Reorganization Of States

“The 1956 States Reorganization Act used language-based borders to rearrange boundaries of State of India and territories. In this article we have covered all important facts and points about Reorganization of states. This article is very useful for all one day examination. “

Major changes were made to the state and territory boundaries of India in 1956 under the States Reorganisation Act, which organised them according to linguistic groups. Although other state boundary adjustments have been made in India after 1956, the States Reorganisation Act of 1956 is still the single most significant state boundary change done in India since independence. 

India had 27 states in 1951, each of which was divided into Parts A, B, C, and D.

Part A:-
The 9 states in Part A were Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Bombay, Madhya Pradesh (formerly Central Provinces and Berar), Madras, Orissa, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh (previously United Provinces).

Part B:-
The 9 states in Part B were Rajasthan, Hyderabad, Jammu and Kashmir, Saurashtra, Mysore, Travancore-Cochin, Madhya Bharat, Vindhya Pradesh, Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU), and Mysore.

Part C:-
The 10 states in Part C included Delhi, Kutch, Himachal Pradesh, Bilaspur, Coorg, Bhopal, Manipur, Ajmer, Cooch-Behar, and Tripura.

Part D:-
The governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Part D) was chosen by the Indian President to lead the region.

Information Regarding New States And Union Territories Established After 1956 –

Andhra Pradesh:-

By separating some areas from the State of Madras, the State of Andhra Pradesh Act of 1953 established Andhra as the state.

Gujarat and Maharashtra:-

By virtue of the Bombay (Reorganization) Act of 1960, the State of Bombay was split into the States of Maharashtra and Gujarat. Gujarat joined the Indian Union as a fifteenth state.

Kerala:-

The 1956 State Reorganization Act led to the creation of Kerala. It included the Travancore and Cochin regions.

Karnataka:-

Created as a result of the State Reorganization Act of 1956 combining the princely State of Mysore. In 1973, it was renamed as Karnataka.

Dadra and Nagar Haveli:-

The administration of this territory was carried out by an administrator chosen by the people themselves until 1961 after it was liberated from Portuguese sovereignty in 1954. It became a union territory of India after the 10th Constitutional Amendment Act of 1961.

Puducherry:-

The territory of Puducherry encompasses the former French colonies of Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe, and Yanam in India. The French gave this province to India in 1954. Until 1962, it was governed as an “acquired territory” before the 14th Constitutional Amendment Act changed its status to a union territory.

Nagaland:-

It was separated from the State of Assam in 1962 by the State of Nagaland Act.

Haryana:-

In order to create Haryana, the 17th state of the Indian Union, and Chandigarh’s union territory, the State of Punjab was split in half in 1966.

Himachal Pradesh:-

The State of Himachal Pradesh Act, 1970 gave the Union Territories of Himachal Pradesh statehood.

Meghalaya:-

By virtue of the 23rd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1969, State became a part of Assam. Later, in 1971, the North Eastern Areas(Reorganization) Act, 1971 granted it the status of a full-fledged State.

Manipur and Tripura:- 

By virtue of the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganization) Act of 1971, both of these States were upgraded from the status of Union Territories.

Sikkim:-

Through the implementation of the 35th Constitutional Amendment Act, Sikkim became the first state to get the designation of “Associate State” (1974). • By virtue of the 36th Amendment Act of 1975, it attained the status of a complete State.

Mizoram:-

The State of Mizoram Act of 1986 granted it the status of a full state. After the Central government and the Mizo National Front signed the Mizoram Peace Accord in 1986, it was carried out.

Arunachal Pradesh:- 

The State of Arunachal Pradesh Act, 1986 granted Arunachal Pradesh the status of a full state. Arunachal Pradesh has previously been a Union Territory since 1972.

Goa, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand:-

After being separated from Daman and Diu, the Union territory of Goa, the state of Goa was granted the status of a distinct entity. 
In November 2000, the states of Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, and Chhattisgarh were created.

Jammu And Kashmir:- 

The government introduced a new map with two districts for Ladakh on November 2, 2000.
The two Union territories of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir were established after the new political map was created, which caused Jammu and Kashmir to be reorganized.

Telangana:-

The Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act, 2014, was approved by the Indian Parliament. Telangana and the remaining Andhra Pradesh state were created as a result of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act. On December 5, 2013, the first day of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly’s winter session, the bill was introduced. The two distinct states were formally established on June 2, 2014.

Significance 

• Greater local participation in management was made possible by a linguistic foundation.
• The regional languages that the British might had disregarded were now thriving.
• The main contribution of these movements is their emphasis on decentralization and minority participation, which strengthens representative democracy.