STATES REORGANIZATION HAS NO RELEVANCE NOW: VANAM JWALA NARASIMHA RAO

STATES REORGANIZATION

NOT RELEVANT NOW

(The Hans India: 30-11-2011)

VANAM JWALA NARASIMHA RAO

The proposal to constitute Second States Re-organization Commission (SRC) is irrelevant, ridicules and absurd. It is a political blunder. It cannot resolve the separate Telangana problem. While the Seemandhra Congress leaders welcomed it, almost all the Telangana supporters opposed tooth and nail. Meanwhile Uttar Pradesh CM Mayavathi conveyed to Center the UP Cabinet Resolution recommending split of the state in to four parts. Even before she did this, and probably sensing the mood of her, Congress party spokesperson Rashid Alvi disclosed party’s stand to constitute Second States Reorganization Commission. Surprisingly, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which favors Telangana without an SRC demanded for SRC from the Congress led UPA government for restructuring and splitting big states into smaller ones obviously referring to Mayavathi decision. Telangana Rashtra Samiti and political joint action committee came out openly against SRC.

State Reorganization Commission when it was formed first time had a historical background and an absolute necessity contrary to the present situation. Pre-Independence era of British Raj (1858–1947), Indian independence movement (1857–1947), Partition of India (1947) and the Post-Independence period that required Political integration of India (1947–49) preceded the first SRC. That was how the first States Reorganization Act (1956) came in to existence which was a major reform of the boundaries and governance of India's states and territories. The act reorganized the boundaries of India's states along linguistic lines, and amended the Indian Constitution to replace the three types of states, known as Parts A, B, and C states, with a single type of state. Although additional changes to India's state boundaries have been made since 1956, the States Reorganization Act of 1956 remains the single most extensive change in state boundaries since the independence of India in 1947. Formation of Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttaranchal was done without any reference to any SRC.

Prior to independence, there were two sets of territories in British India. One set were under the direct control of the India Office in London and the Governor-General of India. The other set known as "Princely states" over which the Crown had suzerainty were under the control of hereditary rulers. There were several colonial enclaves also, controlled by France and Portugal. Political integration of all these was a declared objective of the Indian National Congress. Thanks to the efforts of Vallabhbhai Patel and V. P. Menon, almost all of the princely states agreed to accede to India. Having secured their accession, Central Government's authority over these states was extended. Simultaneously, the Government of India, through a combination of diplomatic and military means, acquired de facto and de jure control over the remaining colonial enclaves, which too were integrated into India. However, the former princely state of Kashmir, the accession of which to India was disputed by Pakistan, the state of Hyderabad, whose ruler was determined to remain independent, and the states of Tripura and Manipur, where active secessionist movements existed were not in favor of accession initially but at a later stage had no option.

The early history of British expansion in India was characterized either by a policy of annexation or by a policy of indirect rule. In the former, the British sought to forcibly absorb the Indian princely states into the provinces and through the later, the British assumed suzerainty and paramountacy over princely states, but conceded some degree of sovereignty to them. Neither paramountacy nor these arrangements could continue after Indian independence.

A few British leaders, particularly Lord Mountbatten, the last British viceroy in India, were also uncomfortable with breaking links between independent India and the princely states. Mountbatten was also persuaded by the argument of Indian leaders such as V. P. Menon that the integration of the princely states into independent India would to some extent alleviate the wounds of partition. The result was that Mountbatten personally favored and worked towards the accession of princely states to India following the transfer of power, as proposed by the Congress. The rulers of the princely states, however, were not uniformly enthusiastic about integrating their domains into independent India. In July 1946, Nehru pointedly observed that no princely state could prevail militarily against the army of independent India. In January 1947, he said that independent India would not accept the Divine Right of Kings, and in May 1947, he declared that any princely state which refused to join the Constituent Assembly would be treated as an enemy state. Between May 1947 and the transfer of power on 15 August 1947, the vast majority of states signed Instruments of Accession. A number of factors contributed to the collapse of their initial resistance and almost all princely states had to agree to accede to India.

On 15 August 1947, British India was granted independence as the separate dominions of India and Pakistan.

The Instruments of Accession were limited, transferring control of only three matters to India, and would by themselves have produced a rather loose federation, with significant differences in administration and governance across the various states. Full political integration, in contrast, would require a process whereby the political actors in the various states were "persuaded to shift their loyalties, expectations, and political activities towards a new center", namely, the Republic of India. Having secured the accession of the princely states, the Government of India between 1948 and 1950 turned to the task of welding the states and the former British provinces into one polity under a single republican constitution.

The new Constitution of India, which came into force on 26 January 1950, made India a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic Republic, and a Union of states (replacing provinces) and territories. The states would have extensive autonomy and complete democracy in the Union, while the Union territories would be administered by the Government of India. The constitution of 1950 distinguished between three types of states.

The nine Part A states, which were the former governors' provinces of British India, were ruled by an elected governor and state legislature. The eight Part B states were former princely states or groups of princely states, governed by a Rajpramukh, who was often a former prince, and an elected legislature. The Rajpramukh was appointed by the President of India. The ten Part C states included both the former Chief Commissioners' Provinces and some princely states, and each was governed by a Chief Commissioner appointed by the President of India. Jammu and Kashmir had a special status until 1957. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands were established as a Union territory ruled by a lieutenant governor appointed by the central government.

Political movements for the creation of new, linguistic-based states developed around India in the years after independence. The movement to create a Telugu-speaking state out of the northern portion of Madras State gathered strength in the years after independence, and in 1953, the sixteen northern, Telugu-speaking districts of Madras State became the new State of Andhra.

Other small changes were made to state boundaries during the 1950-1956 period. The small state of Bilaspur was merged with Himachal Pradesh on 1 July 1954, and Chandernagore, a former enclave of French India, was incorporated into West Bengal in 1955.

The States Reorganization Commission was constituted by the Central Government of India under the States Reorganization Act and consisted of Honorable Fazal Ali, Kavalam Madhava Panikkar, and H.N. Kunzru. The Report submitted by the Committee in 1955 known as SRC Report went in to the problems of Telangana and Andhra regions, and the arguments for and against the merger of two regions.

Para 369 to 389 of SRC deals with the merger of "Telangana region of Hyderabad State" and Andhra State to establish Andhra Pradesh state. The States Reorganization Act of 1956, which went into effect on 1 November, eliminated the distinction between parts A, B, and C states. It also reorganized the state boundaries and created or dissolved states and union territories.

None of the reasons that required constituting the first States Reorganization Commission hold good today except political convenience. Why then the talk of second SRC?