Post Independence India Part 3

Upto Now we have studied : Independence of India, Consolidation of India and Integration of India into one unit with the difficulties of Kashmir, Junagadh, Hyderabad, Travancore, Bhopal, and Jodhpur.

Now we will start with another very important part and that is the Reorganization of India into States and Language issues in India.
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The Language Issue and the Commissions for State Reorganization:-

There were three disputes on the Language

I)The Issue of Official Language of the Union.
II)The Issue of National Language 
III)The Issue of Organization of States on the basis of Language


Let's discuss these :

The Official Language and National Language: =

• Opposition to Hindi as a national languages tended to create conflict between Hindi speaking and non- Hindi speaking regions of the country.
• The issue of a national language was resolved when the constitution-makers virtually accepted all the major languages as "languages of India".
• Being a foreign language Gandhi opposed the idea that English would be an all India medium of communications in free India.
• Hindi was chosen over Hindustani [written in Devanagari or Urdu script] to be the official language of the country and not the national language.

There were troubles from Non-Hindi Speaking Regions.

Nehru was in favour of making Hindi the official language, but he also favoured English to be continuing as an additional official language.

So Finally this was decided:-

"The constitution provided that Hindi in Devanagari script with international numerals would be India's official language. English was to continue for use in all official purposes till 1965, when it would be replaced by Hindi in phased manner. However, Parliament would have the power to provide for the use of English for specified purposes even after 1965".

The state legislatures were to dicide the matter of official language at state level, though
the official language of the Union would serve as the language of communication between the states
and the centre & between one state & another.

To allay the fear of non Hindi speakers Nehru in the Parliament in 1959, assured them that English would continue as alternate language as long as the people require it. In 1963, official languages Act was passed.
The object of the Act, was to remove a restriction which had been placed by the constitution on the use of English after a certain dates namely 1965.

Later when Indira Gandhi became PM in 1966, in 1967, she moved a amendment to the 1963 official Languages Act. The amendment was passed with thumping majority.

Features of Amended Act:
1. The Act put to rest all the ambiguities regarding Nehru's assurance in 1959. It provided the use of English as an associate language in addition to Hindi for the official work at the centre & for communication between the centre and non Hindi states would continue as long as non Hindi states wanted it.
2. Indefinite policy of bilingualism was adopted.
3. The states were to adopt a three language formula that is study of a modern Indian language, preferably
one of the Southern languages, apart from Hindi and English in the Hindi speaking areas and of Hindi
along with the regional languages and English in the non-Hindi speaking areas.

The Issue of Reorganization of India on Linguistic Lines :-

To Understand this we will go into the committees that were formed to decide on India's reorganization.

Dhar Commision -1948 on Reorganisation of States

There was a demand from different regions, mainly South India, for reorganization of  States on linguistic basis.

The Commission, rejected the linguistic basis of reorganization of States and recommended the reorganization of States on the basis of following criterias :
1. Geographical contiguity
2. Financial self-reliance
3. Administrative viability
4. Potential for development

JVP Committee -1949 on Reorganisation of State:-

JVP is full name of committee members. They are Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallahbhai Patel, Pattabhi Sitaramayya. It was setup in 1949.

This committee also rejected the linguistic factor of reorganization of the states. This committee recommended the reorganization of States on the basis of security, unity and economic prosperity of the nation.


In between in 1953 , Andhra Pradesh was formed because of the death of Potti Sri Ramulu

Fazl Ali Commission:- 

Chairman : Fazl Ali
Members : Hridaynath Kunzru and K.M.Panikkar

After the formation of Andhra Pradesh on the basis of linguistic factor, all hell break loose. The other regions also started demanding for creation of separate states on the basis of linguistic factor.

The intense pressure forced the Indian Government to form a new commission to visit the whole question of whether the linguistic basis of separation of states can be considered or not. It led to the formation of Fazl Ali Commission in December 1953.

The commission submitted its report on September 1955 and acknowledged 4 major factors to be taken into account in any scheme of reorganization of states :

1. Linguistic and Cultural homogenity
2. Preservation and strengthening of the unity and security of the nation.
3. Financial, Economic and Administrative considerations.
4. Planning and promotion of the welfare of the people in each state as well as of the Nation as a whole.

It suggested the reorganization  into 16 states and 3 Union Territories. The recommendations of the Fazl Ali Commission was accepted by the Indian Government with minor modifications. As a result, the State Reorganization Act of 1956 was passed by the Parliament to give effect to the recommendation of the commission. It led to the formation of 14 states and 6 Union Territories on 1st November, 1956.

That's it for today. 

Next We will Handle the The Three main Wars of India with Pakistan and China, Dalai Lama issue , Bangladesh Formation. 

Thank You and Have a Nice Day.