Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level : UTs of India
Mains level : Governance of UTs in India
A bill which seeks to merge the Union Territories of Daman and Diu, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli was passed by Lok Sabha.
About the merger
- The merged Union Territory will be named as Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
- The country currently has nine Union Territories after the creation of the UTs of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
- However, with the merger of Daman and Diu, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, the number of UTs will come down to eight.
- The number of Lok Sabha seats will remain unaltered and the jurisdiction of the Bombay High Court will continue over the two territories.
- The reservations provided to people in the two union territories will continue.
Benefits
- Merging of both the UTs will help in strengthening the administrative services. It will also give proper services. It will also lead to the proper developed of these UTS.
- Merging will also help in cutting down the administrative cost.
Back2Basics
Portuguese rule in India
- After India’s independence from the British Empire in August 1947, Portugal continued to hold a handful of exclaves on the Indian subcontinent—the districts of Goa, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli—collectively known as the Estado da Índia.
- Dadra and Nagar Haveli were two Portuguese landlocked exclaves of the Daman district. It did not have any Portuguese military garrison, but only police forces.
- From 1954 to 1961, Dadra and Nagar Haveli was administered by a body called the Varishta Panchayat of Free Dadra and Nagar Haveli with administrative help from the government of India.
- Although it enjoyed de facto independence, Dadra and Nagar Haveli were still recognised internationally (e.g. by the International Court of Justice) as Portuguese possessions.
- The Tenth Amendment of the Constitution of India was passed to incorporate Dadra and Nagar Haveli as a union territory, effective 11 August 1961.
- On 31 December 1974 a treaty was signed between India and Portugal on recognition of India’s sovereignty over Goa, Daman, Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli.