An unresolved boundary question
Chandigarh became a shared capital through a specific decision within Punjab’s reorganisation. The Ministry of Home Affairs’ 1966–67 report records a Boundary Commission appointed in April 1966 under Justice J. C. Shah. Its task concerned the proposed linguistic regions and hill areas. The government accepted the commission’s unanimous recommendations, but there was no unanimity over Kharar tehsil, which included the Chandigarh Capital Project. The ministry describes a separate Union Territory covering the Capital Project and nearby villages, providing a seat of government for the two successor states. This is the government’s contemporary account of its decision.[1]
Adapting an existing capital
Sharing the capital also meant adapting buildings conceived for a different administrative arrangement. The office-buildings section of the Chandigarh Master Plan–2031 describes the Capitol Complex as planned around executive, judicial and legislative functions. Its account says buildings intended for one administration were subsequently subdivided between Punjab and Haryana. It associates that change with pressure on the buildings. The point is practical as well as constitutional: a city’s continuing capital role involves rooms, workplaces and the accommodation of institutions. The planning account describes that problem from its own period; it is not a new survey of the complex’s present capacity or condition.[2]
Read the decisions at their scale
The ministry’s account distinguishes the capital area from the remainder of Kharar tehsil. It says the latter was divided between Punjab and Haryana along the regional boundary. The arrangement for the capital therefore did not simply reproduce the division applied to all surrounding territory.[1]
The master plan also describes additional office areas developing elsewhere in the city to meet the needs of Punjab, Haryana and the Union Territory. Read alongside its account of the Capitol, this identifies a wider accommodation problem, beyond the sharing of a city’s name.[2]
Sources & notes
Source records include access dates and, where known, limits on what was examined. Checks used AI assistance; independent human or specialist review has not been completed.
- Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs. Report 1966–67 ↗Contemporary government administrative report · Source date: not established; reporting period 1966–67 · Locator: Actual 118-page PDF: title leaves PDF 1–2; Chapter IV, Political, paragraph 58, printed p.53/PDF 59, through the capital decision and division of Kharar tehsil. Accessed 2026-11-02.The actual official PDF was downloaded from the link observed in the ministry’s migrated archive, and the selected full paragraph was read. The old sites/default/files link returned 404. Selected claims concern the ministry’s contemporary explanation of its boundary and capital decisions. No original statutory text, current territorial ruling or OCR-uncertain dates from the next page were used.Return to An unresolved boundary question, paragraph 1 ↑Return to Read the decisions at their scale, paragraph 1 ↑
- Chandigarh Administration; Chandigarh Master Plan–2031. Social Infrastructure, 9.6 Office Buildings, 9.6.1.1 Capitol Complex ↗Official planning description · Source date: not established; plan title identifies 2031 · Locator: Actual complete relevant paragraphs supplied by the search reader: 9.6 Office Buildings and 9.6.1.1 Capitol Complex; administrative-city functions, subdivision between two administrations and additional office areas. Accessed 2026-11-02.The search reader supplied the complete relevant paragraph bodies, which were read. A separate direct web opening timed out; no complete downloaded plan, approval order or on-site survey was inspected. The capacity judgment is attributed to the plan rather than treated as a current measurement. The heritage-committee reports mentioned by the plan were not independently examined.Return to Adapting an existing capital, paragraph 1 ↑Return to Read the decisions at their scale, paragraph 2 ↑
Record PH-JOU-0051 · English edition · human review not performed