Pariksha SaathiLesson 3 of 10 · Uttar Pradesh General Knowledge
Formation, Administration and Polity of Uttar Pradesh
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From provinces to a state
The state grew out of several British units. Banaras (1775), the Ceded Provinces (1801) and the Conquered Provinces (1803) were at first run from Bengal; the Charter Act of 1833 provided for a Presidency of Agra, and in 1836 the area became the North-Western Provinces under a Lieutenant-Governor at Agra. After 1857 the seat of government moved to Allahabad. Awadh, annexed in 1856, was governed separately by a Chief Commissioner at Lucknow. The two posts were joined in 1877, the province was named the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh in 1902, and under the Government of India Act 1919 it became a Governor's province with dyarchy from 1921. In the 1920s and 1930s the seat of government shifted from Allahabad to Lucknow, which is the capital today.
Autonomy and statehood
Under the Government of India Act 1935 the province received a bicameral legislature; provincial autonomy began in 1937, when the name was shortened to United Provinces and Govind Ballabh Pant became Premier. Sarojini Naidu became Governor in 1947, the first woman Governor in India. The province was renamed Uttar Pradesh on 24 January 1950 and became a Part A state under the Constitution, with Pant as its first Chief Minister; in 1963 Sucheta Kripalani became the first woman Chief Minister of any Indian state. On 9 November 2000 the Uttar Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2000 separated the hill districts to form Uttaranchal, which was renamed Uttarakhand in 2007.
The legislature
Uttar Pradesh is one of the few states with a bicameral legislature (Article 168). The Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) has 403 elected members; it had 425 before Uttarakhand was formed. Its term is five years unless dissolved earlier. The Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad) has 100 members chosen as Article 171 provides: 38 elected by the members of the Assembly, 36 by local authorities, 8 by graduates, 8 by teachers, and 10 nominated by the Governor from persons with special knowledge of literature, science, art, cooperation or social service. The Council is a permanent house that cannot be dissolved: members serve six years and one-third of them retire every two years. Article 171 limits a Council to one-third of the Assembly's strength and at least 40 members, and under Article 169 Parliament can create or abolish a Council on a resolution of the Assembly. The legislature meets at the Vidhan Bhavan in Lucknow.
Representation in Parliament
Uttar Pradesh sends 80 members to the Lok Sabha, the most of any state, and 31 to the Rajya Sabha; before 2000 it sent 85 and 34. Under the 2008 delimitation, 17 of its 80 Lok Sabha seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes and none for Scheduled Tribes. Its large share of seats in both Houses, and so in the electoral college that elects the President, is why the state is often called the heartland of national politics.
The High Court and Prayagraj institutions
The High Court was set up at Agra on 17 March 1866 as the High Court of Judicature for the North-Western Provinces and moved to Allahabad in 1869; it was renamed the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad in 1919. Awadh had its own Oudh Chief Court at Lucknow from 1925, and in 1948 the two were amalgamated, the Lucknow court becoming a permanent bench of the Allahabad High Court. Prayagraj also houses the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (set up on 1 April 1937), the Board of Revenue, the office of the Accountant General and the Board of High School and Intermediate Education (Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad), set up in 1921. Lucknow is the seat of the Governor, the legislature and the Secretariat.
Administration on the ground
The state is divided into revenue divisions under Divisional Commissioners. Each district is headed by a District Magistrate (Collector) and is divided into tehsils for revenue work and development blocks for rural development. Rural local government has three tiers: Gram Panchayats under the Uttar Pradesh Panchayat Raj Act, 1947, which is older than the 73rd Amendment, and Kshetra Panchayats and Zila Panchayats under the Kshetra Panchayat and Zila Panchayat Adhiniyam, 1961. Urban areas have Nagar Nigams (municipal corporations), Nagar Palika Parishads and Nagar Panchayats.
State symbols
The state emblem shows a pair of fish, a bow and arrow, and wavy lines for the confluence of the Ganga and Yamuna; the fish were the insignia of the Nawabs of Awadh. The state animal is the barasingha (swamp deer), the state bird the sarus crane, the state flower the palash (flame of the forest), and the state tree the ashoka. The state fish is the chitala.
Key facts
- 1836 North-Western Provinces; 1856 Awadh annexed; 1877 NWP and Oudh under one head; 1902 United Provinces of Agra and Oudh; 1937 United Provinces; 1950 Uttar Pradesh.
- Uttaranchal was separated on 9 November 2000 under the Uttar Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2000, and renamed Uttarakhand in 2007.
- Vidhan Sabha: 403 elected members (425 before 2000); Vidhan Parishad: 100 members; bicameral under Article 168.
- Vidhan Parishad 100 = 38 elected by MLAs + 36 by local authorities + 8 by graduates + 8 by teachers + 10 nominated by the Governor.
- Lok Sabha 80 seats (17 reserved for SCs, none for STs); Rajya Sabha 31 seats; before 2000 the figures were 85 and 34.
- High Court: Agra 1866, moved to Allahabad 1869; Oudh Chief Court at Lucknow 1925; amalgamated in 1948, Lucknow became a permanent bench.
- Prayagraj institutions: High Court, UPPSC (1 April 1937), Board of Revenue, Accountant General, UP Board of High School and Intermediate Education (1921).
- Firsts: G.B. Pant first Chief Minister; Sarojini Naidu first Governor after independence and India's first woman Governor; Sucheta Kripalani India's first woman Chief Minister (1963).
- Panchayati Raj in UP: UP Panchayat Raj Act 1947 (Gram Panchayat); Kshetra Panchayat and Zila Panchayat Adhiniyam 1961.
- State emblem: two fish, bow and arrow, Ganga-Yamuna wavy lines; symbols: barasingha, sarus crane, palash, ashoka; state fish chitala.
Quick revision
NWP 1836 (Agra), capital to Allahabad after 1857; United Provinces of Agra and Oudh 1902; dyarchy 1921; bicameral under 1935 Act; renamed UP 24 Jan 1950; Uttarakhand separated 9 Nov 2000; Vidhan Sabha 403, Parishad 100 (38+36+8+8+10); Lok Sabha 80 (17 SC), Rajya Sabha 31; High Court Agra 1866, Allahabad 1869, Lucknow bench 1948; UPPSC 1937; UP Board 1921; Panchayat Raj Act 1947; emblem fish, bow-arrow, wavy lines.