Which of the following were the members of State Reorganisation Commission formed by Indian Government in August, 1953 ? (i) Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru (ii) Justice Fazal Ali (iii) K.M. Pannikar (iv) Hridayanath Kunjaru Select the correct answer by using the code given below :
- (1)(ii) and (iii)
- (2)(ii) and (iv)
- (3)(ii), (iii) and (iv)
- (4)(i), (ii), (iii) and (iv)
Answer
Why
Correct — option (3), (ii), (iii) and (iv).
The States Reorganisation Commission had three members. The Ministry of Home Affairs resolution that appointed it is reproduced as Appendix A of the Commission's 1955 report.
It names Saiyid Fazl Ali, then Governor of Orissa, as Chairman, with Hriday Nath Kunzru, a Member of the Council of States, and Kavalam Madhava Panikkar, then India's Ambassador in Egypt.
So (ii) Fazal Ali, (iii) Pannikar and (iv) Kunjaru were members, and the code is option (3), (ii), (iii) and (iv). All three signed the report, which is dated 30 September 1955.
(i) Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru was not a member. He died on 20 January 1949, nearly five years before the Commission was appointed.
On the date in the stem: the report records the Prime Minister's statement in Parliament on 22 December 1953 and the appointing resolution of 29 December 1953. The membership is the same either way.
The idea to remember: SRC = Fazl Ali (Chairman) + Kunzru + Panikkar.
Why the others are wrong
- (1)(ii) and (iii) — This code leaves out (iv), Hriday Nath Kunzru. The appointing resolution names him as a member, and he signed the report on 30 September 1955 with Fazl Ali and Panikkar.
(ii) and (iii) would be the answer if the stem asked which members appended separate notes to the report. Fazl Ali added a note on Himachal Pradesh and Panikkar a note on Uttar Pradesh.
- (2)(ii) and (iv) — This code leaves out (iii), K. M. Panikkar. The appointing resolution names Kavalam Madhava Panikkar, then India's Ambassador in Egypt, as the third member.
Panikkar signed the report too. The report records that he did not subscribe to its recommendation on the future of Uttar Pradesh, and his views are in a separate note appended to it.
- (4)(i), (ii), (iii) and (iv) — This code adds (i), Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru, who died on 20 January 1949. The Commission was appointed in December 1953, so he could not have served on it.
Sapru belongs to an earlier phase: in RAS Prelims 2018, RPSC's key names him as the mediator in the Gandhi-Irwin Pact. The three names that remain are the whole Commission.
Concept
The Prime Minister told Parliament on 22 December 1953 that a Commission would examine "objectively and dispassionately" the reorganisation of the States of the Indian Union. The resolution of 29 December 1953 followed.
The resolution weighed several factors. It said the language and culture of an area have "an undoubted importance", but named the preservation and strengthening of the unity and security of India as the first essential consideration, and called financial, economic and administrative considerations "almost equally important".
The Commission was asked to recommend broad principles first and, if it chose, the broad lines on which particular States should be reorganised.
RPSC's 2023 syllabus lists "Post-independence Nation Building: The linguistic reorganisation of the states, Institutional building during Nehruvian age, Development of science and technology."
The report describes the map it inherited: nine Part A, eight Part B and ten Part C States when the Constitution commenced.
Its proposals touched Rajasthan directly. Part B States such as Rajasthan had a Rajpramukh as head, and the report recommended that the institution of Rajpramukh be abolished.
The report records the scale of its work: 1,52,250 documents received, 104 places visited and over nine thousand persons interviewed.
Key facts
- A Ministry of Home Affairs resolution dated 29 December 1953 appointed the Commission, after the Prime Minister's statement in Parliament on 22 December 1953.
- The resolution named Saiyid Fazl Ali as Chairman, with Hriday Nath Kunzru and Kavalam Madhava Panikkar as the other two members.
- The report was due by 30 June 1955; the deadline was extended to 30 September 1955, the date the report carries.
- The Commission's report recommended that the institution of Rajpramukh, head of a Part B State such as Rajasthan, be abolished.
- Fazl Ali appended a note on Himachal Pradesh and Panikkar a note on Uttar Pradesh, where each disagreed with the report's recommendation.
Members as named in the resolution of 29 December 1953, reproduced in the Commission's 1955 report.
Study next
Common traps
- Adding Tej Bahadur Sapru because the name is familiar from the freedom struggle: he died on 20 January 1949, before the Commission existed.
- Mixing up the Commission's dates: its report records the Prime Minister's statement of 22 December 1953 and the appointing resolution of 29 December 1953, while this stem prints 'August, 1953'; the membership is the same.
- Assuming the three members agreed on everything: Fazl Ali appended a note on Himachal Pradesh and Panikkar a note on Uttar Pradesh.
A question can list names and ask which of them sat on the Commission, or ask who chaired it.
A question can also ask when the Commission reported, or link one of its recommendations, such as abolishing the Rajpramukh's office, to a State like Rajasthan.
Related PYQs
Which of the following statement is not correct regarding the Governor of Rajasthan ?
- (1) On the basis of the recommendation of the States Reorganisation Commission, the institution of Rajpramukh was abolished.
- (2) The institution of Rajpramukh was abolished by the 7th Constitutional amendment.
- (3) Gurumukh Nihal Singh was appointed as the first Governor of Rajasthan on 1st November, 1956 AD.
- (4) Haribhau Kisanrao Bagde assumed the office of the Governor of Rajasthan on 31st July, 2024.
Answer(3)
Same Commission, its result for Rajasthan: that question asks which statement about the Governor of Rajasthan is not correct, and one of the statements it leaves standing is that the institution of Rajpramukh was abolished on the Commission's recommendation (RPSC's key: option (3), on Gurumukh Nihal Singh). This one asks who the Commission's members were.
Who among the following was appointed as the chairman of Secondary Education Commission by Government of India in 1952 ?
- (1) S. Radhakrishnan
- (2) D.S. Kothari
- (3) P.C. Mahalanobis
- (4) Laxman Swami Mudaliar
Answer(4)
Same syllabus head, a commission of the early 1950s: that question asks who was appointed chairman of the Secondary Education Commission by the Government of India in 1952 (RPSC's key: Laxman Swami Mudaliar). This one asks who sat on the States Reorganisation Commission.
Practice
- practice — not a real PYQ
Who was the Chairman of the States Reorganisation Commission whose report is dated 30 September 1955?
- (a)Hriday Nath Kunzru
- (b)K. M. Panikkar
- (c)Saiyid Fazl Ali
- (d)Tej Bahadur Sapru
Answer(3) — The resolution of 29 December 1953 names Saiyid Fazl Ali as Chairman. Options (1) and (2) were the other two members; option (4) died in January 1949 and was not a member. - practice — not a real PYQ
Consider the following statements about the report of the States Reorganisation Commission (1955): A. It recommended that the institution of Rajpramukh be abolished. B. K. M. Panikkar appended a separate note on Uttar Pradesh. Choose the correct option:
- (a)Only A is correct.
- (b)Only B is correct.
- (c)Both A and B are correct.
- (d)Neither A nor B is correct.
Answer(3) — The report recommends abolishing the institution of Rajpramukh, so A is correct. It also records that Panikkar did not subscribe to its recommendation on Uttar Pradesh and appends his separate note, so B is correct. Options (1), (2) and (4) each reject a true statement.