Need for union territories

Union territories are a derivative of what was once scheduled districts of colonial India. The reasons for making union territories have however become less exploitative since British rule. 

For special supervision of some strategic areas, the British government in 1874 created “Scheduled Districts” which were kept under the center’s jurisdiction. These scheduled districts later came to be known as the “chief commissioner provinces” as the chief commissioners after the enactment of the 1935 government of India act. These chief commissioner provinces were directly ruled by the governor general through a chief commissioner appointed by him as he saw fit. These contained the British Baluchistan, Delhi, Ajmer-Merwara, Coorg and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the area known as Panth Piploda and others to be added later after the act was enacted.

During independence of India, territory of India was divided into four parts namely part A, part B, part C and part D.

Part A were the British provinces, Part B were the princely states, Part C were the chief commissioner provinces and part D was Andaman and Nicobar islands. Part C and Part D became the union territories after independence.

The seventh constitutional amendment act of 1956 also known as the state reorganization bill changed this four fold system to a simple two fold system. Since then the territory of India is split between states and union territories.

Current union territories

Currently india has eight union territories 

1. Union territory of Andaman and Nicobar

It became a union territory in 1956 under the state reorganization bill. Judiciary here is overseen by the Calcutta high court.

2. Union territory of Delhi

Delhi also became a union territory under the SRA 1956. Delhi is the administrative capital of India. Judiciary is overseen by the Delhi high court. It is the only union territory of India to have its own High court until Jammu and Kashmir joined the list of union territories with similar features in 2019.

3. Union territory of Puducherry

Puducherry, formerly known as Pondicherry, was under French sovereignty as late as 1954 when it became part of India. The legal transfer however happened much later in 1962 when it became a union territory of India legally.

4. Union territory of Chandigarh

After independence, the former capital of Punjab which was Lahore was now in the newly independent and separate country of Pakistan. There was a need for a new capital of Punjab and hence a planned city of chandigarh was developed while shimla acted as a temporary capital. In 1966, the eastern part of Punjab was made into a separate state of Haryana. Chandigarh lies on the border of Punjab and the newly formed Haryana and hence made into a union territory so that it could serve as a capital of both Punjab and Haryana. The judiciary of union territory of Chandigarh is overseen by the Punjab and Haryana high court.

5.Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir

Following the repeal of article 370 in 2019, the state of Jammu and Kashmir which held a special status was made into two separate union territories. One of the two newly made union territories was the UT of Jammu and Kashmir. Judiciary is overseen here by the Jammu and Kashmir high court.

6. Union territory of Ladakh

Ladakh was a district in the state of Jammu and Kashmir till 2019 after which it was made into a separate Union territory of Ladakh. Judiciary is overseen here by the Jammu and Kashmir high court.

7. Union territory of Dadra and Nagar haveli and Daman and Diu.

Earlier these used to be two separate union territories but were merged as one on 26th january 2020 by a simple law (not a Constitutional amendment act). Bombay high court is the judiciary for the UT of dadra and nagar haveli and daman and diu.

Reasons for creation of union territories

There are six reasons for which union territories have been in India so far:

1. Politically and administratively important areas such as the UT of Delhi and UT of Chandigarh.
2. Cultural distinctiveness of certain areas require special protection in order to preserve those distinctive features. For this reason the UT of puducherry and UT of Dadra and Nagar haveli and Daman and diu were formed.
3. Strategic importance. UT of Andaman and Nicobar islands and UT of Lakshadweep islands are examples of this.
4. Internal security: The recent formation of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir is an important example of this.
5. Difficult terrain might make the state government inadequate to deal with all the issues people face and also contribute to its further development. For this reason the Union territory of Ladakh was made into a separate Union territory.
6. Special treatment. For this reason, Mizoram, Himachal pradesh and Arunachal pradesh were once union territories but are no longer such.

Conclusion

Union territories is another example of political legacy of the british rule but what was once an exploitative device to keep parts of India for special access and to maintain forceful rule in the country through directly governing in the strategically important areas, it has since evolved to be a special provision under the indian constitution to guard the sovereignty of the republic of india and also provide political and administrative ease in some regions while protect the cultural identity of other places with rich history and special resources deployed for their perseverance. Some areas like the UT of Ladakh which have difficult terrain require faster development and administrative relief which prompts the need for direct governance of the central government. Overall the formation of Union territories was an important need of the nascently independent India back in 1950s and has been the same till now when it is emerging as a world economy.