Union Territories

Territory of India (Article 1)

• Comprises:

  • Territories of the states
  • Union territories
  • Territories acquired by the Government of India

• Current Status: 28 states, 8 union territories, no acquired territories.

States vs. Union Territories

• States:

  • Members of the federal system
  • Share power distribution with the Centre

• Union Territories:

  • Under direct control and administration of the Central government
  • Also known as 'centrally administered territories'
  • Departure from federalism, unitary relationship with New Delhi

Creation of Union Territories

• British Rule:

  • Areas constituted as 'scheduled districts' in 1874
  • Later known as 'chief commissioners provinces'

• Post-Independence:

  • Placed in Part 'C' States and Part 'D' Territories

• 1956:

  • Constituted as 'union territories' by the 7th Constitutional Amendment Act (1956) and the States Reorganisation Act (1956)

• Elevation to Statehood:

  • Some union territories elevated to statehood (e.g., Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa)

• Acquired Territories:

  • Territories from Portuguese (Goa, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli) and French (Puducherry) constituted as union territories

List of Union Territories (with year of creation)

No.	Union Territory	Year	Previous Name(s)
1	Andaman and Nicobar Islands	1956
2	Delhi	1956	National Capital Territory of Delhi (1992)
3	Lakshadweep	1956	Laccadive, Minicoy, and Amindivi Islands (till 1973)
4	Puducherry	1962	Pondicherry (till 2006)
5	Chandigarh	1966
6	Jammu and Kashmir	2019
7	Ladakh	2019
8	Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu	2020	Dadra and Nagar Haveli (1961), Daman and Diu (1962)

Reasons for Creation of Union Territories

1. Political and administrative consideration (Delhi, Chandigarh)
2. Cultural distinctiveness (Puducherry, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu)
3. Strategic importance (Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep)
4. Special treatment and care of backward and tribal people (Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh)

Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh (2019)

• Reasons for bifurcation:
  1. Ladakh: Large area, sparsely populated, difficult terrain, long-pending demand for Union territory status, no legislature
  2. Jammu and Kashmir: Prevailing internal security situation, cross-border terrorism, with a legislature

Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (2020)

• Reasons for merger:
  1. Shared administrative setup, history, language, and culture
  2. Secretaries to various Departments, Chief of Police and Chief Conservator of Forest of the both Union territories are common
  3. Policies and development schemes are similar
  4. Eliminate duplicacy, inefficiency, and wasteful expenditure
  5. Avoid unnecessary financial burden on the Government
  6. Challenges for cadre management and career progression of employees.
  7. Government policy to have "Minimum Government, Maximum Governance"
  8. Small population and limited geographical area of both the Union territories

Administration of Union Territories

• Constitutional Provisions: Articles 239 to 241 in Part VIII of the Constitution.
• Administered by the President through an administrator appointed by him/her.
• Administrator acts as an agent of the President, not head of state.
• Designation: Lieutenant Governor (Delhi, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh) or Administrator (Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Lakshadweep)
• President can appoint the governor of a state as the administrator of an adjoining union territory, acting independently of their council of ministers.
• Legislative Assemblies and Councils of Ministers:
  • Puducherry (since 1963), Delhi (since 1992), and Jammu and Kashmir (since 2019) have legislative assemblies and councils of ministers.
  • Remaining six union territories do not have these institutions.
• Parliamentary Powers:
  • Parliament can make laws on any subject of the three lists (including the State List) for the union territories.
  • This power extends to Puducherry, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir, even with local legislatures.
• Legislative Assembly Powers:
  • Legislative assembly of Puducherry can make laws on any subject of the State List and the Concurrent List.
  • Legislative assembly of Delhi can make laws on any subject of the State List (except public order, police and land) and the Concurrent List.
  • Legislative assembly of Jammu and Kashmir can make laws on any subject of the State List (except public order and police) and the Concurrent List.
• Presidential Powers:
  • President can make regulations for peace, progress, and good government of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, and Ladakh.
  • In the case of Puducherry, the President can legislate by making regulations only when the assembly is suspended or dissolved.
  • Presidential regulation has the same force as an act of Parliament and can repeal or amend any act of Parliament related to these union territories.
• High Courts:
  • Parliament can establish a high court for a union territory or place it under the jurisdiction of a high court of an adjacent state.
  • Delhi has its own high court (since 1966).
  • Bombay High Court has jurisdiction over Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
  • Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Lakshadweep, and Puducherry are placed under the Calcutta, Punjab and Haryana, Kerala, and Madras High Courts respectively.
  • Jammu and Kashmir & Ladakh High Court is the common high court for the two union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

Special Provisions for Delhi (69th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1991)

• Special status to the Union Territory of Delhi.
• Redesignated as the National Capital Territory of Delhi.
• Administrator designated as the lieutenant (lt.) governor.
• Created a legislative assembly and a council of ministers for Delhi.
• Assembly Strength: 70 members, directly elected.
• Election Commission of India conducts elections.
• Law-Making Powers: The assembly can make laws on all the matters of the State List and the Concurrent List except the three matters of the State List, that is, public order, police and land.
• Council of Ministers: 10% of assembly strength (seven - one chief minister and six other ministers).
• President appoints the chief minister (not by the lt. governor).
• Other ministers are appointed by the President on the advice of the chief minister.
• Ministers hold office during the pleasure of the President and are collectively responsible to the assembly.
• The council of ministers aid and advise the lt. governor in the exercise of his/her functions except in so far as he/she is required to act in his/her discretion.
• Difference of opinion between the lt. governor and his/her ministers is referred to the President for decision.
• President can suspend operation of provisions and make incidental provisions if administration cannot be carried on according to the above provisions.
• Lt. Governor's Powers:
  • Empowered to promulgate ordinances during recess of the assembly, having the same force as an act of the assembly.
  • Ordinance must be approved by the assembly within six weeks from reassembly.
  • Can withdraw an ordinance at any time.
  • Cannot promulgate or withdraw an ordinance without prior permission of the President.

Advisory Committees of Union Territories

• Ministry of Home Affairs is the nodal ministry for all matters of Union Territories.
• HMAC (Home Minister's Advisory Committee)/AAC (Administrator's Advisory Committee) forum
• HMAC is chaired by the Union Home Minister, and AAC is chaired by the Administrator of the concerned UTs.
• Members of Parliament and elected members from the local bodies (District Panchayats and Municipal Councils) of the respective UTs are members.
• These Committees discuss the general issues relating to social and economic development of the UTs.

Comparing States and Union Territories

Feature	States	Union Territories
Relationship with Centre	Federal	Unitary
Distribution of Power	Share a distribution of power with the Centre	Under the direct control and administration of the Centre
Autonomy	Have autonomy	Do not have any autonomy
Uniformity in Administration	There is uniformity in their administrative set-up	There is no uniformity in their administrative set-up
Executive Head	Governor is the constitutional head of the state	Executive head is known by various designations–administrator or lieutenant governor or chief commissioner
Role of Governor	A governor is the constitutional head of the state	An administrator is an agent of the president
Power to legislate	Parliament cannot make laws on the subjects of the state list in relation to the states except under extraordinary circumstances	Parliament can make laws on any subject of the three lists in relation to the union territories

Articles Related to Union Territories at a Glance

Article No.	Subject-matter
239	Administration of Union territories
239A	Creation of local Legislatures or Council of Ministers or both for certain Union territories
239AA	Special provisions with respect to Delhi
239AB	Provision in case of failure of constitutional machinery
239B	Power of administrator to promulgate Ordinances during recess of Legislature
240	Power of President to make regulations for certain Union territories
241	High Courts for Union territories
242	Coorg (Repealed)