirements.
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