Constitution of India/Union and territory

The first part of the Constitution of India deals with Union and its territory. It comprises of four articles, Article 1-4.

Article 1

India Administrative Divisions in 1951. This shows Sikkim as a part of India

Article 1 in the Constitution states that India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States. The territory of India shall consist of: The territories of the states, The Union territories and Any territory that may be acquired.

The names of the States and the Unions have been described in the First Schedule. This schedule also holds that there are four Categories of State and territories - Part A, Part B, Part C and Part D.

• Part A - includes the nine provinces which were under British India
• Part B - princely states consisted of this category
• Part C - centrally administered five states
• Part D - Andaman and Nicobar Islands

In the seventh amendment of the Constitution in 1956 the distinction between the Part A and Part B states was abolished. Subsequently states were reorganized on linguistic basis. As a result several new states were formed, eg. Haryana, Goa, Nagaland, Mizoram etc. At present there are 28 States and 9 union territories.

Political Map of Indian States

The States :

1. Andhra Pradesh
2. Arunachal Pradesh
3. Assam
4. Bihar
5. Chattisgarh
6. Goa
7. Gujarat
8. Haryana
9. Himachal Pradesh
10. Jharkhand
11. Karnataka
12. Kerala
13. Maharastra
14. Madhya Pradesh
15. Manipur
16. Meghalaya
17. Mizoram
18. Nagaland
19. Orissa
20. Punjab
21. Rajasthan
22. Sikkim
23. Tamil Nadu
24. Telangana
25. Tripura
26. Uttar Pradesh
27. Uttrakhand
28. West Bengal

Union Territories :

1. Andaman and Nicobar Islands
2. Chandigarh
3. Dadra and Nagar Haveli
4. Daman and Diu
5. Delhi
6. Jammu & Kashmir
7. Laddakh
8. Lakshwadeep
9. Puducherry

Article 2

Article 2 states that the parliament may, by law, admit new states into Union of India or establish new states on terms and conditions it deems fit. For eg. the addition of the State of Sikkim by the 35th (1974) and 36th (1975) constitutional amendments.

Article 3

Article 3 empowers the parliament to form a new state by separation of a part of territory of an established state or to unite two or more states or parts of states or by uniting any territory to a part of any state. This article provides that area of any state can reduced or increased and alter the boundaries or change the name of a state. Even though the state boundaries are subject to change, their area cannot be acquired by a foreign state.

There is also a saving clause in the article to protect the rights of the state. The first condition is that no bill for the purpose can be introduced in the either house except on recommendation of the President of India. Second, whether the proposal contains the alternation of the area, boundaries or name of the state mentioned, it has to referred by President to the Legislatures of concerned states, for expressing opinions. Such opinion has to be expressed within a period specified by the President. In any case, the views expressed do not bind the decisions of either the President or the Parliament.

Article 4

This article specifies that the laws provided in article 2 and 3, admission/establishment of new states and alternation of names , areas and boundaries etc. of established states, are not to be considered amendments of the Constitution under article 368, which means these can be passed without resorting to any special procedure and by simple majority.