Question

Which Commission(s) made the recommendations which formed the basis for the Punjab Recognition Act which created the states of Punjab and Haryana.
A.Dass Commission
B.State Reorganisation Commission
C.Both A and B
D.Shah Commission

Answer 1

Hint: Punjab and Haryana was created from the former state of East Punjab. Haryana was carved out in order to separate Hindi speaking areas.

Complete answer: On 22nd December 1953, the State Reorganisation Commission was created by the Central Government of India. This Commission was created in order to separate the states based on their languages. The Commission after two years submitted the report suggesting that the Indian states should be organised into 14 states and 6 union territories. The members of the State Reorganisation Commission were Fazal Ali, K.M Panikkar,H.N Kunzru. The recommendations of the Commission were later incorporated into the State Reorganisation Act of 1956.
The idea to create a Punjabi majority province was mainly the brainchild of Akali Dal which is a Sikh dominated political party. However the creation of the new state became a concern for the Punjabi Hindus. They wanted the Punjabi hindus to announce Hindi as their mother tongue. This was to point out that the demand of the Akali Dali was not solely based on linguistics. The State Reorganisation rejected the idea of a separate state. However the Akali Dal continued its struggle. The Punjab Reorganisation Act in 1966 separated Punjab from East Punjab as the Sikh majority province and Haryana as the Hindu majority province with Chandigarh as a Union territory and the capital of both.

Hence, Option B is correct.

Note: Andhra Pradesh was the first state which was created on the basis of language. It was created as a Telugu speaking state after prolonged agitations. It was created on 1st October,1953. On 2nd June 2014, the state of Telengana was separated from the northwestern part of Andhra Pradesh.