- States Reorganisation Act
The States Reorganization Act of 1956 was a major reform of the boundaries and governance of
India 's states and territories. The act reorganized the boundaries of India's states along linguistic lines, and amended theIndian Constitution to replace the three types of states, known as Parts A, B, and C states, with a single type of state.Although additional changes to India's state boundaries have been made since 1956, the States Reorganisation Act of 1956 remains the single most extensive change in state boundaries since the independence of India in 1947.
Political integration after independence and the Constitution of 1950
British India , which included most of present-day India as well asPakistan andBangladesh , was divided into two types of territories: provinces, which were governed directly by British officials, responsible to theGovernor-General of India ; andprincely state s, under the rule of local hereditary rulers who recognised British sovereignty in return for local autonomy, as established by treaty. As a result of the reforms of the early 20th century, most of the provinces had elected legislatures and governors, although some of the smaller provinces were governed by a chief commissioner appointed by the Governor-General. The 20th century reforms of British India also established the principle offederalism , also known in British India as "dyarchy", which was carried forward into the governance of independent India.On
August 15 1947 , British India was granted independence as the separate dominions ofIndia andPakistan . The British dissolved their treaty relations with the over 600 princely states, who were encouraged to accede to either India or Pakistan. Most of the states acceded to India, and a few to Pakistan.Bhutan and Hyderabad opted for independence, although the armed intervention of India brought Hyderabad into the Indian Union.During the 1947-1950 period, the territories of the princely states were politically integrated into the Indian Union. Most were merged into the existing provinces; others were organised into new provinces, like
Rajputana ,Himachal Pradesh ,Madhya Bharat , andVindhya Pradesh made up of multiple princely states; a few, including Mysore, Hyderabad, Bhopal, and Bilaspur, became separate provinces. TheGovernment of India Act 1935 remained the constitutional law of India pending adoption of a new Constitution.The
Constitution of India , which went into effect onJanuary 26 1950 , made India a sovereign, democratic republic, and a union of states (replacing provinces) and territories. The states would have extensive autonomy and complete democracy in the Union, while theUnion territories would be administered by theGovernment of India . The constitution of 1950 distinguished between three types of states.Part A states, which were the former governors' provinces of British India, were ruled by an elected governor and state legislature. The nine Part A states were
Assam ,West Bengal ,Bihar , Bombay,Madhya Pradesh (formerly Central Provinces and Berar), Madras,Orissa , Punjab, andUttar Pradesh (formerly United Provinces).The eight Part B states were former princely states or groups of princely states, governed by a
rajpramukh , who was often a former prince, along with an elected legislature. The rajpramukh was appointed by thePresident of India . The Part B states were Hyderabad, Saurashtra, Mysore,Travancore-Cochin ,Madhya Bharat ,Vindhya Pradesh ,Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU), andRajasthan .The ten Part C states included both the former chief commissioners' provinces and princely states, and were governed by a chief commissioner. The chief commissioner was appointed by the President of India. The Part C states included
Delhi ,Kutch ,Himachal Pradesh , Bilaspur,Coorg , Bhopal,Manipur ,Ajmer-Merwara , andTripura .Jammu and Kashmir had special status until 1957. TheAndaman and Nicobar Islands was established as a union territory, ruled by a lieutenant governor appointed by the central government.The movement for linguistic states
Political movements for the creation of new, linguistic-based states developed around India in the years after independence. The movement to create a Telugu-speaking state out of the northern portion of
Madras State gathered strength in the years after independence, and in 1953, the 16 northern, Telugu-speaking districts of Madras State became the new State of Andhra.Other small changes were made to state boundaries during the 1950-1956 period. The small state of Bilaspur was merged with Himachal Pradesh on
July 1 1954 , andChandernagore , a formerenclave ofFrench India , was incorporated intoWest Bengal in 1955.The States Reorganisation Commission
In December 1953, Prime Minister
Jawaharlal Nehru appointed the States Reorganisation Commission to prepare for the creation of states on linguistic lines. This was headed by JusticeFazal Ali and the commission itself was also known as the "Fazal Ali Commission ". The efforts of this commission was overseen byGovind Ballabh Pant , who served asHome Minister from December 1954. The commission created a report in 1955 recommending the reorganisation of India's states.The States Reorganisation Act
The States Reorganisation Act of 1956, which went into effect on
November 1 , eliminated the distinction between part A, B, and C states. It also reorganised the state boundaries and created or dissolved states and union territories.Changes to states and union territories
On
November 1 ,1956 , India was divided into the following states and union territories:States
*Andhra Pradesh : Andhra was renamed Andhra Pradesh, and enlarged by the addition of theTelangana region of erstwhileHyderabad State .
*Assam
*Bihar
*Bombay State : The state was enlarged by the addition of Saurashtra and Kutch, the Marathi-speaking districts ofNagpur Division of Madhya Pradesh, and theMarathwada region of Hyderabad. The southernmost districts of Bombay were transferred to Mysore State. (In 1960, the state was split into the modern states ofMaharashtra andGujarat .)
*Jammu and Kashmir
*Kerala : formed by the merger of Travancore-Cochin state with theMalabar District of Madras State.
*Madhya Pradesh : Madhya Bharat, Vindhya Pradesh, andBhopal were merged into Madhya Pradesh, and the Marathi-speaking districts ofNagpur Division were transferred to Bombay State.
*Madras State : the state was reduced to its present boundaries by the transfer ofMalabar District to the new state of Kerala. (The state was renamedTamil Nadu in 1969.)
*Mysore State: Enlarged by the addition of Coorg state and theKannada speaking districts from southern Bombay state and westernHyderabad state . (The state was renamedKarnataka in 1973.)
*Orissa :Enlarged by the addition of 28 princly states including two princly states of Saraikela and Kharsawan,but later these two states merged with Bihar.
*Punjab: the Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU) was merged into Punjab.
*Rajasthan : Rajputana was renamed Rajasthan, and enlarged by the addition of Ajmer-Merwara state.
*Uttar Pradesh
*West Bengal Union territories
*Andaman and Nicobar Islands
*Delhi
*Himachal Pradesh
*Lakshadweep
*Pondicherry
*Tripura
*Manipur ee also
*
Swatantra Tripura Committee
*Unification of Karnataka External links
* [http://www.commonlii.org/in/legis/num_act/sra1956250/ Text of the Act]
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