When is De Jure Transfer Day?
De Jure Transfer Day is a regional Indian public holiday observed in the union territory of Puducherry on August 16th.
It commemorates the official merger of Puducherry with the Indian Union on this day in 1962. As this day always follows Indian Independence Day on August 15th, it creates a two-day holiday break in the union territory.
De Jure Transfer Day
Maybe surprisingly to many people, when India gained its independence from Britain in August 1947, there were still parts on the subcontinent that remained under European control such as Goa (Portuguese) and Puducherry (French).
When the European powers first reached the Indian subcontinent and looked to impose colonial influence in the 16th century, it was the East India companies of England and Holland who started establishing trading posts and settlements. The French got in a bit later on this action, with the French East Indian Company ('La Compagnie française des Indes Orientales') establishing a presence in several locations around the coast of India in the 17th century.
In 1674, the municipality of Pondicherry became a French colony of the French colonial empire. Pondicherry later joined with the other French colonies at Chandernagor, Mahé, Yanam, Karaikal and Masulipatam to form French India. French India was ruled from Pondicherry.
The territories of French India were transferred to the Republic of India de facto (in fact) on November 1st 1954, and de jure (in law) on August 16th 1962.
On the day of the de jure transfer, French India ceased to exist, when the treaty of cession signed between the French and Indian governments was ratified by the French Parliament. This meant the four French coastal enclaves became the present Indian constituent union territory of Puducherry. The northeastern inland colony of Chandernagor instead merged with the state of West Bengal in 1954.
The de facto transfer in 1954 is commemorated with a regional public holiday, Liberation Day, on November 1st each year.
Did you know?
A union territory is a type of administrative division in India. All the Indian states have their own governments. Union territories are federal territories governed directly by the union (central) government). Several union territories have gone on to became states.
