At the southern tip of Kannur, just before you cross to Kozhikode district, there is tiny town called Mahe. Known today for its duty free liquor and breezy beaches; this tiny enclave was known as a powerful French settlement during the British rule. So much so that Mahe river which separated the British-ruled Cannanore and French-ruled Mahe was known as the English channel in India. Today, Mahe which is geographically in Kerala, is an administrative section of the Pondicherry union territory which is 600+ km from the town. Unlike the logic of linguistics which governed Indian states' integration, the consolidation and integration of India's union territories is not something which followed much of logic. One can compare the creation of our 7 union territories to the countries of African continents- cartographed with a stroke of pen by colonial bosses.
Inline with what we all have learned in our junior classes, India has 7 union territories: Delhi, Chandigarh, Pondicherry (now Puducherry), Daman and Dui, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Let's look at the story of how each of them came into being.
Pondicherry was created in 1954 after the transfer of French ruled Indian territories to the Republic of India. The districts of Pondicherry, Karaikal in TN, Mahe in Kerala & Yanaon in AP which were ruled by a French governor continued being a single administrative unit and started getting called Pondicherry union territory. Later it was given partial statehood and allowed to have an elected CM and a council of ministers who will rule the 4 districts hidden away in 3 big states around them.
Similar to Puducherry which was a segregation of French Indian territories, Goa-Daman & Diu-Dadra & Nagar Haveli were Portuguese territories. Unlike the sensible French who read the writing on the wall and transferred French India to Republic of India, Portuguese were adamant and refused any such transfer of territories. In 1954, 15 revolutionaries from United front of Goa liberated Dadra & Nagar Haveli after over powering a sleepy resistance and hoisted tricolour. Portuguese strongholds of Goa, Daman and Diu which they had ruled for almost 450 years was annexed by the Indian army in 1961. The territories were maintained as 2 separate union territories- Goa Daman Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli till 1984 when Goa attained statehood leaving 3 districts on the western coast as 2 union territories.
Chandigarh, the dream city of Nehru, was created for Punjab which lost Lahore in partition. The city was designed to be a crown jewel of India and Chandigarh till this date is a city par excellence. It's well planned roads, streets and greenery is an aberration in India. When East Punjab was trifurcated in 1966 into Punjab, Haryana and Himachal, Chandigarh was declared a union territory and the shared capital of Punjab and Haryana. It's anybody's guess as to why? Who would want to part with the crown jewel!
The union territories of Lakshadweep and Andaman & Nicobar islands were created since they were islands, far from the mainland and though large in size, there seemed to be nobody in the ruling provincial government and INC then who would argue for creation of states with electorate in these islands. In short, these were set aside as union territories temporarily as nobody cared and government had far more pressing issues to sort out.
I don't need to say much about Delhi. The seat of the Federal government can't be ruled by a state government, the logic was used to first make Delhi a union territory and then subsequently call it National Capital Region. The logic prevails in most of the seats of Federal governments across the world like Canberra, DC etc. Delhi was also allowed to have an elected state government of its own though the control of key administrative units like Municipal Corporation Delhi, Delhi Police are with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, GoI.
When the youngest state in India today, Telangana was getting created, there was a discussion of Hyderabad being made a union territory so that it can be made the shared capital of AP and TS. Unlike Chandigarh, Hyderabad is not located at the border of 2 states and the plan sounded like one which was cooked up to appease everyone. The story of India's union territories also seem to follow the same tone: "cook up a solution to pass the problem". These territories seem to be decisions which were set aside for future because when the decision was made, the decision maker didn't know what to do or there was no pressing need. I guess, it was assumed that over a period of time, these territories will find their political voice and appeal for elected representative and local governments, quite like Puducherry, Himachal, Goa and Delhi did, first attaining partial statehood followed by full statehood. May be, some may amalgamate into their neighbouring state. However, as of now, these territories have established themselves as comfortable sweet spots within these states like Mahe as a haven for duty free alcohol in heavily taxed Kerala and Daman as a heaven for alcohol in the dry Gujarat. Their wait for an elected government will continue till they find their political voice; may be through someone like K Chandrashekhar Rao who decides to be the CM of one of these provinces.
Inline with what we all have learned in our junior classes, India has 7 union territories: Delhi, Chandigarh, Pondicherry (now Puducherry), Daman and Dui, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Let's look at the story of how each of them came into being.
Pondicherry was created in 1954 after the transfer of French ruled Indian territories to the Republic of India. The districts of Pondicherry, Karaikal in TN, Mahe in Kerala & Yanaon in AP which were ruled by a French governor continued being a single administrative unit and started getting called Pondicherry union territory. Later it was given partial statehood and allowed to have an elected CM and a council of ministers who will rule the 4 districts hidden away in 3 big states around them.
Similar to Puducherry which was a segregation of French Indian territories, Goa-Daman & Diu-Dadra & Nagar Haveli were Portuguese territories. Unlike the sensible French who read the writing on the wall and transferred French India to Republic of India, Portuguese were adamant and refused any such transfer of territories. In 1954, 15 revolutionaries from United front of Goa liberated Dadra & Nagar Haveli after over powering a sleepy resistance and hoisted tricolour. Portuguese strongholds of Goa, Daman and Diu which they had ruled for almost 450 years was annexed by the Indian army in 1961. The territories were maintained as 2 separate union territories- Goa Daman Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli till 1984 when Goa attained statehood leaving 3 districts on the western coast as 2 union territories.
Chandigarh, the dream city of Nehru, was created for Punjab which lost Lahore in partition. The city was designed to be a crown jewel of India and Chandigarh till this date is a city par excellence. It's well planned roads, streets and greenery is an aberration in India. When East Punjab was trifurcated in 1966 into Punjab, Haryana and Himachal, Chandigarh was declared a union territory and the shared capital of Punjab and Haryana. It's anybody's guess as to why? Who would want to part with the crown jewel!
The union territories of Lakshadweep and Andaman & Nicobar islands were created since they were islands, far from the mainland and though large in size, there seemed to be nobody in the ruling provincial government and INC then who would argue for creation of states with electorate in these islands. In short, these were set aside as union territories temporarily as nobody cared and government had far more pressing issues to sort out.
I don't need to say much about Delhi. The seat of the Federal government can't be ruled by a state government, the logic was used to first make Delhi a union territory and then subsequently call it National Capital Region. The logic prevails in most of the seats of Federal governments across the world like Canberra, DC etc. Delhi was also allowed to have an elected state government of its own though the control of key administrative units like Municipal Corporation Delhi, Delhi Police are with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, GoI.
When the youngest state in India today, Telangana was getting created, there was a discussion of Hyderabad being made a union territory so that it can be made the shared capital of AP and TS. Unlike Chandigarh, Hyderabad is not located at the border of 2 states and the plan sounded like one which was cooked up to appease everyone. The story of India's union territories also seem to follow the same tone: "cook up a solution to pass the problem". These territories seem to be decisions which were set aside for future because when the decision was made, the decision maker didn't know what to do or there was no pressing need. I guess, it was assumed that over a period of time, these territories will find their political voice and appeal for elected representative and local governments, quite like Puducherry, Himachal, Goa and Delhi did, first attaining partial statehood followed by full statehood. May be, some may amalgamate into their neighbouring state. However, as of now, these territories have established themselves as comfortable sweet spots within these states like Mahe as a haven for duty free alcohol in heavily taxed Kerala and Daman as a heaven for alcohol in the dry Gujarat. Their wait for an elected government will continue till they find their political voice; may be through someone like K Chandrashekhar Rao who decides to be the CM of one of these provinces.
