Feature by Gurpreet Kaur
What are Union Territories?
Union territories are areas under the direct control of the federal government. Each of these regions has an administrator/governor appointed by the President of India.
The eight union territories of India are – Chandigarh, Ladakh, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Pondicherry, Andaman and Nicobar, and Lakshadweep.
There are two types of union territories –
- Union Territories with Legislature: Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, and Puducherry.
- Union Territories without Legislature: Andaman and Nicobar, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Ladakh, and Lakshadweep.
Difference Between States and UTs
States have their own elected governments. UTs are administered directly by the Central Government through an Administrator.
All states, by and large, enjoy the same rights in a federal structure. However, Union Territories might enjoy some special rights that are unique to them.
The Constitutional Head of a state is the Governor, while the President is the Constitutional Head of all Union Territories.
Their special status
Delhi and Puducherry have a Chief Minister and a council of ministers. Because of this, they are called Quasi-states (partial statehood). They have their legislature and executive committee and operate similarly to states. They have a few subjects from the State list with them.
• Delhi is the capital of India; it is the administrative and political center. For security reasons, no one state was given the power to rule Delhi. Thus, Delhi emerged as a Union territory.
• After independence, Chandigarh was the capital of Punjab. With the partition of Haryana and Punjab, the two states ended up sharing a single capital. Hence, Chandigarh could not be part of one state. So, it ended up as a Union Territory.
• Puducherry has a significant French past, which is still visible and is home to several citizens with French passports, and as a result, Puducherry could not be combined with any other state.