Union Territories (UTs) are federal territories and are administered by the Union Government of India. They are also known as centrally administered territories. In the Union Territories, Lieutenant Governors (LGs) are appointed by the President of India. The LGs serve as the UT administrators.
Background:
- The UTs were introduced in the States Reorganisation Act, 1956. The concept of the UT was added by the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956.
Requirement for UTs
- The varying reasons for the formation of UTs included – such territories being too small to be independent or too different (economically, culturally and geographically) to be merged with the surrounding states or were financially weak or politically unstable. Due to the aforementioned reasons, they couldn’t survive as separate administrative units and needed to be administered by the Union Government. Some were made UTs given their location or special status.
- The UTs of Daman and Diu was under the rule of the Portuguese, while Puducherry was under the rule of the French.
- They have a different culture than their surrounding States and special provisions may be required to preserve this identity as well as to provide effective governance.
- Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar islands are located far from mainland India and occupy strategic locations.
- Union government control on them may be considered a necessity from a national security point of view.
- Delhi is the administrative capital of India while Chandigarh is the administrative capital of both Haryana and Punjab.
- The special place that Delhi occupies in India’s polity due to it being the capital of the country necessitates union government control on it.
- The UTs of Daman and Diu was under the rule of the Portuguese, while Puducherry was under the rule of the French.
- In 1956, we had 14 states and six UTs. Over the years, the number of states increased to 28 and UTs to eight.
- Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura, Sikkim, Goa, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram are some UTs that became full states since the 1960s.
Union Territories in India
India currently has 8 Union Territories (UTs) – Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Lakshadweep, and Puducherry.
- In 2019, Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 was passed by the Indian Parliament and it reconstituted the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories — UT of Jammu and Kashmir and UT of Ladakh.
- In 2020, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and Daman and Diu were merged into a single Union Territory known as Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
