First Schedule: States and Union Territories

States and Union Territories are the constitutional units into which the territory of India is divided, and their names and territorial extent are set out in the First Schedule to the Constitution, read together with Articles 1 and 4. The First Schedule is not a static list — it has been amended repeatedly since 1950 as new states were carved out, boundaries were redrawn, and even land was exchanged with a neighbouring country, making it one of the most frequently revised parts of the constitutional text.

Article 1 and the Territory of India

Article 1 declares that "India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States," and clause (2) provides that the States and their territories shall be as specified in the First Schedule. Clause (3) goes further and defines the territory of India as comprising three elements: the territories of the States, the Union territories specified in the First Schedule, and any other territories that may be acquired by the Government of India. This wording makes "territory of India" a broader expression than "Union of India" — the Union, strictly, is formed only by the States, while the wider territory also takes in Union territories and any future acquisitions.

The choice of the phrase "Union of States" rather than "Federation of States" is significant: it signals that the Indian federation was not created by an agreement between pre-existing sovereign states, unlike the American model, and that no constituent state has a right to secede. The Union is treated as indestructible, with the country an integral whole divided into states purely for administrative convenience.

States are full members of the federal system and share constitutionally distributed powers with the Centre. Union territories, by contrast, are administered directly by the Central government and do not enjoy the same autonomous status, though some have since been given legislatures or councils of ministers.

Structure of the First Schedule

The First Schedule has two parts. Part I lists the States with a description of the territory comprised in each, usually by reference to the specific reorganisation or boundary-alteration Act that defines it. Part II lists the Union territories in the same way — for instance, the entry for Delhi describes it as the territory that was earlier the Chief Commissioner's Province of Delhi, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands entry is worded similarly. Because boundaries have changed so often, most state entries cite a chain of Acts — the original States Reorganisation Act, 1956, plus every later boundary or reorganisation Act — to arrive at the current territorial description.

How the First Schedule Can Be Changed: Articles 2, 3 and 4

Article 2 gives Parliament the power to admit into the Union, or establish, new states on terms and conditions of its choosing. Article 3 goes further, empowering Parliament to form a new state by separating territory from an existing state, by uniting two or more states or parts of states, or by uniting territory to part of a state; to increase or diminish a state's area; and to alter a state's boundaries or name. Such a law requires the President's prior recommendation, and the affected state's legislature must be given a chance to express its views — but this is only consultative, and Parliament is not bound by it. Because such laws pass by simple majority, altering India's political map is far easier than amending most other constitutional provisions. Article 4 allows laws made under Articles 2 and 3 to carry consequential amendments to the First and Fourth Schedules, and such laws are not treated as amendments under Article 368.

From the Four-Fold Classification to the States Reorganisation Act, 1956

At the commencement of the Constitution, the units of the Indian Union were organised under a four-fold classification of states — a structure that proved administratively unwieldy and out of step with the demand for states organised along linguistic lines. On the recommendations of the Fazl Ali Commission (the States Reorganisation Commission), Parliament enacted the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, abolishing the four-fold classification and reconstituting the Union into 14 states and 6 Union territories from November 1, 1956. Among other changes, it created Kerala by merging Travancore-Cochin with the Malabar region, and formed the new state of Andhra Pradesh.

Later Additions to the First Schedule

The First Schedule kept being reshaped well after 1956. Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand were carved out through their respective Reorganisation Acts of 2000. In 2014, the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act bifurcated Andhra Pradesh, carving out Telangana as a new state after a long-standing demand for a separate linguistic state.

A less commonly discussed change came through the Constitution (One Hundredth Amendment) Act, 2015, notified with effect from July 31, 2015. It gave effect to the India-Bangladesh land boundary agreement and its protocol, under which the two countries exchanged enclaves and adjusted an undemarcated stretch of their common border. Because this involved an actual transfer of territory, it required altering the First Schedule entries of the four affected states — Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya and Tripura.

Most recently, the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, converted the former state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union territories — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. As a consequence, the numbering of state entries in the First Schedule was revised, the count of states fell to 28, and the count of Union territories rose.

The 28 States Listed Under Article 1(1)

(Entries 16–29 were renumbered as 15–28 after the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 removed Jammu and Kashmir from the list of states.)

The Union territories listed in Part II include Delhi and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, along with Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh added after 2019 — taking the total to 8 Union territories, alongside the 28 states.

UPSC Relevance

Prelims

• Article 1 defines India as a "Union of States," not a "Federation of States."
• Article 2 covers admission of new states; Article 3 covers internal reorganisation.
• Current figures — 28 states, 8 Union territories — and the changes of 2014, 2015 and 2019.
• States Reorganisation Act, 1956 and the Fazl Ali Commission are classic static-polity questions.

Mains

• Discuss whether Parliament's near-unilateral power under Article 3 to alter state boundaries makes India's federalism "quasi-federal."
• Trace the evolution of state boundaries from linguistic reorganisation (1956) to newer states formed for administrative reasons (2000, 2014).
• Analyse the constitutional process by which India exchanged territory with Bangladesh under the 100th Amendment.

FAQ

Q1. What is the First Schedule of the Constitution? It is the schedule, read with Articles 1 and 4, listing the names of India's States and Union territories with a description of the territory comprised in each.

Q2. How many states and Union territories does India have today? Following the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, India has 28 states and 8 Union territories.

Q3. Which article allows Parliament to create a new state? Article 3 empowers Parliament to form a new state, or alter the area, boundaries or name of an existing one, by ordinary law after obtaining the President's recommendation.

Q4. Why was the States Reorganisation Act, 1956 significant? It abolished the four-fold classification of states, reorganised the Union broadly along linguistic lines on the Fazl Ali Commission's recommendations, and created 14 states and 6 Union territories.

Q5. What did the Constitution (100th Amendment) Act, 2015 do? It amended the First Schedule entries of Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya and Tripura to give effect to an enclave exchange and border adjustment with Bangladesh.

Quick Revision

• Article 1(2): States and territories as specified in the First Schedule.
• Article 1(3): Territory of India = state territories + UT territories (First Schedule) + acquired territories.
• Article 2: Parliament may admit/establish new states.
• Article 3: Parliament may form new states, alter areas, boundaries, names — President's recommendation required; simple majority.
• Article 4: Consequential amendments to First and Fourth Schedules; not treated as a constitutional amendment under Article 368.
• 1956: States Reorganisation Act — 14 states, 6 UTs, four-fold classification abolished.
• 2014: Telangana carved from Andhra Pradesh.
• 2015: 100th Amendment — India-Bangladesh enclave exchange affecting Assam, WB, Meghalaya, Tripura.
• 2019: J&K Reorganisation Act — J&K and Ladakh made separate Union territories.
• Present position: 28 states, 8 Union territories.

Sources

• The Constitution of India — Ministry of Law and Justice, legislative.gov.in
• The Constitution (One Hundredth Amendment) Act, 2015 — legislative.gov.in
• The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 — legislative.gov.in
• The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 — legislative.gov.in

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.

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