Reorganisation of States

Part 2

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

JVP Committee

• 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.