The Linguistic Reorganization of the States

In 1948, the first Linguistic Provinces Commission headed by S.K. Dar was appointed by the Constituent Assembly to enquire into the possibility of linguistic provinces. This commission advised against such a step. In the same year another committee known as JVP committee consisting of Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhai Patel and Pattabhi Sitaramaih was appointed by the Congress Party. This committee also did not favour for linguistic provinces. But there were popular movements for states reorganization all over the country and it was intensive in Andhra. Therefore, in 1953 Andhra was created as a separate state. Simultaneously, Madras was created as a Tamil-speaking state. The struggle led by M.P. Sivagnanam to retain Tiruttani with Madras was a memorable event in the history of Tamil Nadu.

The success of Andhra struggle encouraged other linguistic groups to agitate for their own state. In 1953, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru appointed the States Reorganization Commission with Justice Fazal Ali as its chairman and Pandit Hridayanath Kunzru and Sardar K.M. Panikkar as its members. The commission submitted its report on 30 September 1955. Based on this report, the States Reorganization Act was passed by the Parliament in 1956. It provided for 16 states and six union territories. The Telengana region was transferred to Andhra. Kerala was created by merging the Malabar district with Travancore-Cochin. There was a strong movement of the Tamil linguistic people in Travancore (Kaniyakumari) who struggled to be part of the state of Tamil Nadu.

Indian Polity (1947 – 2000)

India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was considered the architect of modern India. He consolidated the Indian Independence by forging national unity, nurturing democratic institutions, promoting science and technology, planning for economic development and by following independent foreign policy. He was truly a nation builder. He died in 1964.

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