Reorganisation of States
State Reorganisation Commissions
S.K. Dhar Committee
- The S.K. Dhar Commission also known as Linguistic Provinces Commission, was established by the Constituent Assembly in 1948.
- Its mission was to provide recommendations regarding whether or not the states should be reorganized on a linguistic basis.
- It recommended that the state reorganization be done based on administrative convenience rather than linguistic considerations.
- The Dhar Commission recommendations caused much protests and led to the appointment of another Linguistic Provinces Committee.
The commission gave the following conditions as the basis for reorganization of States:
- Geographical contiguity
- Financial self-reliance
- Administrative viability
- Potential for development
- The committee was named after its members i.e., Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhai Patel, and Pattabhi Sitaramayya.
- The JVP Committee also known as the “Three Ministers Committee.”
- The committee was set up to up to study the recommendations of the Dhar Committee and make new recommendations to the government if required.
- The JVP Committee rejected the language as a factor for reorganization of the states.
- It recommended security, unity and economic prosperity of the nation as the factors for reorganization of States.
- The committee also recommended that the creation of new provinces should be delayed in order to properly identify other issues and problems.
Formation of first Linguistic State
- Potti Sriramulu demanding the creation of a separate state from the Telugu-speaking areas from Madras state undertook a 56-day hunger strike which resulted in his death.
- This increased the pressure on the government to create a separate state for the Telugu-speakers of Madras state.
- The government ultimately caved by creating Andhra Pradesh in 1953.
Fazl Ali Commission
- Fazl Ali Commission was also known as the States Reorganization Commission.
- It was set up in December 1953 to investigate the viability of the linguistic basis for state separation.
- The commission included Justice Fazl Ali as the chairman and K.M. Pannikar, H.N. Kunzru as its members.
- The commission gave its final recommendation on 30 September 1955.
- It accepted language as the basis for state reorganization but rejected one language one state formulae.
The four major factors that should be considered in any scheme of state reorganization:
- Preservation and strengthening of the unity and security of the country.
- Linguistic and cultural homogeneity.
- Financial, economic, and administrative considerations.
- Planning and promotion of the welfare of the people in each state as well as of the nation as a whole.