Article 1 of Indian Constitution

India as a Union of States

• India is a Union of States, not a Federation of States (Article 1)
• The country is divided into states and territories, with the Parliament having the power to admit new states or form new ones (Article 2 and 3)
• The First Schedule specifies the states and territories of India

Evolution of Indian States and Union Territories

• At the time of independence in 1947, India had two categories of political units: British provinces and princely states
• The Indian Independence Act created two separate dominions of India and Pakistan, with the option for princely states to join either country
• Initially, there were 552 princely states, with 549 joining India and the remaining three refusing to join
• The constitution had a four-fold classification of states and territories: Part A, Part B, Part C, and Part D
• The States Reorganisation Commission (SRC) was set up in 1953 to recommend the reorganisation of state boundaries
• The SRC report suggested the abolition of the three-tier system and the creation of 14 states and 6 Union Territories
• The States Reorganisation Act of 1956 implemented the recommendations, with the creation of 14 states and 6 Union Territories

Changes to Statehood and Union Territories

• Since 1956, there have been several changes to statehood and Union Territories
• In 1960, Maharashtra and Gujarat were formed by dividing the state of Bombay
• Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Goa, Daman and Diu, and Puducherry were converted into Union Territories
• Nagaland, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura, and Meghalaya were formed as separate states
• Sikkim was made a state in 1975, with the abolition of the monarchy
• Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, and Goa were converted into states in 1987
• Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, and Jharkhand were formed in 2000
• Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh in 2014
• Jammu and Kashmir was reorganised into two Union Territories in 2019
• Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu were merged into a single Union Territory in 2020

Changes to State Names

• The United Provinces was renamed Uttar Pradesh in 1950
• Madras was renamed Tamil Nadu in 1969
• Mysore was renamed Karnataka in 1973
• Laccadive, Minicoy and Amindivi Islands were renamed Lakshadweep in 1973
• The Union Territory of Delhi was redesignated as the National Capital Territory of Delhi in 1992
• Uttaranchal was renamed Uttarakhand in 2006
• Pondicherry was renamed Puducherry in 2006
• Orissa was renamed Odisha in 2011