5 THOUGHTS ON LINGUISTIC STATES - Page 156

PART I

THE WORK OF THE COMMISSION

CHAPTER 1

LINGUISM AND NOTHING ELSE

The present Constitution of India recognizes the following States which are enumerated in the Schedule :

P ART ‘A’ S TATES P ART ‘B’ S TATES P ART ‘C’ S TATES

  1. Andhra 1. Hyderabad 1. Ajmer

  2. Assam 2. Jammu and 2. Bhopal

  3. Bihar Kashmir 3. Coorg

  4. Bombay 3. Madhya Bharat 4. Delhi

  5. Madhya Pradesh 4. Mysore 5. Himachal Pradesh

  6. Madras 5. Patiala 6. Kutch

  7. Orissa 6. Rajasthan 7. Manipur

  8. Punjab 7. Saurashtra 8. Tripura

  9. Uttar Pradesh 8. Travancore-Cochin 9. Vindhya Pradesh

Article 3 of the Constitution gives power to Parliament to create new States. This was done because there was no time to reorganize the States on linguistic basis for which there was a great demand.

In pursuance of this incessant demand the Prime Minister appointed the States Reorganization Commission to examine the question. In its report the States Reorganization Commission has recommended the creation of the following States :

Proposed New States

Name of the State Area Population Language (in sq. miles) (in crores)

  1. Madras .. .. .. 50,170 3.00 Tamil

  2. Kerala .. .. .. 14,980 1.36 Malyalam

  3. Karnatak .. .. .. 72,730 1.90 Kanarese

  4. Hyderabad .. .. .. 45,300 1.13 Telugu

  5. Andhra .. .. .. 64,950 2.09 Telugu

  6. Bombay .. .. .. 151,360 4.02 Mixed

  7. Vidarbha .. .. .. 36,880 0.76 Marathi