About DonIndia

What you'll find here

• The national timeline: more than 650 events from 1947 to today, from the first Five-Year Plan to the latest missions, grouped by sector and by Prime Minister.
• State and Union Territory timelines: a page for each of India's 28 states and 8 Union Territories, Chief Minister by Chief Minister.
• Then vs Now: how life in India has changed, in numbers, from literacy and life expectancy to roads and electricity.

How the timelines work

Every event is labelled with the government in office at the time:

• "Nehru Govt:" or "Kamaraj Govt:" means the action was taken by that Prime Minister's or Chief Minister's government.
• "During PM … 's term:" or "During CM … 's term:" marks events that were not government actions, such as disasters, court rulings, elections or sporting wins.
• "Centre (… Govt):" on a state page marks an action by the central government in that state.
• "President's Rule:" or "Governor's Rule:" marks periods when a state was run directly by the Centre.

Difficult events — riots, attacks, disasters, scandals — are included because they are part of the record. We describe them factually and try not to take sides.

Sources and accuracy

Events are compiled from public records: government and parliamentary documents, court judgments, official lists of office-holders, and reporting by established news organisations. Lists of Chief Ministers are checked against published lists, and figures such as death tolls or seat counts use the official or most widely reported number.

Where sources disagree — about a date, say — we use the most commonly cited one. Where we cannot confirm an event, we leave it out. That is why some years have few entries; we are adding verified events over time.

DonIndia is an independent project. It is not affiliated with any government, political party or organisation.

Spotted a mistake?

We want this record to be accurate. If you find an error, please write to us, ideally with a link to a reliable source, and we will correct it.