Question

What is the number of Union Territories of India?
a. 7
b. 8
c. 9
d. 10

Answer 1

Hint:
- The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, was passed by the Parliament of India in August 2019. The Act includes provisions to reconstitute two union territories for the state of Jammu and Kashmir, one to be eponymously named Jammu and Kashmir, and the other to be named Ladakh on 31 October 2019.
- The Government of India introduced legislation in November 2019 to merge the Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli union territories into a single union territory to be known as Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.

Complete answer:
- In the Republic of India, a union territory is a form of administrative division. The union territories are federal territories directly administered by the Central Government of India, unlike the states of India, which have their own governments.
- As it has done for Delhi and Puducherry, the Parliament of India will pass a law to amend the constitution and provide a legislature with elected representatives and a chief minister for a union territory. Generally speaking, for each UT, the President of India appoints an administrator or lieutenant governor.
- The other five work differently from Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir.
- There are 8 Union Territories as of 2020. There was only one Component D state when the Constitution of India was adopted in 1949: the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
- The Delhi, Chandigarh and Lakshadweep were created by dividing each territory from the pre-existing states by three more. Another two were created from acquired territories that formerly belonged to non-British colonial forces (Portuguese India and French India respectively) (Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu and Puducherry).
- The nation has 28 states and 8 Union territories. The President administers the Union Territories through an Administrator appointed by him. Each State/UT of India has specific demography, history and culture, dress, festivals, language, etc., from the largest to the smallest.

Hence, the correct answer is option B.

Note:
- Many critics have transformed India into a semi-federal nation because of the presence of union territories, as the central and state governments each have their own jurisdictions and territories of legislation.
- Owing to their constitutional creation and growth, the Union Territories of India have unique rights and status. For reasons such as safeguarding the rights of indigenous peoples, preventing political instability related to matters of governance, etc.