(Sample Material) IAS Online Coaching : Polity - Union & its Territory

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Subject: Polity

Topic: Union and its Territory

Art. 1 says that India, that is Bharat, is a Union of States.

There is an opinion that the term’ Union of States’ implies that India is a unitary system of government and is federal only in a secondary sense. However, the following explanation dispels such an interpretation.
In the Constituent Assembly, the Drafting Committee decided in favour of describing India as a Union, although its Constitution is federal in structure.

Ans. Moving the Draft Constitution for the consideration of the Constituent Assembly in 1948, Dr. Ambedkar explained the significance of the use of the expression “Union” instead of the expression “Federation”. Two reasons are given

• Though the country and the people may be divided into different States for convenience of administration, the country is one integral whole, its people a single people living under a single imperium derived from a single source.

• The expression- India is a Union of States was chosen as India was already a Union at the time of the Constituent Assembly debates.

There are two expressions used in the context of governance in India- ‘Union of India’ and ‘Territory of India’ the former includes States that share federal powers with the Union Government, the latter includes not only States but all other units like UT’s and soon. In other words, territory of India encompasses a larger area than Union of India. That is, Territory of India encompasses the entire territory over which Indian sovereignty is exercised while Union of India covers only the federal system.

Government of India can acquire any territory by purchase, treaty, cession, conquest or any other method, administer it on the basis of Parliamentary Act.

The States and the territories, thereof are specified in the First Schedule. ‘The territory of India ‘comprises of the territories of the States; the Union territories specified in the First Schedule; and such other territories as may be acquired.

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