NEW DELHI: B R Ambedkar, the chief architect of India’s Constitution, believed that large states posed serious challenges to governance and democratic accountability while smaller states are more manageable and can ensure equitable development.In his 1955 book “Thoughts on Linguistic States”, he strongly advocated the division of big provinces like Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, saying that “the present provinces are too large and not administrable”.Ambedkar supported the creation of states on linguistic lines but was deeply concerned about the formation of excessively large units.”The idea of having bigger linguistic states is not a democratic idea at all. It is a clear departure from the fundamentals of democracy. It is an idea wholly incompatible with the idea of democracy,” he wrote.He suggested that states should be divided not only for administrative efficiency but also to ensure that no region or group felt marginalised.”Bihar should be divided into two states. Similarly, Madhya Pradesh should be divided into northern and southern Madhya Pradesh,” Ambedkar recommended. While these proposals were not immediately acted upon, they gained relevance decades later.In 2000, Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar and Chhattisgarh from Madhya Pradesh.Ambedkar also proposed the division of Uttar Pradesh into three states in the book.He said that each of these three states should have a population of around two crore, which he considered the standard size for effective administration.Ambedkar also suggested that the capitals for these proposed states could be Meerut, Cawnpore (now Kanpur) and Allahabad (now Prayagraj), respectively.
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