New states since 2000, Telangana and the 2019 reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir

Detail

1. A new basis for making states

• The basis changed:
• Before: the States Reorganisation Act, 1956 drew most state borders by language.

• Since 2000: new states have come from regional culture, tribal identity and complaints of regional imbalance (one region of a state getting much less development than another) (NCERT).

• How Parliament makes a new state (Articles 2-4):

Step	What happens	Majority or time limit
1	A bill to form a new state, or change a state's area, boundary or name, can be introduced only on the President's recommendation (Art. 3)	—
2	Before that, the President sends the bill to the affected state's legislature for its views	Within the time the President fixes
3	Parliament considers those views. They do not bind Parliament.	—
4	Both Houses pass the bill	Simple majority
5	Such a law is not treated as a constitutional amendment under Art. 368 (Art. 4)	No special majority needed

• What this shows: Parliament can redraw a state without that state's consent. This is why India is often called an "indestructible Union of destructible states".

2. The three states of November 2000

New state	Carved from	Date	Parent Act (2000)	Main driver
Chhattisgarh	Madhya Pradesh	1 Nov 2000	Madhya Pradesh Reorganisation Act	A tribal, resource-rich region that felt neglected. The demand stayed fairly peaceful.
Uttaranchal (renamed Uttarakhand in 2007)	Uttar Pradesh	9 Nov 2000	Uttar Pradesh Reorganisation Act	A hill-region agitation, including the Rampur Tiraha firing (1994) on activists travelling to Delhi
Jharkhand	Bihar	15 Nov 2000	Bihar Reorganisation Act	A long tribal movement

• Jharkhand movement:
• It goes back to Jaipal Singh's Jharkhand Party (1949-50).

• It demanded a homeland for the tribal people of the Chotanagpur and Santhal Pargana areas.

• Common pattern:

• In all three cases, the parent state's assembly passed a resolution first.
• Parliament then passed a law under Art. 3.

3. The Telangana movement

• Telangana movement: a long struggle by people of the Telangana region (the Telugu-speaking part of the old Hyderabad State) for a state separate from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema.
• Gentlemen's Agreement (1956):
• This was a pact between Andhra and Telangana leaders, made before Andhra Pradesh was formed on 1 November 1956.

• It promised Telangana protection in jobs, education and spending.

• Mulki rules: old domicile rules of Hyderabad State. Under them, government jobs in the region were kept for local residents ("mulkis").

• 1969 'Jai Telangana' agitation:
• It was led by the Telangana Praja Samithi under Marri Chenna Reddy.

• Its trigger: the 1956 safeguards were not being honoured.

• The 1973 response:

• Six-Point Formula (1973) → it replaced the Mulki rules with zone-based local quotas in jobs and education.

• Art. 371D, added by the 32nd Amendment (1973) → it lets the President give "equitable opportunities" in public jobs and education to people of different parts of the state.

• The 2001 revival:

• K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) founded the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in 2001.

• TRS was renamed Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in 2022.

• The 2009 crisis:

• KCR began a fast.
• The Centre then announced on 9 December 2009 that it would start forming the new state.

• Protests in Andhra and Rayalaseema stalled the plan.

• Srikrishna Committee (2010):

• This committee, headed by Justice B.N. Srikrishna, studied the demand and offered six options.
• Its first choice: keep the state united, with a statutory Telangana Regional Council.
• Its next-best choice: split the state, with Hyderabad going to Telangana.

4. Formation of Telangana (2014)

• Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 (Act No. 6 of 2014) [3]:
• The bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on 18 Feb 2014 and the Rajya Sabha on 20 Feb 2014 [2].

• It formed Telangana from 10 districts of the old state [2].

• Telangana came into being on 2 June 2014. It was then India's 29th state.

• Common capital:
• Hyderabad was the shared capital of both states for up to 10 years [2].

• That period ended on 2 June 2024. Hyderabad is now Telangana's capital only.

• Common Governor:

• One Governor served both states, for a period the President decided [2].

• Inside the common capital area, the Governor had special duties: law and order, internal security, and the allotment of government buildings [2].

• Andhra Pradesh's capital:

• The 2014 Act asked the Centre to set up an expert committee within 45 days to suggest a new capital for Andhra Pradesh [2].
• The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2026 names Amaravati as Andhra Pradesh's capital [4].
• It passed the Lok Sabha on 1 April 2026 and the Rajya Sabha on 2 April 2026 [4].
• Disputes over dividing assets and institutions between the two states are still being settled.

5. Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019

• Background:
• On 5 August 2019, a Presidential Order took away the special status that J&K had under Art. 370 (a "temporary provision" that limited how much of the Constitution applied to J&K).

• On the same day, the reorganisation bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha by Home Minister Amit Shah [5].

• Two Union Territories from 31 October 2019 [5][6]:

Feature	UT of Jammu and Kashmir	UT of Ladakh
Legislature	Yes	No
Head	Lieutenant Governor appointed by the President [5]	Lieutenant Governor appointed by the President [5]
Area	All other areas of the old state [5]	Kargil and Leh districts [5]

• A first in Indian history: a full state was reduced to Union Territory status.
• The new count of UTs:
• The Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (Merger of Union Territories) Act, 2019 joined two UTs into one, with effect from 26 January 2020.
• The bill passed the Rajya Sabha on 3 December 2019 [10].
• The merged UT has two Lok Sabha seats and comes under the Bombay High Court [10].

• Result: India has 28 states and 8 UTs.

• In re Article 370 (11 December 2023):

• A five-judge Constitution Bench upheld the end of Art. 370 [7][8]. It held that:
  • J&K had no sovereignty of its own, and Art. 370 was a temporary provision [7].
  • The President could declare Art. 370 inoperative without the recommendation of J&K's Constituent Assembly, which had already been dissolved [7].
  • While a state is under President's rule (central rule when a state government cannot work under the Constitution), Parliament can use the state legislature's powers, both law-making and non-law-making [7].
  • The Constitution of J&K is now inoperative [7].
• The Solicitor General assured the Court that statehood would be restored. So the Court did not decide whether turning a state into UTs was valid [7].

• The Court ordered Assembly elections by 30 September 2024 and asked that statehood be restored "as soon as possible" [7].

• After the judgment:

• Elections to the J&K Legislative Assembly were held in 2024 [9].
• J&K's statehood has not yet been restored. For Art. 370 in detail → special-provisions-scheduled-areas.

6. Continuing demands for smaller states

• Named in NCERT:
• Vidarbha (from Maharashtra).
• Harit Pradesh (western Uttar Pradesh).

• Northern West Bengal: Gorkhaland and Kamtapur.

• Other demands:

• Bodoland (Assam):
  • A Memorandum of Settlement was signed on 27 Jan 2020 by the Centre, the Assam government and Bodo groups [11].
  • It gave the Bodoland Territorial Council more powers and promised a ₹1,500 crore development package [11].
  • Under it, 1,615 cadres gave up their arms [11].
  • The area is now called the Bodoland Territorial Region.
• Saurashtra (Gujarat) and Kodagu (Karnataka).
• UP Assembly resolution (2011): it proposed splitting Uttar Pradesh into four states: Purvanchal, Bundelkhand, Awadh Pradesh and Paschim Pradesh.

• Second SRC: calls for a second States Reorganisation Commission, so that demands are judged on fixed criteria rather than street pressure.

• The small-states debate:

• For:
  • Closer, more responsive government.
  • Recognition of identity.
  • Faster development of neglected regions.

• Against:

  • The new state must be able to pay its way.
  • Building a new capital costs a lot.
  • New quarrels arise over river water, assets, debts and staff.
  • Each success can spark fresh demands.

• NCERT prompt (100-states cartoon): "The US has about one-fourth of our population but 50 states. Why can't India have more than 100?"

Prelims Hooks

• Order of the 2000 states: Chhattisgarh (1 Nov) → Uttaranchal (9 Nov) → Jharkhand (15 Nov). Uttaranchal was renamed Uttarakhand in 2007.
• Art. 3: a new-state bill needs the President's recommendation. The state legislature's views are not binding, and a simple majority is enough. Art. 4: such laws are not Art. 368 amendments.
• Art. 371D ↔ 32nd Amendment, 1973 ↔ equal opportunity in jobs and education for regions of Andhra Pradesh. It is now relevant to Telangana as well.
• Telangana: formed on 2 June 2014 as the 29th state, under the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014. Hyderabad was the common capital for 10 years, until 2 June 2024 [2].
• Amaravati was named Andhra Pradesh's capital by the AP Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2026 [4].
• J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019: the UT of J&K has a legislature. The UT of Ladakh (Kargil + Leh) does not. Effective 31 Oct 2019 [5].
• In re Article 370 (2023): upheld the end of Art. 370. It ordered elections by 30 Sep 2024 and left the validity of turning a state into UTs undecided [7].
• 28 states + 8 UTs since the DNH and DD merger (26 Jan 2020) [10].
• Trap: the Srikrishna Committee (2010) first preferred a united Andhra with a Telangana Regional Council, not bifurcation.
• Bodo Accord signed 27 Jan 2020. It strengthened the Bodoland Territorial Council; it did not create a separate state [11].

Mains Points

• Changing basis of federal redesign (GS-I/II):
• 1956 rewarded language. 2000 and 2014 rewarded development imbalance and tribal identity.

• Accommodating these demands has generally deepened Indian unity rather than weakened it. This is the NCERT view of linguistic and regional states.

• Parliament's power under Art. 3 and federalism:

• States can be split even when the parent state objects. Andhra Pradesh's assembly had rejected the 2013 draft bill.
• J&K was turned into UTs while it was under President's rule.

• In In re Article 370, the Court left the state-to-UT question open. This keeps alive the debate on whether the Union can downgrade a state [7].

• Small states: a balance sheet.

• Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh are often cited as governance gains. Jharkhand faced political instability.
• Telangana and Andhra Pradesh show the costs: a capital vacuum for a decade (resolved only in 2026 [4]) and long asset and water disputes.

• Reform: a second SRC with clear criteria: financial viability, administrative size, identity and public consent.

• Peace accords as an alternative to statehood:

• Autonomous councils under the Sixth Schedule (special self-government for tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram), such as the Bodoland Territorial Region, can meet identity demands without new state boundaries [11].