UNIT 17 AUTONOMY MOVEMENTS AND STATES

REORGANISATION IN INDIA
Structure
17.0 Objectives
17.1 Introduction
17.2 The Theoretical Issues
17.2.1 Territoriality Versus Culture
17.2.2 Government in ti Multi-cultural Slate
17.2.3 Cross-cutting Cleavage
17.3 The Colonial Experience
17.3.1 'British' slid 'Native' Indians
17.3.2 From Preside~iciesto Provinces
17.3.3 Religion Versus Language
17.4 India after Partition
17.4.1 1:rorn Provinces to States
17.4.2 The, Backward Tracts
17.5 Linguistic Reorganisation of States
17.5.1 Creation of Andhra State
17.5.2 States Reorganisation, 1956
17.5.3 Cwation of New States
17.5.4 Reorganisation of North-East India
17.5.5 Upgradation of Union Territories
17.6 Analysis and Conclusion
17.6.1 l'ower and Benefits of Statehood
17.6.2 Identity and Statehood
17.7 Let Us Sum Up
17.8 Some Useful Books
17.9 Answers to Check Your Progress Excercises

17.0 OBJECTIVES
The objective of the present unit is to explain to you the reasons and processes
related to the reorganisation of states in India. After going througl~this unit, you bill
be able to understand:
8 The nature of this interconnection;
Some of the issues concerning the delimitation of the boundaries of a state:
The reasons why people seek statehood; and
The way nyw states are created and state boundaries are altered in India.

17.1 INTRODUCTION
.The Constitution of lndia empowers the Union government to create new states out
of existing states or two merge one state with other. This process is called
reorganisation of the states. The basis of reorganisation could be linguistic, religious,
ethnic or administrative.

17.2 THE THEORETICAL ISSUES

Modem states are mostly large states with several cultural and economic problems
Historical experiences add complexity to their problems. One of the most difficult
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 Lilal~engcsto statecraft lies in rationall!. organising tllcnl to suit the needs of
government and, convgrsclj; to adjust the proccss of government to n~cct the
complexity. -
17.2.1 Territoriality Versus Culture

One of the major problems of state managanent today is the incongruit!* bet\vccn
the territorial limits and the cultural front~crsof 111odcrn statcs. Modem statcs arc
nlostly large states and contai~lsc\cral religious. linguistic and ethnic (tribal) groups.
In son~ecascs they arc nliscd as in the United States of America. In sonic cascs
they are conccntratcd in distinct regions as in Canada or S\\itzcrland. When tllc
religious. the linguistic or the tribal groups arc conccntratcd in particular gcograpllical
arcas. they ma!. be tbrnlcd ~ntoprovinces or statcs and granted local autonom!..
This may be called the proccss of pro\ lnciallsatio~lor rcgionalisation.

Even when sucll provincialisation or rcgionalisation is possible. there always remain

in every province or region sections of popillation belonging to other cultures. This is
particularly true of the border areas of a province or a region.

The problem bcconlcs acute in the countries for~ncrly under colonial rule. The
colonial rulers annexed territories whcncvcr and \\herever they ruled. While governing
such territories they paid little attention to the cultural or ctll~iicspccificitics of the
pcoplc under their rulc. Most of thc provinces under their rulc remained multi-
lin~wal.multi-religious and multi-tribal.

17.2.2 in a Multicultural State

Goveri~rner~t
i
, A state where different cultural. li~lgi~istic and social groups live is known as a
I multicultural state. Even the colonial n~lcrshad to deal \\it11 people. Tllcy could not
perpetually ignore the people's cultural and ethnic aspirations. So they had to ad-just
the provincial boundaries to tllc cultural frontiers of the groups they lidcd i~~ldcr
their
I authority.
, In an independent. democratic state such adjustment becomes all the nlorc essential.
A government \vhich runs \\.it11 the conscnt of the people cannot ignore their
aspirations for long. As danocracj. takes firn~crroots. such aspirations also gro\\.
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I
P
l'he hitherto neglected sections of thc populations rcalisc their O\\~II importance.
demand new provinces or states. \\ant nc\v borders and secure autonomy.

17.2.3 Cross-cu tting Cleavage

A COIIIIIIOI~ problc~llfor a colonial govcni~llcntand a free democratic govcn~mcntis

\\.hat is kno\v as 'Cross- cutting clcavagc' Rcligioi~sdivisions cut across lingi~istic
divisions and even tribal di\,isions. Hou. then. docs tl~csupreme govcrnnlcnt draw
the provincial or statc boundaries? Tllis is a problcn~that India faced throughout the
first half of the t\\alticth century and tinall!. led to the partition of the countn.. The
1

I 111ost common cross-cutting clca\lagc is bct\\ccn language and religion. Pcoplc

speaking the salilc language ma!. profess different religions. Pcoplc professing thc
sanle religion ma!r speak diffcrcnt languages.

Check Your Progress Exercise 1

Note: i) Use the space given belo\\. for !.our answers.
ii) Check your answers \\'it11 the nlodcl ans\vers given at the end of this unit.
1) What is the nlajor problem of statc nlanagcmcnt today'?

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What i s the niost c o l i ~ t i ~cross
o ~ ~ci~tting-cleavage'?
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17.3 T H E COLONIAL EXPERIENCE

Tlic Britisli anncscd India in stages and b!. parts. Till the!. left tlic countn. the!.
could not anncs tlic \\liolc o f the sub-continent. Conscqucntl!~. the!. c\iolvcd a
\~aricgatcdst!.lc o f adniinistration and control.

17.3.1 'British' and 'Native' l n d i a ~ ~ s

Till that timc India \\.as divided into 'Britisli India' and 'native India'. Britisli India
\\.as split into Govcnior's Pro\~inccsand Cllicf commissioncr's Pro\*inccs. Native
India was split into tn.0 t!,pcs - i ) 566 princcl!. states o f different sizes arid in
different kinds o f subordination to tllc British rulers. and ii) 'tribal areas' outsidc tlle
north \vcstcni and the north eastern borders o f British India. Though outsidc British
India tlic -tribal areas' \\.ere \/ent nlucll under the control o f the Governor-General
o f British India. tlicrc \\.ore sc\,cral back\vard districts in British Indian pro\~inccs
like Assam. Bcngal. Billar and Orissa \\.here distinct tribal groups lived. Scvcral
districts \\.ere forriicd \\.it11 nii~ltiplctribal groiIps. And. as \\.it11 the provincial
boundarics. the district boundaries also cut across several tribal groups. '

17.3.2 From Presidencies to Provinces

Tlic Britisli administration. initiall\.. \\.as organiscd through \vllat the!* called
-Prcsidcncics'. i.c.. properties o f the President o f thc Board o f Trade o f tllc East
India Cornpan!.. Thcrc \verc tllrcc Prcsidcncics' Bcngal. tllc largest. Madras and
Bombs!.. As anncsation \vent on. the British govcrnlllcnt constiti~tcdnc\\' provinces.
The Bcngal Presidaic! conipriscd today's West Bcngal. Biliar. Orissa. a part o f
Assa~nand Bangladcsli. In 1904 Lord Curzon, Governor-Gcncral o f Britisli Ind~a.
decided to split this Presidency for adnlinistrativc convenience. Hc put Wcstcrn
Bcngal including Bihar and Orissa into one province and joined eastern Bcngladcsll
(rouglily, toda!.'s Bengali spaking population) into two parts. l i e go\ eninlent justiticd
its action on the ground o f religion. Eastern Bcngal \\?as Mils1im-majorit!,. Wcstcrn
Bcngal Hindu-majorit!..

17.3.3 Religion Versus Language

Bengali fcclings \\ere scriousl! hurt. The Indian nationalists saw it as an attempt to
divide the Indian ~iationinto rival religious groups. l'llcre was a po\\crfitl anti-
partitioli agir;,ion based on linguistic scnti~licntand the govcnilllcnt liad to annul the
Bcngal partition. Ho\\rever. it scparatcd Billar and Orissa fro111Bcngal and constit~~tcd
tllern into a nnitcd province. In 1936. Bihar and Orissa ncrc scparatcd into t\\o
linguistic provinces.

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 Around the sa~nctime. ho\vcvcr. the govcmnlcnt separated the province o f Sindl1 . \ ~ ~ t \~I " \ c~' l l l~e l l f~\ ~illl'l
~ l ? '
5t;ttc' i t c * ~ b r z i ~ ~ ~ i si;n~ t i q ~ ~ ~
from Bombay mainlj. on religious ground. The British continued to regard religious IIIIIi : ~
division as lnorc inlportant than any otlicr di\lision and partitioned I!ldia on that
ground.

Check Your Progress Exercise 2

Note: i) Use the space given belo\\ for your ans\\ers.
ii) Check !.oiIr ans\vers \\.it11 the model ans\vcrs given at the end o f this unit
1) Into how many provinces \\as India di\.idcd during tllc colonial period'?

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2) On \\;hat basis was Bcngal partitioned in 190j0?Elaborate.

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,17.4 INDIA AFTER PARTITION

The partition o f 1947 sent parts o f tllc provinces o f Assam, Bcngal and Punjab and
the whole provinces o f Sind. Baluchistan and North-West Fronticr Province into
Pakistan. On the other hand. 354 princcl~fstatcs joined India. One -tribal area' to
the nortlieast \vas joined \\it11 India.

1 17.4.1 From Provinces to States

I

The Constitution o f India. in 1950. regrouped tlic provinces \\llich csistcd during the
colonial period into '-states-'. It created four kinds o f 'statcs' \\tithin the federal statc
o f India. Tlle fonncr Go\crnor's pro\!inccs \\ere declared Part A statcs. The Chief
Conimissioncr's Provinces o f AAjmcr. Coorg and Dcllii. along \\it11 sonic o f tlic
fomlcr princely statcs that had been taken over for better administration. mere
niade part C statcs. The otllcr fonllcr princely statcs and groups o f princely statcs
becanle part B statcs and tlie extre~~~el!. backuard. Andanlan and Nicobar islands
were niade a Part D statc.

Part A states \\*ere placed under Governors \vhilc Part B statcs were placed'undcr
Rajpramuksh. They \vould havc legislatures. Part A statcs \vould have Co~~ncils of
Ministers responsible to the Icgislaturcs \vhilc the Part B statcs \\:auld havc Esccutivc
Councils. Part C and Part D statcs \vould be centrally administered. As the Go\~enlors
and Raipramukhs would follo\v the advice o f their Councils o f Ministers in the Part
A and Part B states, they ivould llavc the highest amount o f ai~tonom!~.Tlic
ce~itrally-administeredstatcs \vould havc tllc least or no autono~n!..

17.4.2 Backward Tracts

I n British India the Backivard Tracts inhabited b!. tribal pcoplc \vcrc specially
administered under tlic personal authority o f the Go\~cn~ors.
Under tllc Go\~crnmcnt
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 of India Act. 1935. tllcy \l.crc classified into 'Escludcd' a~id'Partiall!, Excluded'
Areas. They wcrc \vholly or partially cscludcd fro111tlic jurisdiction of tllc pro\li~icial
legislatures and provincial minister'.

Tlic 'Tribal Areas' the 'Excluded Areas, and the 'Partially Excluded Areas' \\.ere
all \~holl!. or mostl!. inhabited by the tribal people. But the 'Tribal Areas' were
outside British India and alnlost autonomous. Tlic 'Excli~dcdAreas' and thc 'Partiall!
Excluded Areas' \\,ere \\~ithinBritish India and very much under go\ cnlmcnt control.
Check Your Progress Exercise 3
Note:i) Use tlic space gi\:cn belo\\. for ).our ans\\er.
ii) Clicck \,our ans\\.crs ~viththe niodcl ans\\.crs given at tlic elid of this unit
1 ) Into ho\\ man!f t!.pcs of '-states" \\ere the provinces created according to
of India in 1950t?
Constit~~tion

17.5 LINGUISTIC REORGANISATION OF STATES .

During the work of tlic Constiti~cntAssanbly demands for li~igi~istic rcorganisation

of statcs \\.crc raised. But thc lcadcrs thought that. imnicdiatcly after partition,
crcation of li~iguisticstntcs ~iliglit crcatc further tcnsion. So the decision was
postponed. But Parlia~iicnt\\.as given the power to crcatc new statcs or nicrgc old
stntcs or parts of such statcs or nltcr tlicir boundaries in future.
17.5.1 Creation of Andhra State
Shortl!. after tlic making of the Constitution the agitation for an Andlira Statc began.
Potti Sriramali~.a respected Andhra Congress Icadcr. fasted unto death deninnding
crcation of Andhra Statc on the linguistic basis. As a result on October 1. I953 the
Andlira Statc \\as carved out of the Statc of Madras.

17.5.2 States Reorganisation, 1956

This Icd to further agitation's for linyuist~crcorganisation. Therefore. thc government

set up a three-maiibcr Statcs Rcorganisation Commission in 1953. Tllc comniission
\\as supposed to examine thc rcorganisation of the statcs of the lndia~lUnion taking
into co~lsidcrationtllc historical background. tlic contemporary s~ti~ation and the
language. ctc. Tlic Commission co~lsistcd of Fazul Ali. H.N. Kurjru and K.M.
Pannikar. The Co~ii~ii~ssion rcco~iunendcdcreation of new statcs in south on tlie
basis .of language. The Commission subniitted its report in 1955. I n 1956 the Statcs
Rcorgnnisation Act \\.as passed.

The Statcs Rcorganisation Act. ho\\cvcr. did not nlake a drastic rcorganisation. Thc
fonilcr Part B Statc of H~.dcrabadwas joined \v~tliAndlira Stsatc to fonii a larger
Andlira Pradcsli Statc. The fornicr Part B Statc of Mysorc tunicd into a larger.
State of Karnataka \\lit11 additional territories transferred from thc Statcs of Madras
(Tamil Nadu) and Bombay. The for~ncrPart B States of Madras (Tamil Nadu) avid
Bombaj.. The foniicr Part B Statc of Travancore-Cochin was ti~rncdinto tlic Statc
of Kcrala \vith new Tcrritorics acquired froni the Statc of Madras.

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You have read in sub-section 17.4.1 of this unit that tlic Constitutio~iof India. in
1950, created four t!.pcs of statcs. I n 1956. thcsc statcs \\ere reduced into t\vo
types - ( I ) Statcs and (2) U~~ion
tcrritorics. The autonom~~ of statcs \\as larger than
that of the Union territories.

17.5.3 Creation of New States

It will be seen that the statcs Reorganization Coniniission of 1955 did not crcatc
any new state. The Commission actuall!. integrated several foniicr Princcly Statcs
on the basis of language. The Conl~nission\\as not in favour of many states though
it recommended the crcation of one nc\v statc - Vidarbha-by uniting contiguous
territories of Madhya Pradesli and the then State of Bombay. That reconiniendation
was not accepted by the governmait. On tlic other hand Bombs!, statc \Itas enlargcd
b!. transfer of territoy froni Madli~aPradcsh.

Crcatio~iof ne\v statcs started shortly thereafter. In 1960 the Bombay statc \\.as
partitioned hito Maliaraslitra and (311-jarat.In 1966 Punjab. A clii~nkof tlic territory
of the foniier Punjab statc \\.as joined \\.it11 the Union tcrriton. of Hinlaclial Pradcsli
to constitute it into a State.

There are. at present. a feu statehood ~iiovcn~cnts

l~kctliosc for Vidliarbha. Gorkliala~id
Harit Pradesh and Bhil\\ara - in different parts of India.

In the year 2000 tlircc nc\\ statcs \\ere crcatcd: Chliatt~sgarli.out of the hill area of
Madhya Pradesh. Jharkhand. out of the liill arcas of Biliar and Uttarakhand. out of
the hill areas of Uttar Pradcsh. Thcrc was a time thc hill areas of Bihar and
Madhya Pradesh \\.ere doniinatcd by people \\ho are no\\ called Scheduled Tribes.
Industrialisation and niigration lia\.c tunicd tlicni into minorities. Uttaranclial is alniost
entirely non-tribal.

All the necv states carved out of the old o~icssince 1972 can. therefore. be called
'hill states.

, 1 7 5 4 Reorganizatioil of North-East lndia

Mean\\lliilc in northeast India autonom! niovc~iicntsbccanic po\\crfi~lamong peoples
of se\~eralhills. In 1960 an Interim Go\crnmait \\as set up for tlic Naga hills. In
1963 the State of Nagaland \\as crcatcd. In 1969 McgIialaj,a bccanic an 'autonomo~ls
state' within Assani. In 1972 Mcglmla!.a bccanic a fi~ll-fledgedstate. T\\o Union
territories - An~nachalPradcsh and Mizoran; - \\ere crcatcd out of the tcrritorics of
Assani. while Manipur and Tripura \\.ere proniotcd to fill1 statehood. All the new
political cntitics had populations \\.ith large proportio~~sof schcdulcd tribes. The
scheduled tribes tlicnisclvcs arc. ho\\cvcr. man!..

17.5.5 Upgradation of Union Territories

No new state \\as crcatcd bctnccn 1972 and 2000 but Sikkini joined India in 1974.
In 1986 Arunachal Pradcsh and Mizoram bccanic filll-fledged statcs. In 1987 Goa
\\.as adniinistrativcl~.dctaclicd froni Danian and Dill and niadc a state \\ liilc Danian
and Dill rcniaincd a Union tcrriton
Check Your Progress Exercise 4
Note:i) Use tlic space gi\.cn belo\\. for >.our ans\vcr.
ii) Check your ans\\crs \\.it11 the model ans\\crs gibai at the end of this unit.
I) Discuss the factors \\:Iiich rcs~~ltcd
in the forniatio~iof linguistic states in South
India.

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2 ) Sunimarisc the process of rcorganisation of the North -East India.
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17.6 ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSION

The reasons for dcniand of statehood appcar to be related to mainl! two
considerations- po\\cr and baicfits. and idaitity.

17.6.1 Power and Benefits of Statehood

Under India's federal set-up great political po\ver has been vested in states. Tlic
statcs control vital areas of the CCOIIOIII~. They also appoi~~t large ni~nibcrsof
officers. subordinate staff and tcaclicrs besides creating several political positio~is
like M inistcrs. M LAs aed M LCs. Cowicilors. Committee mc~iibcrsand PancIia!~at
functionaries. Tlicy control local trade arid busincss i~icludingbanking. Statehood.
therefore. is a major aspiration of any collccti\~ity.

17.6.2 Identity and Statehood

As statehood is a collective aspiration tlic collectivity itself has to be idaitifinblc. A

collecti\o identity is a cultural identity. The t\vo major strcanis of culture arc religion
and language. After the Partition of 1947 languagc bccanie tlic main vehicle of
culture. Language is also an iristru~nentof hegemony. Tlic language group. \\liicli
fccls doniinatcd by another group. tlicrcfore. demands autonom!. in the forrii of
statehood.
- -

17.7 LET US SLlM UP

In the colon~nl period territorial adniinistration \\.as based ~iiainl!. on the rulers'
con\cnicncc mid not cultural afiiliation of the people. The tn.0 broad strcams of
culture arc rcl~gionand languagc \\hicli often cut across cacli other. Tlic colo~iial
n~lcrsof India gave yrcatcr i~nportanceto rclig~onthan to languagc and partitioned
tlic count^. in 1947. Tlx: Indian nationalists gave grcatcr iniportancc to Ianguagc
than religion. The! undertook li~igi~istic reorganization of India. \~liicli.b!. no\\. is
alniost complctc. Ho\vcvcr. in tlic inter-state borders atid tribal belts statcliood
dcniands persist. Stateliood IS a political issue because it is a source of po\\cr and
benefits.

17.8 SOME USEFUL BOOKS

Paul R. Brass. i,cmg~tngc, Ijcligion trnd ILoli/ics in Indict. Nc\v Dcllii. Vikas
Publishing House. 1975.

Sliibani Kcndar C11;iubc. ( 'ons/i/l~crt/A.s.scmhl~v of' Indict: .Sl~ringhoc~rclr!f

Iicvolt~/ion.Manoliar. 20(!0
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f
Hill I'o1i1ic.s in N~t-lh~.n.st
India. Calcutta. Orient Longman, l 973. . \ I I ~ ~ ~ I I ~ I I IAI I~~ I V ~ S I I I C I I ~ S i ~ ~ ~ t ~
S l i ~ t c *I t c t ~ r g i ~ ~ ~ i~
s I; I~ l i ~ ~ ~ ~
111tli11
, 'Elhnicity and dynamic.^ c!f'b-e.dercrli.sm in India' in A w l Kuniar
:

Muhopadhyaya (ed.), the Political Miscellany: Essays in Mc~iioryof Professor

1 Rarnesh Chandra Ghosh, Calcutta. K.P. Banclii & Co., 1986.

17.9 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

I
k
EXERCISES

1 Check Your Progress Exercise I

I 1) Cultural frontiers and tcrritional limits arc incongruous.

2) The niost coni~iioncross-ci~ttingIcnvnge is bct\\.ccn language and religion.

Check Your Progress Exercise 2

1) India was dividcd into tn.0 typcs of provinces. i.c. "British India" and "Native
India".
I
i 2) In 1905 Bengal was partitioned on tlie religious basis.
i

Check Your Progress Exercise 3

1) Into four typcs of "states" - A statcs, B states. C statcs, and D states.
i Check Your Progress Exercise 4
1
I ) Fast unto death by Pottli Srira~naluand Rccomnicndation of the States
Reorganisation Co~iiniissionin 1955.
!
2) See Sub-section 17.5.4 of this unit.

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