Dr. BR Ambedkar, the main manufacturer of the Indian Constitution, believed that large state governments and democratic accountability introduce serious challenges, while small states are more manageable and can ensure equal development.
Ambedkar strongly advocated the division of big provinces like Bihar and Madhya Pradesh in his book ‘Thoughts on Lingwistic States’ published in 1955 and said that “present provinces are very big and not administration”.
He was a supporter of the construction of states on linguistic grounds, but he was very concerned about the formation of very large units.
He wrote, “The idea of big linguistic states is not a democratic idea at all. It is clearly different from the basic principles of democracy. This idea is completely unfavorable to the idea of democracy. ”
Ambedkar had suggested that the states should not only be divided for administrative efficiency, but should also be done to ensure that no area or group feels marginalized.
He recommended that Bihar should be divided into two states and similarly Madhya Pradesh should be divided into northern and southern Madhya Pradesh.
However, these proposals were not taken immediate action, but decades later their relevance increased again. In the year 2000, Chhattisgarh was formed from Bihar to Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh.
Ambedkar also proposed to divide Uttar Pradesh into three states in his book. He said that each of these three states should have a population of about two crores, which they considered a standard size for effective administration.
Ambedkar also suggested that the capitals of these proposed states may be Meerut, Kanpur and Allahabad (now Prayagraj) respectively.
In 2011, the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati, proposed to divide the state into four parts – Purvanchal (Eastern Uttar Pradesh), Western Uttar Pradesh (Western Uttar Pradesh), Bundelkhand and Awadh (Madhya Uttar Pradesh) for better administration. However, the UPA government at the Center did not support the proposal.
Ambedkar warned of emotional arguments behind the restructuring of the states.
According to him, the boundaries of the state should be created keeping in mind the national unity and administrative practicality.
Political scientists say that Ambedkar’s views resonate in contemporary discussion on federalism and decentralization.
