Read the passage and answer the questions:
During colonial rule, the state boundaries were drawn either on administrative convenience or simply coincided with the territories annexed by the British government or the territories ruled by the princely powers. Our national movement had rejected these divisions as artificial and had promised the linguistic principle as the basis of formation of states.
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 state, consisting of Gujarati- and Marathi-speaking people. After a popular agitation, the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat were created in 1960.
The formation of Andhra spurred the struggle for making of other states on linguistic lines in other parts of the country. These struggles forced Central Government into appointing a States Reorganisation Commission in 1953 to look into question redrawing the boundaries of a states. The Commission in its report, accepted that the boundaries of a state should reflect the boundaries of a different languages. On the basis of its report, States Reorganisation Act was passed in 1956. This led to creation 14 states and six union territories.
Language did not, however, remain sole the basis of for organization states. In later years, sub-regions raised demands for distinct states on the basis of a distinct regional culture or complaints regional imbalance in development. Three such states, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, and Jharkhand, were created in 2000. Telangana became a new state in 2014. The story reorganization 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 Commission to redraw boundaries of the Indian states was established?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → 1953
The States Reorganisation Commission was appointed in 1953 to look into the question of redrawing the boundaries of states.
NCERT (2025-26): “Reorganisation of States … The formation of Andhra spurred the struggle for making of other states on linguistic lines in other parts of the country. These struggles forced the Central Government into appointing a States Reorganisation Commission in 1953 to look into the question of redrawing of the boundaries of states. The Commission in its report accepted that the boundaries of the state should reflect the boundaries of different languages. On the basis of its report the States Reorganisation Act was passed in 1956. This led to the creation of 14 states and six union territories.” |