List of India's Union Territories

Union territories are the centrally administered provinces of the Republic of India.  A union territory is governed by the central government of India, because of this India's union territories are also named the federal territories. The power and responsibilities between the union territory and the state of India are defined by the constitution of India. There are 8 union territories in India. India union territories names are as follows, Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Lakshadweep, and Puducherry. These union territories are governed by the central government of the Republic of India.

History of the State of India and Union Territories

When the constitution of India was adopted by the constituent assembly on 26 January 1949, India was defined as a federal country. A federal country is defined as a country where the ruling powers are distributed among the Central Government and the State Governments. In India, there are a total of 28 states. The constitution of India defined the federal structure of the nation in part A, part B, part C and part D of the Indian constitution. These parts were then subjected to amendments in the year 1956. In 1956  the States Reorganisation Act of 1956 was introduced, according to which the  Part C and Part D states were combined into a single category called 'Union Territory'. The Constitution of India introduced the concept of ut's of India in the Seventh Amendment Act of 1956.

Prior to the Seventh Amendment Act of 1956, the part A, B, C and D of Indian Constitution included the following.

Part A included the provinces of Former British India that had a Governor and a legislature.

Part B included the former Princely States of India, these princely states were governed by a Rajpramukh.

Part C included the provinces of  Chief Commissioners and some princely states. These provinces were governed by the Chief Commissioner.

Part D included the Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the person that governed the territory was appointed by the Central government. The designated person to govern the territory was designated at the post of a Lieutenant Governor.

When the Seventh Amendment was introduced in the Republic of India these parts were dissolved and all were combinely referred to as the union territory of India. During the first time when the concept of union territory was introduced the Republic of India had 6 union territories. 

The India Union Territories Names were as Follows:

1. Andaman and Nicobar Islands

2. Laccadive, Minicoy & Amindivi Islands, presently known as the Lakshadweep islands.

3. Delhi

4. Manipur

5. Tripura

6. Himachal Pradesh

Changes in the Union Territories of the Indian Republic

As mentioned above, initially there were only 6 union territories according to the act of States Reorganisation Commission in 1956, but this was subjected to review and there were some changes made in the number of territories represented as the UT’s of India. A brief gist of the amendments is mentioned below.

Puducherry was given the status of a Union Territory in the year 1954. It was designated as a union territory after it attained independence from French Rule and merged into the Republic of India. Partial Statehood, a special provision granted to some union territories, was granted to Puducherry in 1963.

Daman and Diu and Goa were incorporated as part of the Republic of India, after attaining independence from Portuguese Rule. They attained their independence in the year 1961 and were subsequently granted the status of a union territory. Later in the year 1987, Goa was granted the status of Statehood and became the first Union Territory to receive such status. Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and Daman and Diu were two different union territories. They merged into a single Union Territory in recent years 2020, they are now known as Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. 

The former union territories of  Manipur, Tripura and Himachal Pradesh were granted the status of Statehood during the years of the early 1970s. Subsequently, Chandigarh was granted the status of a Union Territory.

One of the most important points of Indian politics after independence was designating Delhi as a union territory. Delhi became a union territory according to the State Reorganisation Act of 1956. Prior to the enforcement of the act, Delhi was given the status of state. Because of its importance, Delhi was given Partial Statehood status in 1991. Thereafter, it came to be known as the National Capital Territory of Delhi. 

According to the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act of 2019 passed by the Indian Parliament. The state of Jammu and Kashmir has been reconstituted into two Union Territories, which are UT of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh union territory.

List of the Union Territory of India and their Capitals

There are presently nine union territories in the nation. These union territories are formed because of their special requirements and political sensitivity, the union territories are governed by the Lieutenant governor. They are assigned by the central government. The Chief Administrator of the Union Territories is a position that is undertaken by the President of India. There are some exceptions to the governance. Delhi and Puducherry each have a legislative assembly and council of ministers. The list of union territories is mentioned below.

Types of Union Territories in India

There are Two Types of Union Territories in India, They are as Follows,

• Union Territories with Legislature, the union territories classified under it are, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, and Puducherry

• Union Territories without Legislature, the union territories classified under it are, Andaman and Nicobar, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Ladakh, and Lakshadweep. 

The only union territories to have representation in the Rajya Sabha are the UT’s of Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, and Puducherry. 

Why are Union Territories Formed?

As discussed earlier, the union territories were formed by the States Reorganisation Commission in 1956. The main reason for the formation of the union territories was that these territories were too small to be considered as an independent state and had huge differences to be merged or considered as a part of the state. The main difference that resulted in the formation of union territories was the linguistic barrier but there were some complicated places or small regions that had different reasons to not become a part of the state in this formal way. An example of such territory would be Delhi, the capital of India. 

Another important reason for the formation of these territories was the economical instability,  financial weakness. These territories were also administratively and politically unstable, which attributes the reason for their inability to survive as separate administrative units. It was mandatory for them to depend on the Union government. And because of these reasons, the union territories of the Republic of India were formed. 

Soon after the formation the Government of India and Union territories became a part of the skeletal structure of the Republic of India. The administrative rule of the Union Territories is under the central government with the national capital city of Delhi as its centre.

Difference between a State and Union Territory

There are 28 total states in India. There are some fundamental differences between a state and a union territory which are briefly explained below.

In conclusion, there are 9 union territories in India, they were formed according to the States Reorganisation Commission in 1956. There were initially 6 union territories, over the period of there were various amendments leading to the present 9 territories. The most recent change was made in 2019. According to the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act of 2019, the state of Jammu and Kashmir is reconstituted into two Union Territories, which are UT of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh union territory.