Dhar Commission & JVP Committee were Linguistic Provinces Commission
Q. Which of the following are known as Linguistic Provinces Commission?
1) Fazl Ali Commission
2) Dhar Commission
3) JVP Committee- Published on 17 Feb 17a. 3
b. 1, 3
c. 2, 3
d. All of the above
ANSWER: 2, 3
- The Indian Independence Act (1947) gave three options to the princely states viz., join India or Pakistan or remain independent.
- Of the 552 princely states situated within the geographical boundaries of India, 549 joined India and the remaining 3 (Hyderabad, Junagarh and Kashmir) refused to join India.
- However, in course of time,they too were integrated with India.
- Hyderabad by means of police action, Junagarh by means of referendum and Kashmir by the Instrument of Accession.
- In 1950, the Constitution had a four-fold classification of the states (total 29) of the Indian Union-Part A, Part B, Part C and Part D State.
- Part-A states were nine erstwhile governor’s provinces of British India.
- Part-B states were nine erstwhile princely states with legislatures.
- Part-C states (total 10) were erstwhile chief commissioner’s provinces of British India and some of the erstwhile princely states and were centrally administered.
- The Andaman and Nicobar Islands were kept as the solitary Part-D state.
- The integration of princely states with the rest of India was purely an adhoc arrangement.
- There was also demand from different regions, particularly South India, for reorganisation of states on linguistic basis.
- So, in June 1948, the Government of India appointed the Linguistic Provinces Commission under the chairmanship of S K Dhar to examine the possibility of it.
- The commission submitted its report in December 1948 and recommended administrative convenience as basis of reorganisation of states rather than linguistic factor.
- This created resentment and led to the appointment of another Linguistic Provinces Committee by the Congress in December1948 itself to examine the whole question afresh.
- It consisted of Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallahbhai Pateland Pattabhi Sitaramayya and hence, was popularly known as JVP Committee.
- It had no chairman or convener. It submitted its report in April 1949 and formally rejected language as the basis for reorganisation.
- However, a prolonged popular agitation and the death of Potti Sriramulu, a Congress person of standing, after a 56-day hunger strike for the cause forced the government in October 1953, to create the first linguistic state,known as Andhra state, by separating the Telugu speaking areas from the Madras state.
