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UPSC Prelims 2025, Question 52

The concept being tested: Constitutional Amendment Acts creating states / States Reorganization Act 1956.

Consider the following pairs: 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?

Options

  1. AOnly one
  2. BOnly two
  3. CAll the threeCorrect answer
  4. DNone

The answer: All the three

All three pairs hold up on the specific facts examiners are testing. Arunachal Pradesh's capital, Itanagar, takes its name from the Ita Fort (ita means brick), and the state has two National Parks, Namdapha and Mouling. Nagaland's statehood traces to the Constitution (Thirteenth Amendment) Act, 1962, passed alongside the State of Nagaland Act, 1962; the amendment inserted Article 371A, giving Nagaland special protection over its customary law, religious practices and land, and this constitutional instrument is what UPSC credits with creating the state, effective 1 December 1963. Tripura began as a Part C state under the original Constitution, was converted into a centrally administered Union Territory when the States Reorganisation Act, 1956 scrapped the Part A/B/C/D scheme, and was finally elevated to full statehood by the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971, with effect from 21 January 1972. Since every pair checks out, All the three is the correct choice.

What UPSC was testing

UPSC is testing whether aspirants conflate the ordinary State of Nagaland Act, 1962, which drew the state's boundaries under Article 3, with the Constitution (Thirteenth Amendment) Act, 1962 passed alongside it, which inserted Article 371A - the two were enacted together, and it is the amendment that statement II is pointing to.

How often this comes up

This concept has appeared 14 times in UPSC Prelims General Studies Paper I between 2015 and 2025 — in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2024 and 2025.

The option-by-option autopsy for this question — why each of the other three is wrong, and which neighbouring concept each one was built from — is in the app.

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