Reorganisation of States

Part 2

State Reorganisation Commissions

The S.K. Dhar Commission also known as Linguistic Provinces Commission, was established by the Constituent Assembly in 1948.
Its mission was to provide recommendations regarding whether or not the states should be reorganized on a linguistic basis.
It recommended that the state reorganization be done based on administrative convenience rather than linguistic considerations.
The Dhar Commission recommendations caused much protests and led to the appointment of another Linguistic Provinces Committee.

The committee was named after its members i.e., Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhai Patel, and Pattabhi Sitaramayya.
The JVP Committee also known as the “Three Ministers Committee.”
The committee was set up to up to study the recommendations of the Dhar Committee and make new recommendations to the government if required.
The JVP Committee rejected the language as a factor for reorganization of the states.
It recommended security, unity and economic prosperity of the nation as the factors for reorganization of States.
The committee also recommended that the creation of new provinces should be delayed in order to properly identify other issues and problems.

Potti Sriramulu demanding the creation of a separate state from the Telugu-speaking areas from Madras state undertook a 56-day hunger strike which resulted in his death.
This increased the pressure on the government to create a separate state for the Telugu-speakers of Madras state.
The government ultimately caved by creating Andhra Pradesh in 1953.

Fazl Ali Commission was also known as the States Reorganization Commission.
It was set up in December 1953 to investigate the viability of the linguistic basis for state separation.
The commission included Justice Fazl Ali as the chairman and K.M. Pannikar, H.N. Kunzru as its members.
The commission gave its final recommendation on 30 September 1955.
It accepted language as the basis for state reorganization but rejected one language one state formulae.

Preservation and strengthening of the unity and security of the country.
Linguistic and cultural homogeneity.
Financial, economic, and administrative considerations.
Planning and promotion of the welfare of the people in each state as well as of the nation as a whole.