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.
What was the basis for the formation of states like Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Regional imbalance in development
Option (1) Regional imbalance in development — Correct. The passage says that language did not remain the only basis: in later years sub-regions demanded states on the basis of a distinct regional culture or complaints of regional imbalance in development, and Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand were created on this basis in 2000.
Option (2) Linguistic principles — Incorrect. The linguistic principle means drawing state boundaries so that they reflect the boundaries of different languages. It was the basis of the States Reorganisation Act of 1956, the earlier wave; these three states were created later and on other grounds.
Option (3) Dominant caste — Incorrect. A dominant caste is a caste that holds numbers and power in a region. Neither the passage nor the story of reorganisation gives caste as a basis for creating any state; the bases were language, regional culture and regional imbalance in development.
Option (4) Secessionism — Incorrect. Secessionism is a demand to break away from the country and form a separate nation. These were demands for separate and smaller states within India, not for leaving India.
Note 1: The concept in Option (3), ‘dominant caste’, is not in NCERT (2025-26); explained here for the benefit of the students.
Note 2: This passage is taken from the NCERT chapter ‘Challenges of Nation Building’: the section ‘Reorganisation of States’ and its ‘Creation of new states’ box. The Commission of 1953, the Act of 1956 and the new states of 2000 all come from one section of the chapter; keep its dates in order and such passages become quick work.
NCERT: Politics in India since Independence — Chapter 1: Challenges of Nation Building (2025-26)
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