Consider the formation of the following States of India and arrange them in correct chronological order starting from the earliest to the last. 1. Punjab 2. Arunachal Pradesh 3. Nagaland 4. Sikkim Select the correct answer from the code given below : Code :
- (a)3, 2, 4, 1
- (b)3, 1, 4, 2
- (c)3, 4, 1, 2
- (d)2, 3, 4, 1
Correct — B, 3, 1, 4, 2 — that is, Nagaland, then Punjab, then Sikkim, then Arunachal Pradesh. (3) Nagaland was inaugurated as a State on 1 December 1963 under the State of Nagaland Act, 1962, carved out of Assam. (1) Punjab in its present form dates from 1 November 1966, when the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966 divided the old bilingual Punjab into a Punjabi-speaking Punjab and a Hindi-speaking Haryana, transferred the hill areas to Himachal Pradesh and made Chandigarh a Union Territory serving as the shared capital — that reorganisation is the 'formation' the question is asking about, since a State called Punjab existed in the Union before it. (4) Sikkim became the twenty-second State on 16 May 1975 through the Constitution (Thirty-sixth Amendment) Act, having spent about a year as an 'associate state' under the Thirty-fifth Amendment. (2) Arunachal Pradesh, which had been the North-East Frontier Agency and was made a Union Territory under its present name in 1972, attained full statehood on 20 February 1987 under the State of Arunachal Pradesh Act, 1986. Only option (b) sets 1963, 1966, 1975 and 1987 in order.
- (a)3, 2, 4, 1 — It opens correctly with Nagaland but then reverses the two ends of the sequence, placing Arunachal Pradesh (1987, the latest of the four) second and Punjab (1966, the second-earliest) last. It is the trap for a candidate who remembers that Nagaland is the oldest but has no dates for the rest.
- (c)3, 4, 1, 2 — Nagaland first and Arunachal Pradesh last are both right, but this puts Sikkim (16 May 1975) ahead of Punjab (1 November 1966). It is the option a candidate lands on by treating Punjab's reorganisation as later than it was, or by assuming Sikkim's merger came very soon after Independence.
- (d)2, 3, 4, 1 — It makes Arunachal Pradesh, the most recent of the four to become a State, the earliest — and pushes Punjab to the end. Arunachal Pradesh was still the North-East Frontier Agency in 1963 when Nagaland was already a State, so this order is impossible.
Under Article 3, Parliament may form a new State by separating territory from an existing State, or by uniting or altering territories, by ordinary law passed on the President's recommendation after the affected State legislature has been given a chance to express its views. That is why India's political map has been redrawn repeatedly since 1956: the States Reorganisation Act of that year rebuilt the map on linguistic lines, the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966 completed the linguistic settlement in the north-west, and the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971 restructured the entire north-east, giving Meghalaya, Manipur and Tripura full statehood on 21 January 1972 while turning Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram into Union Territories that would be upgraded later.
Chronology questions of this kind are won by pinning down one date at each end. Nagaland (1963) is the earliest here and Arunachal Pradesh (1987) the latest, and simply knowing those two positions leaves only options (b) and (c) in play; the choice between them is settled by Punjab in 1966 preceding Sikkim in 1975. The subtlety worth naming is Punjab: the State did not come into existence in 1966, but the Punjab of today did, and that is the event these questions count. A note on sources for a student who searches for this item: typed reproductions of the 2025 paper circulate with a different set of four States in this question. This card follows the Commission's own answer-marked booklet, which lists Punjab, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Sikkim.
- Nagaland became a State on 1 December 1963 under the State of Nagaland Act, 1962; its special provisions sit in Article 371A, inserted by the Thirteenth Amendment
- The Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966 took effect on 1 November 1966 — Haryana was created, the hill areas went to Himachal Pradesh, and Chandigarh became a Union Territory and joint capital; the boundary was drawn on the recommendations of the Shah Commission
- Sikkim became the twenty-second State on 16 May 1975 through the Thirty-sixth Amendment; the Thirty-fifth Amendment of 1974 had first given it the status of an 'associate state'
- Arunachal Pradesh was the North-East Frontier Agency until it was renamed and made a Union Territory in 1972, and became a full State on 20 February 1987 — the same day as Mizoram; Goa followed on 30 May 1987
- Article 3 lets Parliament create or reorganise States by simple majority, which is why such changes are not counted as constitutional amendments in the ordinary sense
- 1 December 1963 — Nagaland (3): carved out of Assam under the State of Nagaland Act, 1962
- 1 November 1966 — Punjab (1): present-day Punjab under the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966; Haryana created, Chandigarh made a UT
- 16 May 1975 — Sikkim (4): twenty-second State, Constitution (Thirty-sixth Amendment) Act
- 20 February 1987 — Arunachal Pradesh (2): full statehood under the State of Arunachal Pradesh Act, 1986; Mizoram became a State the same day
Answer (b): 3, 1, 4, 2. Fixing Nagaland as the earliest and Arunachal Pradesh as the latest leaves only two codes in contention.
- Dating Punjab from 1947 or 1950 instead of from the 1966 reorganisation that produced the present State
- Assuming Sikkim joined India immediately after Independence — it was a protectorate until 1975
- Treating Arunachal Pradesh's 1972 renaming from NEFA as its statehood; that only made it a Union Territory, and full statehood came fifteen years later
UPPSC asks this as a straight chronological-arrangement item with four States and a code — it has run the identical format in earlier cycles with a different quartet. UPSC prefers to mix States with unrelated national events in one sequence, or to test the constitutional route under Article 3 rather than the dates.
Which one of the following is the correct chronological order of the formation of the following as full States of the Indian Union?
- (a) Sikkim – Arunachal Pradesh – Nagaland – Haryana
- (b) Nagaland – Haryana – Sikkim – Arunachal Pradesh
- (c) Sikkim – Haryana – Nagaland – Arunachal Pradesh
- (d) Nagaland – Arunachal Pradesh – Sikkim – Haryana
Answer(b) Nagaland – Haryana – Sikkim – Arunachal Pradesh
The closest possible parallel — the same question with two of the same States. Nagaland and Sikkim carry the identical dates, and Haryana's 1966 slot is the mirror image of Punjab's here, since both were created by the very same Punjab Reorganisation Act.
Which is the correct chronological sequence of the major events given below? 1. SLV-3 Launch 2. Formation of Bangladesh 3. Sikkim becomes 22nd State of the Indian Union 4. Pokharan-I test Select the correct answer using the code given below:
- (a) 2, 4, 3, 1
- (b) 3, 1, 2, 4
- (c) 2, 1, 3, 4
- (d) 3, 4, 2, 1
Answer(a) 2, 4, 3, 1
The same skill applied across topics: Sikkim's admission as the twenty-second State in May 1975 has to be dated against Bangladesh, Pokhran-I and SLV-3. Useful for fixing 1975 firmly, which is the hinge date in the UPPSC sequence.
Consider the formation of following States and arrange these in chronological order : I. Goa II. Telangana III. Jharkhand IV. Haryana Select the correct answer from the codes given below. Codes :
- (a) I, II, III, IV
- (b) IV, I, III, II
- (c) III, II, IV, I
- (d) IV, III, I, II
Answer(b) IV, I, III, II
The identical question type from UPPSC's own recent past — 'consider the formation of the following States and arrange these in chronological order' — with a different quartet. Haryana's 1 November 1966 date there is the same Punjab Reorganisation Act that supplies Punjab's date here, which makes the two questions mutually reinforcing.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Sikkim became a full State of the Indian Union through which Constitutional Amendment Act?
- (a)The Thirty-fifth Amendment
- (b)The Thirty-sixth Amendment
- (c)The Fifty-sixth Amendment
- (d)The Sixty-first Amendment
Answer(b) The Thirty-sixth Amendment — it made Sikkim the twenty-second State on 16 May 1975; the Thirty-fifth Amendment of 1974 had earlier given it 'associate state' status.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which one of the following was a direct consequence of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966?
- (a)Haryana was created and Chandigarh was made a Union Territory
- (b)Himachal Pradesh was granted full statehood
- (c)Punjab was merged with PEPSU
- (d)Delhi was made the National Capital Territory
Answer(a) Haryana was created and Chandigarh was made a Union Territory — the Act also transferred Punjab's hill areas to Himachal Pradesh, which itself became a full State only in 1971.