Many State Governments further bifurcate geographical administrative areas like Districts and Talukas for better governance. In light of the above, can it also be justified that more number of smaller States would bring in effective governance at State level? Discuss.

Theme

T19 Integration & reorganisation of states: princely states, linguistic states, new & smaller states

What UPSC asks in this theme

A strong cross-paper theme. GS1 asks about princely state integration and linguistic reorganisation; GS2 asks whether smaller states mean better governance. Recent questions ask whether reorganisation came from popular pressure from below.

What to cover

• Integration of princely states: Patel, V.P. Menon, Junagadh, Hyderabad, Kashmir
• Linguistic reorganisation: Potti Sriramulu, SRC 1953–56, effect on unity
• New states: Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Telangana — economic results
• Arguments for and against smaller states
• Continuous reorganisation since the 19th century

Writing the answer

• Use both history and present governance evidence
• End with a balanced view on unity and administrative efficiency

These notes are for the whole theme, built from all 6 of its PYQs. UPSC does not publish model answers.