Bill to merge 2 UTs tabled in LS

New Delhi, November 26

The government on Tuesday introduced in the Lok Sabha a Bill to merge Union Territories Daman and Diu, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli into one.

The proposed legislation — The Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (Merger of Union Territories) Bill 2019 — was introduced in the House by Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy. The move comes three months after Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated into the UTs of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

“In view of the policy of the government to have ‘minimum government, maximum governance”, considering small population and limited geographical area of both UTs and to use the services of officers efficiently, it has been decided to merge the UTs of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu into a single UT,” Reddy said.

The merged UT will be named as Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. The merger of the two UTs, located along the western coast near Gujarat, is done for better administration and check duplications of various work. So far, both UTs have separate budgets and secretariats even though they are just 35 km apart.

Dadra and Nagar Haveli has just one district while Daman and Diu has two. Both UTs were under the Portuguese rule for a long time. They were liberated from the Portuguese rule in December, 1961. Since 1961 to 1987, Daman and Diu was part of the UT of Goa, Daman and Diu. In 1987, when Goa got statehood, Daman and Diu was made a separate UT.

Dadra and Nagar Haveli was occupied by the Portuguese in June 1783. Residents of Dadra and Nagar Haveli got liberated themselves from the Portuguese rule on August 2, 1954. Since, 1954 to 1961, the territory was administered by a citizens’ council called the Varishta Panchayat of Free Dadra and Nagar Haveli. In 1961, it was merged with the Republic of India and made a UT.

According to the Bill, on and from the appointed day, there shall be allocated two seats to the UT of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu in the Lok Sabha. The Bombay HC shall continue to extend to the UT of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. Every person employed in connection with the affairs of the existing UTs and serving immediately before the appointed day in the existing UTs shall, on and from that day continue to serve in connection with the affairs of the UT of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. — PTI