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142. The most important departure from the past practice, which the provisions of the Covenant regarding the Devaswoms involve, is that, except in the case of Shri Padmanabhaswami temple, in the management of which the Ruler will be assisted by an Advisory Committee, the administration of Devaswoms will vest in two Boards to be set up in these States on which not only the orthodox Hindus but the Harijans also will be represented. This introduces a far-reaching temple reform in that under the arrangements prescribed in the Covenant the Harijans will secure a share both in the control of the temples and appointments in the Devaswoms Department, a position hitherto denied to them.

143. The Ruler of Travancore will be the Rajpramukh of the United State for his life-time. The Covenant provides that future vacancies arising in the office will be filled in such manner as the Governor-General of India may prescribe.

144. The Covenant has brought about the Union of two ancient and progressive States hitherto kept apart by reason only of the existence of two Rulers. The overwhelming majority of the people of the two States are of the same stock, speak the same language and have a common culture and tradition. Several areas of Cochin State, including the capital of the State, form islands within Travancore territory. Ernakulam, the seat of the Cochin Government, got its water supply through the territories of Travancore. On account of old animosities and narrow provincialism, no satisfactory agreement could be reached in respect of schemes of irrigation. Satisfactory co-ordinated measures could not be enforced for dealing with anti-social elements. The industrial areas of Alwaye and the commercial centre of Alleppey, both in Travancore, are not far from the Cochin Harbour. There existed customs barriers hampering trade between the two States. A union of these two States would help to get over these impediments in the economic and social progress of this area.

145. The area of the new Union is 9,155 square miles with a population of 7.5 millions and a revenue of about Rs. 134 millions.

146. It had been declared by the Government of India that the States which had individual representation on the Constituent Assembly of India would be treated as viable units. As, however, integration of smaller States proceeded, it was found that in some cases, smaller and bigger states were geographically so interlinked that the smaller States by themselves could not constitute workable administrative units. The difficulty was inherent in the fact that the States as they were abruptly fossilized at a very fluid stage in India's history in the first quarter of