Disintegration of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh
India Creates Three New States (2000)
In the fall 2000, the Government of India, pursuant to legislation passed by Parliament during the summer, created three new states, Chhattisgarh, Uttaranchal, and Jharkhand, reconstituting Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, respectively. Both the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress party supported the formation of the states. The basis for creating the new states is socio-political and not linguistic. With the new states, the Indian Union now has 28 states.
Madhya Pradesh was reorganized with the creation of Chhattisgarh, constituting the seven eastern districts of the old state. The division here is rooted in caste distinctiveness, with upper peasant Brahmins and Kurmis leading the movement for a separate state. Rich in mineral wealth and an important rice-producer, Chhattisgarh has resented its disproportionate contribution in revenues to any return it has received from the state. The new state has a substantial tribal population, but the Chhattisgarh movement was not driven by tribal demands, as was the creation of Jharkhand.
The formation of Uttaranchal, carved from Uttar Pradesh, fulfills long-voiced demands by the people of the Kumoan and Garhwal hills of northwestern U.P. for a separate state based on cultural, social (caste), and economic distinctiveness. The hill districts are heavily Brahmin, with comparatively few of the "backward castes" that dominate the most of Uttar Pradesh. The eleven hill districts and two plains districts that form the new state have long-felt neglected by the U.P. state government. The principal opposition to forming the new state has come from the Sikhs in the plains districts and the Akali Dal, the Sikh political party, with their principal concern over the status of their extensive agricultural land-holdings and fear that land ceilings may be imposed.
The formation of Jharkhand, constituting the 18 districts of southern Bihar, is the fulfillment of a fifty-year struggle for
In the fall 2000, the Government of India, pursuant to legislation passed by Parliament during the summer, created three new states, Chhattisgarh, Uttaranchal, and Jharkhand, reconstituting Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, respectively. Both the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress party supported the formation of the states. The basis for creating the new states is socio-political and not linguistic. With the new states, the Indian Union now has 28 states.
Madhya Pradesh was reorganized with the creation of Chhattisgarh, constituting the seven eastern districts of the old state. The division here is rooted in caste distinctiveness, with upper peasant Brahmins and Kurmis leading the movement for a separate state. Rich in mineral wealth and an important rice-producer, Chhattisgarh has resented its disproportionate contribution in revenues to any return it has received from the state. The new state has a substantial tribal population, but the Chhattisgarh movement was not driven by tribal demands, as was the creation of Jharkhand.
The formation of Uttaranchal, carved from Uttar Pradesh, fulfills long-voiced demands by the people of the Kumoan and Garhwal hills of northwestern U.P. for a separate state based on cultural, social (caste), and economic distinctiveness. The hill districts are heavily Brahmin, with comparatively few of the "backward castes" that dominate the most of Uttar Pradesh. The eleven hill districts and two plains districts that form the new state have long-felt neglected by the U.P. state government. The principal opposition to forming the new state has come from the Sikhs in the plains districts and the Akali Dal, the Sikh political party, with their principal concern over the status of their extensive agricultural land-holdings and fear that land ceilings may be imposed.
The formation of Jharkhand, constituting the 18 districts of southern Bihar, is the fulfillment of a fifty-year struggle for