RAS question
The integration of Rajasthan was completed in 7 phases. The final phase on 1 November 1956 was based on:
Correct answer: (D) States Reorganisation Act, 1956.
The final phase of Rajasthan's integration on 1 November 1956 was based on the States Reorganisation Act, 1956.
Explanation
Rajasthan's integration is tested as a sequence, and the final step belongs to the post-Constitution reorganisation of states rather than to the earlier accession process. The Rajasthan Foundation page describes the seventh stage as Re-organised Rajasthan and states that it completed Rajasthan's formation as a state because of the State Re-organization Act of 1956. In this stage, the erstwhile Part C state of Ajmer, Abu Road Taluka from the former Sirohi princely state, and the Sunel-Tappa region of former Madhya Bharat were merged with Rajasthan. The date given for completion is 1 November 1956, so the governing basis for the final phase is the States Reorganisation Act, 1956.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) The Indian Independence Act, 1947 related to the transfer of power and partition, while the cited final phase occurred on 1 November 1956 under the state reorganisation framework.
- (B) The Government of India Act, 1935 was a colonial-era constitutional statute, not the legal basis for the 1956 completion of Re-organised Rajasthan.
- (C) Instruments of Accession explain the earlier merger of princely states into the Indian Union, but the final Rajasthan phase was tied to territorial reorganisation in 1956.
Concept
This tests the RAS history theme of Rajasthan's political integration after Independence, especially the distinction between accession of princely states and later state reorganisation. It recurs because dates, phases and legal bases are easy to confuse in Rajasthan formation questions.