INDIA AS A UNION OF STATES
WHAT DOES THE TERM ‘UNION OF STATES’ MEAN?
- Constitution declared India as a “Union of States”
- It signifies two things
- India is not a result of agreement among states and
- The states have no right to leave the Union
WHY DO WE HAVE ‘STATES’ THEN?
- The country is an integral whole and divided into different states only for the convenience of administration
- Therefore, states share a distribution of powers with the Centre
ARE PRESENT DAY ‘STATES’ SAME AS THE ORIGINAL STATES?
- No, over the years a lot of states have undergone modifications and divisions to look like the present-day states.
WHO HAS THE POWER TO MODIFY STATES?
- Constitution authorises the Parliament to reorganize states based on administrative convenience
- Reorganization includes
- Increasing or decreasing area of any state
- Alter the name and boundaries of any state
- Form a new state by uniting or dividing states
HOW DID THE EVOLUTION OF STATES HAPPEN?
- Post-Independence, there has been a demand from different regions, particularly South India, for reorganisation of states on the basis of language
- Accordingly, Government formed various committees to examine the feasibility of this.
- Dhar Commission
- JVP Committee
- Fazl Ali Commission
WHEN DID THE NEWER STATES FORM?
- Finally on Nov 1, 1956 through States Reorganization Act the union was reorganized into 14 states and 6 Union territories
- Later on, many states were modified to accommodate various regional demands to reach the present day’s 28 states and 8 union territories