Not many can immediately answer the question: "How many states are in India?" Administrative division determines the federal structure of a given state. There are 29 states in India, as well as as many as 7 territories that are considered allied. The administrative units also include Delhi National Capital District. India on the world map is a federal state in which states are also usually divided into regions. Each of the states has its own government, appointed by elective means (own government can also be in the union territory). We will talk about the features of administrative division in India, border disputes, language problems and separatism further.
Administrative Division of India
India became an independent state in 1947, while the former British colony was divided into India and Pakistan proper, in accordance with the religious affiliation of the population. Under the new constitution, twenty-nine states appeared in the country. They were divided into three categories: A, B, and C. Different states had different governance. In 1956, a law was passed in the country, according to which the administrative division was reorganized. The category system has been eliminated, and if you ask yourself the question: “How many states are there in India?”, You already know the answer to it, based on the above information. The border of administrative units has been determined in accordance with linguistic and ethnic areas.
State Management in India
The states have their own bodies responsible for executive and legislative powers. Above all in the hierarchy of posts is the governor, who is appointed for five years. It is he who is involved in the formation of the government, which is controlled by the prime minister. The latter is chosen among the members of the party that wins the state elections. At the same time, each has its own unicameral or bicameral parliament. The lower one is called “Vidhan Sabha”, and its number can reach from sixty to 500 deputies. She is elected in the general election for a five-year term. The name of the upper house in parliament is “vidhan parishad,” and its members have been working for six years. But every two years, a third of the deputies are re-elected. The state parliament deals with any internal issues, but it does not include foreign policy, the problem of defense and trade with other states, because all this is already in the jurisdiction of the country's central authority.
India on the world map: allied territories
Based on the above information, it is already possible to make an idea of the administrative division of this state. But how many states in India do not end there, because in this country there are also union territories, while the latter do not have the same parliaments as the states, and they are run by the central government (or rather, officials who are vested with certain authority). Of course, there are some exceptions. Some union territories have their own parliament, but its power is largely limited, and small units do not even have such parliaments, as mentioned above.
The problem of languages in India
Some states and union territories recognize as official languages, besides English and Hindi, also those spoken by the local population in a particular region. These issues may affect the administrative distribution problem in India. For example, in October 1956, in the state of Madras, in accordance with the linguistic principle, a new state was formed under the name Andhra. However, this story did not end there. In November 1956, the state, called Andhra Pradesh, was allotted when the territory of the state of Andhra was combined with Hyderabad. But this is not the only case related to language problems. This issue greatly affects how many states are in India. Interesting in this regard is the history of the division of the Punjab in 1966. Then in November part of it, in which the population speaks mainly in Hindi, was allocated to a state called Haryana. The border area between the new administrative unit and the Punjab has been declared allied.
Border disputes
In the 60s of the last century, a conflict occurred, which is called the border war between India and China. For the first state, the disputed region became the union territory of Arunachal Pradesh. Already in the 80s, the Indian government raised it to the status of a state. However, the Chinese today do not recognize this division of territory and insist on the recognition of the state in their jurisdiction, insisting on fuzzy agreements between the British and Tibet at the beginning of the last century. The issue of the entry of foreign citizens into Arunachal Pradesh is strictly regulated.
Separatism in India
For this state, the problem of separatism is still relevant today. Some territories, according to participants in such movements, should be allocated as separate states.
The most active in this regard is the Bodo people. In the state of Assam, a guerrilla war is being waged for the separation of the new state of Bodopand. In fact, such separatism is quite unusual for world history. Because here the struggle is not conducted for the independence of a particular territory, but only for the creation of a separate administrative unit. In 2014, the new Telengan state was also formed from the protest movement. In addition, there is debate about whether to divide the metropolitan area.