From the North-East Frontier Agency to a State: the four stages by which Arunachal Pradesh was constituted

Background

Before the Constitution of India was promulgated, the area was called the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) and was administered under the Government of India Act 1935. On 26 January 1950 the Ministry of External Affairs took over the administration of NEFA from the Government of Assam, the Governor of Assam acting as the representative of the President. The area was divided into five Frontier Divisions, the first of which was the Kameng Frontier Division, and administrative control passed to the Ministry of Home Affairs with effect from 1 August 1965. On 21 January 1972 the territory was reconstituted as the Union Territory of Arunachal Pradesh under Section 7 of the North Eastern Area Re-Organisation Act 1971. On 15 August 1975 the Union Territory Act 1963 was applied to it, the former Pradesh Council became the Provisional Legislative Assembly, and the Administrator became the Lt. Governor. On 20 February 1987 the Union Territory was reconstituted as the State of Arunachal Pradesh. The State's own Public Service Commission followed on 4 April 1988, set up under Article 315 of the Constitution.