• The State Reorganization Act, 1956 came into effect on 1st November 1956.
• In December 1953, the States Reorganisation Commission was set up and it recommended the creation of linguistic states, at least for the major linguistic groups.
• In 1956, the reorganisation of some states took place.
• November 1 is celebrated as Kannada Rajyotsava (formation of Karnataka), Kerala Piravi (formation of Kerala), Foundation Day of Haryana, Foundation Day of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh Statehood Day and the Formation Day of Andhra Pradesh.
• At the time of independence in 1947, India had more than 500 disjointed princely states. Temporarily the constituent units of India were divided into Part A, B, C, and D states. Hence State Reorganization was constituted by the Government of India on 29 December 1953 to look into the matter of redrawing the boundaries of States. One of the most popular demands was to reorganize the states based on languages, this was done to make administration easier and to replace controversial caste and religion-based identities with less controversial linguistic identities. The State reorganisation commission consisted of H N Kunzru, Fazal Ali and K M Panikkar.
• The State Reorganization Commission formed in 1953 gave its report in 1955 to reorganize states into 16 states and 3 union territories. The Government divided the country into 14 states and 6 union territories under the State Reorganization Act that was passed in November 1956.
• The State Reorganization Commission recommended that “it is neither possible nor desirable to reorganise States on the basis of the single test of either language or culture, but that a balanced approach to the whole problem is necessary in the interest of our national unity.” Later when the states were reorganized one could say the basis of reorganization could be linguistic, ethnic or administrative purposes.
• Reorganizing states on the basis of language would not only help in ease of administration but also the development of vernacular languages which was ignored by the British. Even cultural affiliations were taken into account, for example, Nagaland was created taking into account tribal affiliations. In the recent past, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand were created for better economic development in the respective regions.
• The States Reorganisation Act, 1956 reformed the boundaries of Indian states and territories, systematising them on language base. The newly drafted Constitution of India, which came into force on 26 January 1950, distinguished states into four main types.

Part A States

1. The former governors’ provinces of British India
2. These states were ruled by an elected governor and state legislature.
3. Part A states were Bombay, Madras, Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh (earlier Central Provinces and Berar), Punjab (earlier East Punjab), Uttar Pradesh (earlier the United Provinces), Orissa, and West Bengal.

Part B States

1. These were former princely states or groups of princely states
2. These states were governed by a Rajpramukh
3. Rajpramukh is the ruler of a constituent state and an elected legislature.
4. He was appointed by the President of India.
5. Part B states were Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU), Hyderabad, Jammu and Kashmir, Travancore-Cochin. Madhya Bharat, Mysore, Rajasthan, and Saurashtra.

Part C States