Punjab Suba Movement | 05 Jul 2021

Why in News

Recently, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) commemorated the first entry of a police force inside the Golden Temple on 4^th July, 1955 during the Punjab Suba movement (Morcha).

Key Points

About:
- It started in Punjab soon after Independence. Shiromani Akali Dal (Political Party) was leading the movement for a Punjabi speaking state.
  - However, there was also opposition to this idea.
- Those in favour of the demand used to raise the slogan Punjabi Suba Amar Rahe and those opposing the demand were raising slogans in favour of ‘Maha-Punjab’.
  - It was in April, 1955 that the government banned the slogans fearing law and order problems under section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
- The demand for creation of Punjabi Suba automatically gave basis to the demand for having a separate state of Haryana.
Demand of the Movement:
- A Punjabi speaking state which will have Punjabi speaking areas’ population.
- There should be no attempt to temper for increasing or decreasing its size artificially. The Punjabi speaking state will be under the Indian Constitution.
Formation of Punjab:
- With the passage of the Punjab Reorganization Act 1966 (and in accordance with the earlier recommendations of the States Reorganization Commission), Haryana was separated from Punjab in 1966 to become the 17^th state of India.
- And the erstwhile state of East Punjab was now divided into two states that is Haryana and Punjab.
- Some territory was also transferred to Himachal Pradesh, then a Union territory.
- And the city of Chandigarh became a Union territory to serve as the provisional capital of both the Punjab and Haryana.
Constitutional Provisions for Creation of States:
- Indian constitution empowers the Union government to create new states out of existing states or two merge one state with another. This process is called reorganisation of the states.
  - The basis of reorganisation could be linguistic, religious, ethnic or administrative.
- Article 3 provides the following procedure:
  - Presidential reference is sent to the State Assembly.
  - After presidential reference, a resolution is tabled and passed in the Assembly.
  - The Assembly has to pass a Bill creating the new State/States.
  - A separate Bill has to be ratified by Parliament.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Creation of New States
Advantages	Disadvantages
Better management of economic resources	Possibility of increase in the inter-State water, power, and boundary disputes
More investment opportunities	The feeling of nationalism would diminish in the cries of regional autonomy
Faster economic growth	Small states depend to a substantial extent on the central government for financial aid
More people of the same small state and same province will have a say in their state affairs	Different statehood may lead to the hegemony of the dominant community

Current Statehood Demands in India

Vidarbha:
- It comprises the Amravati and Nagpur divisions of eastern Maharashtra.
Delhi:
- To gain the control of such substantive powers, Delhi government is aspiring for full statehood.
Harit Pradesh:
- It consists of agriculturally dominated districts of Western Uttar Pradesh.
Purvanchal:
- It is a geographic region of north-central India, which comprises the eastern end of Uttar Pradesh state.
Bodoland:
- The Bodos are the largest ethnic and linguistic community in northern Assam.
Saurashtra:
- Kathiawar Peninsula, also called Saurashtra Peninsula, peninsula in southwestern Gujarat state.
Gorkhaland:
- It is a proposed state covering areas inhabited by the ethnic Gorkha (Nepali) people, namely Darjeeling hills and Dooars in the northern part of West Bengal.

Source: IE