Creation of Union Territories

Creation union territories describes the constitutional process by which parts of India came to be administered directly by the Union rather than as self-governing states — a category distinct from, and constitutionally simpler to alter than, statehood itself. Union territories now form a small but constitutionally distinct part of the Indian Union, ranging from the National Capital Territory of Delhi to island territories such as Lakshadweep and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Article 1: Three Kinds of Territory

Article 1 of the Constitution declares that India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States, and that the territory of India comprises the territories of the states, the union territories specified in the First Schedule, and such other territories as may be acquired. This makes the "territory of India" a wider expression than the "Union of India": the latter includes only the states, which are members of the federal system and share a distribution of powers with the Centre, while union territories and any newly acquired territories are administered directly by the Central government rather than being partners in the federal arrangement.

Article 2 versus Article 3

Two distinct constitutional powers are often confused. Article 2 empowers Parliament to admit into the Union, or establish, new states — covering territories that were not previously part of India at all. Article 3, by contrast, deals with the formation of new states or the alteration of the areas, boundaries or names of states already within the Union. Both kinds of law, along with the consequential changes they make to the First and Fourth Schedules, are treated under Article 4 as ordinary legislation rather than constitutional amendments, meaning they pass through Parliament by simple majority.

How India's Union Territories Were Formed

Several of today's union territories originated as foreign-ruled enclaves that India acquired after independence, by cession, purchase, gift, lease, plebiscite or other modes recognised under international law, and were then constituted as union territories by specific constitutional amendments.

Goa was later separated from the union territory of Goa, Daman and Diu and given full statehood in 1987, leaving Daman and Diu as a stand-alone union territory. In 2019-20, the Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (Merger of Union Territories) Act, 2019 merged these two separate union territories into a single one — Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. On the other side of the country, the States Reorganisation Act, 1956 itself had already carved out the union territory of the Laccadive, Minicoy and Amindivi Islands (today's Lakshadweep) by detaching this island territory from Madras state.

Not every union territory began outside India. Some emerged from within existing states as they moved along the path toward statehood, or, in the case of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, went the other way when the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 reorganised an erstwhile state into two union territories.

Administering Union Territories: Part VIII of the Constitution

Part VIII of the Constitution, comprising Articles 239 to 241, governs how union territories are run. Article 239 provides for their administration, generally through an Administrator appointed by the President, who acts to the extent the President directs. Article 239A allows Parliament to create local legislatures, a council of ministers, or both for certain union territories, while Article 239AA carries special provisions for the National Capital Territory of Delhi, including its own Legislative Assembly and Council of Ministers. Article 240 empowers the President to make regulations for certain union territories, and Article 241 provides for the establishment of High Courts for union territories.

Union territories also have a distinct, lighter footprint in Parliament and in presidential elections. Under Article 80, two of the nominated seats aside, the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) includes representatives of union territories in the manner Parliament provides by law, and under Article 81 the House of the People (Lok Sabha) includes members chosen to represent union territories, in addition to those directly elected from the states. Notably, the electoral college that elects the President under Articles 54 and 55 includes the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of Delhi and Puducherry alongside those of the states, reflecting the union territory legislatures these two have been given.

Why the Union Territory Route Is Used

Central administration through a union territory has historically served several purposes: consolidating a newly acquired foreign territory before deciding its longer-term status, as with Goa, Daman and Diu and Puducherry; managing a politically or strategically sensitive area directly from the Centre, as with Chandigarh and, more recently, Ladakh; and serving as a transitional stage before full statehood, as happened with Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram before they became states. This flexibility is precisely what Article 3's ordinary-law mechanism is built for — no constitutional amendment is required merely to convert a union territory into a state, or vice versa.

UPSC Relevance

Prelims

• Match each union territory with the constitutional amendment or Act that created it (10th, 12th and 14th Amendments; Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966; J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019).
• The distinction between "territory of India" and "Union of India" under Article 1.
• Which Articles form Part VIII of the Constitution and what each covers (239, 239A, 239AA, 240, 241).

Mains

• Examine how the union territory mechanism gives the Union flexibility in administering newly acquired, transitional or sensitive territories (GS2).
• Discuss the special constitutional position of Delhi as a union territory with its own legislature under Article 239AA.

FAQ

What is the constitutional basis for creating a union territory? Union territories are created or altered under Article 3, the same ordinary-law provision Parliament uses to form or reorganise states, and are listed in the First Schedule under Article 1.

How is a union territory different from a state? States are members of India's federal system with their own executive and legislature sharing power with the Centre; union territories are administered directly by the Central government, typically through an Administrator, though some have been given their own legislatures under Article 239A or, for Delhi, Article 239AA.

Which union territories originated as foreign possessions? Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Goa, Daman and Diu were formerly Portuguese-ruled, while Puducherry comprised the former French establishments of Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam.

What happened to Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu in 2019? The Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (Merger of Union Territories) Act, 2019 merged these two separate union territories into a single union territory.

Do union territories have representation in Parliament and presidential elections? Yes. Union territories send representatives to the Lok Sabha under Article 81, and the Legislative Assemblies of Delhi and Puducherry are included in the electoral college that elects the President under Article 54.

Quick Revision

• Article 1: territory of India = states + union territories (First Schedule) + acquired territories.
• Article 2 = admitting/establishing new states; Article 3 = altering existing states/UTs; both are ordinary law under Article 4.
• Dadra and Nagar Haveli — UT via 10th Amendment (1961); Goa, Daman and Diu — UT via 12th Amendment (1962); Puducherry — UT via 14th Amendment (1962).
• Chandigarh created as a UT alongside Haryana in the 1966 Punjab Reorganisation.
• 2019: Dadra and Nagar Haveli merged with Daman and Diu; J&K reorganised into two union territories.
• Part VIII (Articles 239-241) governs UT administration; Article 239AA gives Delhi special legislative status.

Sources

• The Constitution of India — Ministry of Law and Justice (legislative.gov.in)
• Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (Merger of Union Territories) Act, 2019 — India Code

Further Reference

For deeper reading on this topic and the wider polity syllabus, these standard works are recommended:

• M. Laxmikanth, Indian Polity (McGraw Hill) — the standard UPSC handbook.
• D.D. Basu, Introduction to the Constitution of India (LexisNexis) — authoritative constitutional-law treatment.
• The Constitution of India — Bare Act — the official text.

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, UPSC.wiki earns from qualifying purchases — at no extra cost to you.