 ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE

Administrative Set up:

India is the seventh largest country in the world in terms of area and the second largest in population. India is a Union comprising 25 States and 7 Union Territories (Table 1 and Figure 1). After attainment of independence, the major administrative reorganisation of the states took place in 1956 on linguistic basis on the recommendations of the States Re-organisa- tion Commission. The states vary considerably in terms of geographical area, climatic conditions, population size, density and social and economic characteristics. Therefore, the Indian Union presents a complex picture in terms of diversity and heterogeneity of the states and union ter- ritories.

The Constitution of India defines administrative and other responsibilities of the States and the Union. Under the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution the legislative matters have been put into the Union List, the State List and the Concurrent List. Till the 42nd amendment of the Constitu- tion which placed education in the Concurrent List, education was in the State List except for cer- tain specified items in the Union List like determination of standards in institutions for higher education or research, establishment and maintenance of the central universities as well as specified institutions for scientific or technical education and research. The objective of incorporat- ing education in the Concurrent List was to facilitate evolution of all-India policies in the field of education. States, however, continue to exercise main responsibility for planning and administra- tion of school education.

Multi-level Administrative Structure:

Within a state there is generally a four-tier structure of ad- ministration - division, district, taluka/tehsil/block, and village. The district has been so far the most important unit of administration. Some of the states have introduced the system of Panchayati Raj, generally a three-tier structure of local self- government in rural areas at the vil- lage, block and district levels. Two recent constitutional amendments have bestowed on the local bodies in rural and urban areas constitutional status and specific functions including education, covering education upto secondary level, technical training and vocational education, adult and non-formal education. These amendments will strengthen decentralised management of educa- tion at the grass-root level.

At the time of the 1991 census there were 466 districts in the country (Table 2 and Figure 2). The state with the largest number of districts, (63) is Uttar Pradesh, while some of the States like Goa, Mizoram and Tripura comprise two or three districts only. The districts also vary in terms of their geographical area and the population size. Some states have also constituted educational dis- tricts which may or may not be co- terminus with the administrative districts.

EDUCATION FOR ALL

                                                                                 Table 1
        
                                                                           Administrative Structure
                                                                                  
                        State/Union                                                                     Number of
                        Territory                      Districts        Taluks/  Community     Edu-     Lower Level   Middle      District   Villages
                                                                        Tehsils  Develop-      cational ie. Gram      Level ie.   Level ie.   Covered
                                                                                 ment Blocks   Blocks   Panchayats    Panchayat   Zilla       under
                                                                                                                      Samitis/    Parishads   Panch.
                                                                                                                      Taluka                  Raj
                                                     1981     1991        1981      1981         1991      1990        1990         1990      1990
                                                                                  
                        INDIA                         412      466        3342      5272         7098    220037        5334          647     598366
        
                        States
                        Andhra Pradesh                 23       23         318       324         1104     19517        1092           22      29293
                        Arunachal Pradesh               9       11          97        43           48       860          60           11       3737
                        Assam                          10       23          26       130          215       714          -           315      20799
                        Bihar                          31       42         595       587          589     11653         589           39      76488
                        Goa                             3        2          13        12           11       196@         -             -        462@
                        Gujarat                        19       19         183       250          216     13256         182           19      18550
                        Haryana                        12       16          41        83          125      5790         102            -       7064
                        Himachal Pradesh               12       12          74        69          140      2597          67           12@     18843
                        Jammu & Kashmir                14       14          50        92           97      1469           -            -       6900@
                        Karnataka                      19       20         176       268          190      2536         172           19      27024
                        Kerala                         12       14          62       144          157       999           -            -       1451
                        Madhya Pradesh                 45       45         195       457          459     18801         459M          45      76603
                        Maharashtra                    26       30         236       426          318     25578         298Z          29Y     39345
                        Manipur                         6        8          27        26           60       166           9            -        672
                        Meghalaya                       5        5          34        24          434         T           T            T          T
                        Mizoram                         3        3          22        20           22       622           -            -        622
                        Nagaland                        7        7          77        21           12       980           T            T          T
                        Orissa                         13       13         114       314          459      4395         314                   50744
                        Punjab                         12       12          45       117          216     10953         118X          12X     12795
                        Rajasthan                      26       27         199       232          438      7351         237           27      37124
                        Sikkim                          4        4           4        10            4*      138           -            -        440
                        Tamil Nadu                     16       21         159       374          403     13261         384           25      16602
                        Tripura                         3        3          10        17           31       698           -            -        864
                        Uttar Pradesh                  56       63         248       876         1000     73927         895           56     112566
                        West Bengal                    16       17         307       335          685      3305         339           15      38047
                        Union Territories
                        Andaman & Nicobar Is.           2        2           7         5            8        43           -            -        183
                        Chandigarh                      1        1           1         1            1        21           1            1         22
                        Dadra & Nagar Haveli            1        1           1         2            1        10           -            -         72
                        Daman & Diu                     +        2           +         +            +        10           -            -        462
                        Delhi                           1        1           1         5           28       191           5@           -        258
                        Lakshadweep                     1        1           4         4            1         T           T            T          T
                        Pondicherry                     4        4          15         4           15                    11                     334

                    Note:    @ Relates to 1982-83; M 415 in Position; N   43 in Position; X = Superseded w.e. Oct. 1978
                             Y = 19 Zilla Parishads are in Position and 10 Zilla Parishads are under Administrators Control.
                             Z = 233 P.S. in Position; T = Traditional Councils of Village Elders exist
                             + Included in Goa
                               Revenue Block
        
                    Source     A Social and Economic Atlas of India, Oxford, 1987
                               Census of India, 1991, Series-1, Paper-1, Provisional Population Totals, New Delhi, March, 1991
                               Basic Rural Statistics, Deptt. of Rural Development, Ministry of Agriculture, New Delhi, 1991
                               National Sample Survey for Monitoring of UEE, Report Phase-I: 1990-91, NIEPA, New Delhi, 1992 (Unpublished)