UNION OF STATES :

•      Article 1 describes India, that is, Bharat as a ‘Union of States’ rather than a ‘Federation of States’. This provision deals with two things: one, name of the country, and two, type of polity.

•      There was no unanimity in the Constituent Assembly with regard to the name of the country. Some members suggested the traditional name (Bharat) while other advocated the modern name (India).

•      Hence, the Constituent Assembly had to adopt a mix of both (‘India, that is, Bharat’) Secondly, the country is described as ‘Union’ although its Constitution is federal in structure.

•      According to Dr B R Ambedkar, the phrase ‘Union of States’ has been preferred to ‘Federation of States’ for two reasons: one, the Indian Federation is not the result of an agreement among the states like the American Federation; and two, the states have no right to secede from the federation. The federation is an Union because it is indestructible. The country is an integral whole and divided into different states only for the convenience of administration1.

ARTICLE 1 :

•      According to Article 1, the territory of India can be classified into three categories:

  1. Territories of the states
  2. Union territories
  3. Territories that may be acquired by the Government of India at any time.

STATES :

•      The names of states and union territories and their territorial extent are   mentioned in the first schedule of the Constitution.

•      At present, there are 29 states and 8 union territories. However, the special provisions (under Part XXI) applicable to the States of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Nagaland, Assam, Manipur, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Sikkim, Mizoram, Arunanchal Pradesh, Goa and Karnataka override the general provisions relating to the states as a class.

•      Further, the Fifth and Sixth Schedules contain separate provisions with respect to the administration of scheduled areas and tribal areas within the states.

INDIA :

•      Being a sovereign state, India can acquire foreign territories according to the modes recognised by international law, i.e., cession (following treaty, purchase, gift, lease or plebiscite), occupation (hitherto unoccupied by a recognised ruler), conquest or subjugation.

•      For example, India acquired several foreign territories such as Dadra and Nagar Haveli; Goa, Daman and Diu; Puducherry; and Sikkim since the commencement of the Constitution. The acquisition of these territories are discussed later in this chapter.

ARTICLE 2 :

•      Article 2 empowers the Parliament to ‘admit into the Union of India, or establish, new states on such terms and conditions as it thinks fit’.

•      Thus, Article 2 grants two powers to the Parliament: (a) the power to admit into the Union of India new states; and (b) the power to establish new states.

•      The first refers to the admission of states which are already in existence while the second refers to the establishment of states which were not in existence before.

Article 3- Parliament`s Power To Reorganise the states :

Article 3 authorises the Parliament to:

1.     form a new state by separation of territory from any state or by uniting two or more states or parts of states or by uniting any territory to a part of any state,
2.     increase the area of any state,
3.     diminish the area of any state,
4.     alter the boundaries of any state, and
5.     alter the name of any state.
6.   However, Article 3 lays down two conditions in this regard: one, a bill contemplating the above changes can be introduced in the Parliament only with the prior recommendation of the President; and
7.   Two, before recommending the bill, the President has to refer the same to the state legistature concerned for expressing its views within a specified period.
8.   The President (or Parliament) is not bound by the views of the state legislature and may either accept or reject them.
9.   Further, it is not necessary to make a fresh reference to the state legislature every time an amendment to the bill is moved and accepted in Parliament.
 Therefore,India is rightly described as‘an indestructible union of destructible states’.
11.  In USA, on the other hand, the territorial integrity or continued existence of a state is guaranteed by the Constitution.

1.     The American Federal government cannot form new states or alter the borders of existing states without the consent of the states concerned. That is why the USA is described as ‘an indestructible union of indestructible states.’

Article 4 :         

·      Moreover, the Constitution (Article 4) itself declares that laws made for admission or establishment of new states (under Article 2) and formation of new states and alteration of areas, boundaries or names of existing states (under Articles 3) are not to be considered as amendments of the Constitution under Article 368.

·        This means that such laws can be passed by a simple majority and by the ordinary legislative process.

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