Authentic Classroom Explanation by IAS Monk

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📍 The Question

Consider the following pairs:

State	Description
I. Arunachal Pradesh	The capital is named after a fort, and the State has two National Parks
II. Nagaland	The State came into existence on the basis of a Constitutional Amendment Act
III. Tripura	Initially a Part ‘C’ State, it became a centrally administered territory with the reorganization of States in 1956 and later attained the status of a full-fledged State

How many of the above pairs are correctly matched?

(a) Only one
(b) Only two
(c) All the three
(d) None

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✅ Correct Answer: (b) Only two

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🎯 Theme of the Question

Indian Polity
State Formation | Constitutional Provisions
North-East India | Historical–Constitutional Evolution

This question blends static polity with historical state reorganisation, a favourite UPSC combination.

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🧠 Classroom Explanation

Let us examine each pair carefully.

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🔹 Pair I: Arunachal Pradesh ✅

Claim:

• Capital is named after a fort
• State has two National Parks

Facts:

• Itanagar, the capital, derives its name from Ita Fort
  • “Ita” means brick in Assamese
  • Literally, Itanagar = City of the Fort
• Arunachal Pradesh has two National Parks:
  • Namdapha National Park
  • Mouling National Park

✔️ Pair I is correctly matched.

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🔹 Pair II: Nagaland ❌

Claim:

• State came into existence on the basis of a Constitutional Amendment Act

Facts:

• Nagaland became a State through the State of Nagaland Act, 1962
• The Constitution (13th Amendment) Act, 1962:
  • Inserted Article 371A
  • Granted special constitutional protections to Nagaland
• The amendment did not create the State; it only provided special status

❌ Pair II is not correctly matched.

🧠 UPSC Trap: Confusing state creation law with special status amendment

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🔹 Pair III: Tripura ✅

Claim:

• Part ‘C’ State → Union Territory (1956) → Full State later

Facts:

• Acceded to India in 1949
• Became a Part ‘C’ State
• After States Reorganisation Act, 1956:
  • Converted into a Union Territory
• Became a full-fledged State in 1972
  • Under the North Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971

✔️ Pair III is correctly matched.

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📊 Final Assessment

Pair	Status
I. Arunachal Pradesh	✅ Correct
II. Nagaland	❌ Incorrect
III. Tripura	✅ Correct

👉 Correct answer: (b) Only two

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🧩 Prelims Trap Alert

• ❌ “Constitutional Amendment = creation of State” → Wrong
• ✔️ State creation usually happens via Parliamentary Acts
• ✔️ Constitutional amendments often provide special provisions, not statehood

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🧠 One-Line Memory Hook

“Nagaland was created by law, not amendment; Arunachal and Tripura pass the test.”

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🧭 IAS Monk Whisper

In polity, how a State is born matters as much as when it is born.