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The Union and Its Territory - Short Trick

Articles 1–4, princely states, commissions, the states of 1956 and the year of every new state — one sentence each

7 trick sentences30 pairs6 parts
0 / 12 learned · 0%
How to read
  • Guru Ram Each coloured word = one name in the list, shown below in the same colour
  • Panda Two colours in one word = two names
  • ➜ Order the numbered order matters · ⇄ Any order no order
1

Articles 1–4

The four articles of Part I in order, the five powers under Article 3, and the two amendments that ceded territory.

Trick 1

The four articles of Part I

➜ Article 1 → 4

Nani brought red silk.

  1. 1Art 1 — Name (India, that is Bharat — a Union of States) and territory
  2. 2Art 2 — bring in or establish new states from outsidee.g. Sikkim 1975
  3. 3Art 3 — reshape states already inside: form, area, boundary, name
  4. 4Art 4 — such laws pass by simple majority, not as Art 368 amendmentsthey update the First and Fourth Schedules

Union of India = states only (Art 1(1)–1(2)) · Territory of India = states + Union Territories + acquired territory (Art 1(3)). Dr Ambedkar chose “Union of States”: it was not formed by an agreement among states, and no state can secede.

Trick 2

Article 3 — what Parliament can do

⇄ Any order

Naina found Indu’s dinner behind the box.

  1. Alter the name of a state
  2. Form a new state
  3. Increase the area of a state
  4. Diminish the area of a state
  5. Alter the boundaries of a state

The bill needs the President’s prior recommendation; the President asks the state legislature for its views, but Parliament is not bound by them. Since the 18th Amendment (1966) “state” in Art 3 includes a Union Territory.

Pairs

Giving territory to another country — only by amendment

2 sentences

Berries reached Pakistan in nine days.

Part of Berubari Union (West Bengal)=9th Amendment Act, 1960 — to East Pakistan · Berubari reference (1960): ceding territory needs an Art 368 amendment, Art 3 is not enough

Bablu swapped a hundred enclaves.

India–Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement=100th Amendment Act, 2015 — 111 Indian enclaves to Bangladesh, 51 Bangladeshi enclaves to India · exchange from 31 July 2015 · areas of Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya and Tripura changed

2

Princely States and 1950

How the three holdouts joined, and the A-B-C-D categories of the original Constitution.

Pairs

The three holdouts — how each joined

3 sentences

The fire hydrant was guarded by police.

Hyderabad=Police action (1948)

The junior cast a vote.

Junagadh=Referendum (1948)

The jam deal was signed.

Kashmir (Jammu & Kashmir)=Instrument of Accession (1947)

Of 552 princely states inside India’s boundaries, 549 joined readily; these three held out.

Pairs

The four categories of 1950 — how many states

4 sentences

There are nine apples.

A-category (Part A) states=9 — former governors’ provinces · elected Governor + legislature

There are eight bananas.

B-category (Part B) states=8 — former princely states or their unions · Rajpramukh (appointed by the President) + legislature: Hyderabad, J&K, Madhya Bharat, Mysore, PEPSU, Rajasthan, Saurashtra, Travancore-Cochin

There are ten cups.

C-category (Part C) states=10 — former chief commissioners’ provinces and some princely states · Chief Commissioner

There is one drum.

D-category (Part D)=1 — Andaman and Nicobar Islands · Chief Commissioner

A B C D = 9 · 8 · 10 · 1. Vindhya Pradesh was a Part C state; Cooch-Behar had joined West Bengal on 1 January 1950. The 7th Amendment and the States Reorganisation Act (1 November 1956) ended the scheme.

3

Commissions on Reorganisation

Linguistic states first refused, then accepted — the order, the Fazl Ali Commission’s members and its four factors.

Trick 3

From the Nehru Report to the Reorganisation Act

➜ oldest to newest

Neha’s dhobi just handed Andy the file at the station.

  1. 1Nehru Report1928 — backed linguistic provinces
  2. 2Dhar Commission (Linguistic Provinces Commission)June 1948 — chairman S. K. Dhar; language rejected
  3. 3JVP Committee (Jawaharlal, Vallabhbhai, Pattabhi Sitaramayya)December 1948, Congress Jaipur session — also against linguistic states
  4. 4Andhra State1 October 1953 — first state formed on language
  5. 5Fazl Ali Commission (States Reorganisation Commission)December 1953 — report 30 September 1955
  6. 6States Reorganisation Act1 November 1956 — 14 states, 6 UTs

Andhra came after Potti Sriramulu died fasting for a Telugu state (15 December 1952) — 11 districts of Madras State and part of Bellary.

Trick 4

The three members of the Fazl Ali Commission

⇄ Any order

Kunal passed the file.

  1. H. N. Kunzru
  2. K. M. Panikkar
  3. Justice Fazl Alichairman

Appointed by PM Nehru; Govind Ballabh Pant oversaw its work (Home Minister from January 1955). It accepted language as a broad basis but rejected “one language–one state”.

Trick 5

The Fazl Ali Commission’s four factors

⇄ Any order

Uncle lifted the plates fast.

  1. Unity and security of the country
  2. Linguistic and cultural homogeneity
  3. Planning and the welfare of the people
  4. Financial, economic and administrative considerations
4

India in 1956

The 14 states and 6 Union Territories of 1 November 1956.

Trick 6

The 14 states of 1956

⇄ Any order

First 7Andy bought Asha a bike with a kettle of jam for Madhu.

Other 7Uttam went to Madrid with Raja for my orange punch.

  1. Andhra Pradesh
  2. Bombay
  3. Assam
  4. Bihar
  5. Kerala
  6. Jammu & Kashmir
  7. Madhya Pradesh
  8. Uttar Pradesh
  9. West Bengal
  10. Madras
  11. Rajasthan
  12. Mysore
  13. Orissa
  14. Punjab

Biggest winners: Bombay (bilingual until 1960) and Mysore (all Kannada areas united). Kerala = Travancore-Cochin + Malabar; Madhya Pradesh absorbed Madhya Bharat, Vindhya Pradesh and Bhopal; Punjab took PEPSU; Rajasthan took Ajmer.

Trick 7

The 6 Union Territories of 1956

⇄ Any order

Deepu packed mangoes with one anda in lace for a trip up the hill.

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

The States Reorganisation Act, 1956 and the 7th Amendment came into force on 1 November 1956 — Parts A, B, C and D ended.

5

New States and UTs since 1956

The year of every new state and Union Territory in a number word, in order.

Pairs

When each was formed — year or amendment

14 sentences

Mahesh and the guru are sixty years old.

Maharashtra · Gujarat=1 May 1960 — Bombay Reorganisation Act split bilingual Bombay State

Dada has ten grandsons.

Dadra & Nagar Haveli=From Portuguese rule — UT by the 10th Amendment, 1961

A goat costs twelve hundred.

Goa, Daman & Diu=Freed by Operation Vijay, December 1961 — UT by the 12th Amendment, 1962

Pudding with fourteen raisins

Puducherry=Former French settlements (Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe, Yanam) — UT by the 14th Amendment, 1962

The Nagin is sixty-three feet long.

Nagaland=1963 — 16th state · carved out of Assam by the State of Nagaland Act, 1962

Harry bought vegetables for sixty-six rupees.

Haryana=1966 — carved out of Punjab by the Punjab (Reorganisation) Act · Chandigarh a UT

The hill race had seventy-one runners.

Himachal Pradesh=1971 — UT raised to a state (State of Himachal Pradesh Act, 1970)

Megha took mangoes on a trip in seventy-two.

Meghalaya · Manipur · Tripura=21 January 1972 — North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971 · Meghalaya was first an autonomous state within Assam (22nd Amendment, 1969)

My sister has a seventy-five paise coin.

Sikkim=1975 — 22nd state · associate state by the 35th Amendment (1974), full state by the 36th (1975) · was outside India before

Arun paid eighty-seven rupees for milk and a goat.

Arunachal Pradesh · Mizoram · Goa=1987 — Arunachal and Mizoram (February, Acts of 1986) · Goa (May; Daman & Diu stayed a UT)

Chhotu met Uttara with a jhola in two thousand.

Chhattisgarh · Uttarakhand · Jharkhand=November 2000, in this order — Chhattisgarh 1 (from Madhya Pradesh) · Uttarakhand 9 (from Uttar Pradesh) · Jharkhand 15 (from Bihar)

The telephone bill was fourteen rupees.

Telangana=2 June 2014 — 29th state · Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014

Jam and laddoos were split in nineteen.

Jammu & Kashmir · Ladakh=31 October 2019 — J&K State became two UTs: J&K (with a legislature) and Ladakh (without one) · 28 states

Dada became one in twenty.

Merger of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu=From 26 January 2020 — UTs down to 8

Amendment numbers form a pattern: Dadra 10 · Goa 12 · Puducherry 14 — even numbers. Today: 28 states and 8 Union Territories.

6

Renamed States

Every change of name of a state or Union Territory, with the year.

Pairs

When the new name came

7 sentences

Uttam got his new name in fifty.

United Provinces → Uttar Pradesh=1950 — the first state to get a new name

Tamanna got a new name in sixty-nine.

Madras → Tamil Nadu=1969 — Madras State (Alteration of Name) Act, 1968

Karan got a new name in seventy-three.

Mysore → Karnataka=1973 — Mysore State (Alteration of Name) Act, 1973

The lace shop got a new name in seventy-three too.

Laccadive, Minicoy & Amindivi Islands → Lakshadweep=1973 — Alteration of Name Act, 1973

Deepu lit sixty-nine lamps in the capital.

UT of Delhi → National Capital Territory of Delhi=69th Amendment Act, 1991 — in force 1992

Uttara and the pudding were renamed in two thousand six.

Uttaranchal → Uttarakhand · Pondicherry → Puducherry=2006 — both by Alteration of Name Acts, 2006

The Ola came at eleven.

Odisha (earlier Orissa)=2011 — Orissa (Alteration of Name) Act, 2011

Renaming is an Article 3 law — a simple majority is enough. (Not a state, but often asked: Port Blair is now Sri Vijaya Puram, September 2024.)

Read the full chapter for the complete notes — a trick helps you remember the list; understanding comes from the notes.