States Reorganization Act, 1956!

Because of 500 disjointed princely states and the then random types of British India regions, the need was felt later to re-coordinate the country within the boundaries of a more sensible and prevalently acceptable state. To address this need, a State Reorganization Committee was composed in December 1953, with Justice Fazl Ali, K.M. Panikkar, and Hridayanath Kunzru as individuals to inspect the issue and suggest the standards for re-association, keeping in view the objectivity. The Commission was announced in 1955. The suggestions were examined and discussed, and eventually, the States Reorganization Act, 1956 was presented in parliament in April 1956 and passed in November 1956.

State Reorganization Commission

The States Reorganization Commission replaced the Linguistic Provinces Commission (otherwise known as Dhar Commission), set up in June 1948. It dismissed language as a boundary for separating states. The then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru delegated the State Reorganization Commission in December 1953 to rearrange the Indian states. The new Commission was headed by the resigned Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Fazal Ali; its other two individuals were H. N. Kunzru and K. M. Panikkar. The endeavors of the Commission were administered by Govind Ballabh Pant, who filled in as the Home Minister from December 1954.

On September 30, 1955, a report by the States Reorganization Commission was presented with suggestions for revamping India’s states, which the Indian parliament then debated. Thus, bills were passed to make changes to the constitution and oversee the redesign of the 500 disjointed princely states.

Classification of states into four types

The states in 1950 were classified into four types by the Constitution- Part A, B, C, and D states. 

1. Part A- The former governors’ provinces of British India were listed under this class. The state legislature and an elected governor ruled the nine states of Part A: Bihar, Assam, Bombay, Madras, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Punjab, West Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh. 
2. Part B- The former princely or unions of princely states made Part B. These states were ruled or governed by a Rajpramukh and an elected legislature. The President of India used to appoint the Rajpramukh. Rajasthan, Saurashtra, Mysore, Patiala, East Punjab States Union, Hyderabad, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Bharat, and Travancore-Cochin were the eight Part B states. 
3. Part C- This classification included some of the princely states and the former chief commissioners’ provinces. The President of India appointed a Chief Commissioner to govern these states. Part C included ten states: Bhopal, Ajmer, Tripura, Vindhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Bilaspur, Coorg, Cutch, and Manipur.
4. Part D- The Andaman and Nicobar Islands were under this classification. The central government appointed a lieutenant governor for governing Part D states. 

The States formed 

1. Andhra Pradesh: By merging the Telugu-speaking regions of Hyderabad with Andhra state, Andhra Pradesh was formed. 
2. Assam: The state of Assam was additionally isolated into Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya in subsequent years.
3. Bihar: It was reduced by transferring small territories to West Bengal.
4. Bombay state: The districts from the southernmost part of the Bombay presidency were transferred to Mysore state. However, the Bombay state was expanded by adding the Marathi-speaking region of the Berar Division and Nagpur Division of the Central Provinces and Berar. The Saurashtra state, Kutch state, and the Marathwada region of the Hyderabad state were also added.
5. Jammu and Kashmir: In 1956, no boundary changes were observed for this state. 
6. Kerala: The Kerala state was formed by merging Travancore-Cochin state with Malabar district and Kasaragod taluk of South Canara district of the Madras province. 
7. Madhya Pradesh: Madhya Pradesh was expanded by merging Madhya Bharat, Vindhya Pradesh, and Bhopal State. The Marathi-speaking districts were transferred to Bombay State from Nagpur Division. 
8. Madras states: The state was expanded by adding Sengottai Taluk, Kanyakumari district, and the southern parts of Travancore Cochin. Also, the Malabar district of the state was transferred to the new Kerala state. 
9. Mysore state: Mysore was enlarged by adding Coorg state. The Kannada-speaking regions of the western Madras Presidency, southern Bombay Presidency, and western Hyderabad state were added to Mysore State. 
10. Orissa: No boundaries were changed for this state. 
11. Punjab: Patiala and East Punjab States Union were added to Punjab to enlarge it. 
12. Rajasthan: Ajmer state, parts of Bombay, and the Madhya Pradesh States were added to Rajasthan. 
13. Uttar Pradesh: No changes were made to the boundaries of this state in 1956. 
14. West Bengal: Purulia district of old Bihar was added to West Bengal.

Union Territories

The territories of Part C and D were converted into Union Territories: 

1. Delhi
2. Manipur
3. Andaman & Nicobar
4. Tripura 
5. Himachal Pradesh
6. Laccadive, Minicoy & Amindivi Islands

Conclusion

The States Reorganization Act, 1956, transformed the Indian state boundaries and territories, arranging them on a language base. The recently drafted Constitution of India, which came into force on January 26, 1950, recognized states into a classification of four fundamental types- Part A, B, C, and D states. Several states were enlarged by adding districts from other states. Also, the redefining of boundaries or the reorganization of the states was not solely based on the linguistic basis. The regional culture and imbalance were also significant aspects that led to the reorganization of the 500 disjointed princely states into new states with revised boundaries.