Dadra Nagar Haveli and Daman Diu merger bill introduced in Lok Sabha

New Delhi: The Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (Merger of Union Territories) Bill, 2019 was introduced today in Lok Sabha. The bill proposes merger of two neighboring union territories into one.

Statement of object and reasons:

The Union territories of Daman and Diu and the Dadra and Nagar Haveli are located in
western region of the country. Both Union territories were under the Portuguese rule for a
long time. They were liberated from Portuguese rule in December, 1961. Since 1961 to 1987,
the Daman and Diu were part of the Union territory of Goa, Daman and Diu. In 1987, when
Goa got statehood, Daman and Diu were made a separate Union territory. The 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 the 2nd August, 1954. Since,
1954 to 1961, the territory was administered by a citizen’s council called the Varishta Panchayat
of Free Dadra and Nagar Haveli. In 1961, it was merged with the Republic of India and made
a Union territory.

2. The Union territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu share a lot in
terms of administrative set up, history, language and culture. The Secretaries to various
Departments, Chief of Police and Chief Conservator of Forest of the both Union territories
are common and the officers of All-India Services posted by the Ministries of Home Affairs,
Environment and Forests serve both these territories as per their work allocation. Further,
the policies and development schemes in various sectors including Tourism, Industries,
Education, Information Technology are similar.
3. Besides these, there are two secretariats and parallel departments which consume
infrastructure and manpower in each Union territory. The Administrator, Secretaries, and
Heads of certain departments functions in both the Union territories on alternate days
affecting their availability to people and monitoring functioning of subordinate staff. The
subordinate employees of both the Union territories are separate. Further, various departments
of the Government of India have to co-ordinate with both the Union territories separately,
causing duplication of works.

4. Having two separate constitutional and administrative entities in both the Union
territories leads to lot of duplicacy, inefficiency and wasteful expenditure. Further, this also
causes unnecessary financial burden on the Government. Besides these, there are various
challenges for cadre management and career progression of employees.

5. In view of the policy of the Government to have “Minimum Government, Maximum
Governance”, considering small population and limited geographical area of both the Union
territories and to use the services of officers efficiently, it has been decided to merge the
Union territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu into a single Union territory.
Hence, a Bill, namely, the Union territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu
(Merger of Union territories) Bill, 2019 is proposed for that purpose.

6. The Bill, inter alia, provides for,—

(a) better delivery of services to the citizens of both Union territories by improving efficiency and reduction in paper work;

(b) reduction in administrative expenditure;

(c) bringing uniformity in policies and schemes;

(d) better monitoring of schemes and projects;

(e) better management of cadres of various employees.