Read the passage carefully and answer the following questions.

The acceptance of the principle of linguistic states did not mean, however, that all states immediately became linguistic states. There was an experiment of 'bilingual' Bombay states, consisting of Gujarati- and Marathi-speaking people. After a popular agitation, the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat were created in 1960. In Punjab also, there were two linguistic groups: Hindi-speaking and Punjabi-speaking. The Punjabi-speaking people demanded a separate state. But it was not granted with other states in 1956. The statehood of Punjab came ten years later, in 1966, when the territories of today's Haryana and Himachal Pradesh were separated from the larger Punjab state. Another major reorganisation of states took place in the north-east in 1972. Meghalaya was carved out of Assam in 1972. Manipur and Tripura too emerged as separate states in the same year. The states of Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh came into being in 1987. Nagaland had become a state much earlier in 1963. Language did not, however, remain the sole basis of the organisation of states. In later years sub-regions raised demands for separate states on the basic of a separate regional culture or complaints of regional imbalance in development. Three such states, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand, were created in 2000. The story of reorganisation has not come to an end. There are many regions in the country where there are movements demanding separate and smaller states. These include Vidarbha in Maharashtra, Harit Pradesh in the western region of Uttar Pradesh and the northern region of West Bengal.

In which year the State Reorganisation Act was passed?

1956

The correct answer is Option (3) - 1956

The States Reorganization Commission was established in 1953 to study linguistic and cultural divisions and recommend state boundary changes. The Commission concluded that state boundaries should align with linguistic boundaries, acknowledging India's linguistic diversity and respecting regional identities. Based on the Commission's recommendations, the States Reorganization Act was passed in 1956, providing a constitutional basis for the creation of linguistic states. The implementation of the act led to the formation of 14 new states and 6 union territories, promoting better governance, administration, and representation of diverse linguistic and cultural groups.