Federalism

Federalism
What is Federalism? Federalism is a system of government in which the power is divided
between a central authority and various constituent units of the country.

Levels of a Usually, a federation has two levels of government

Federation → One is the government for the entire country that is usually responsible
for a few subjects of common national interest.
→ The others are governments at the level of provinces or states that look
after much of the day- to-day administering of their state.
Both these levels of governments enjoy their power independent of the other.

Unitary system Under the unitary system, either there is only one level of government
of Government or the sub-units are subordinate to the central government.
The central government can pass on orders to the provincial or the
local government.

Federal system In a federal system, the central government cannot order the state
of Government government to do something.
State government has powers of its own for which it is not answerable to
the central government. Both these governments are separately answerable to
the people.
 Federalism
Key features of The key features of federalism:-
Federalism 1. There are two or more levels (or tiers) of government.
2. Different tiers of government govern the same citizens, but each tier has
its own jurisdiction in specific matters of legislation, taxation and
administration.
3. The jurisdictions of the respective levels or tiers of government are
specified in the constitution. So the existence and authority of each tier of
government is constitutionally guaranteed.
4. The fundamental provisions of the constitution cannot be unilaterally
changed by one level of government. Such changes require the consent
of both the levels of government.
5. Courts have the power to interpret the constitution and the powers of
different levels of government. The highest court acts as an umpire if
disputes arise between different levels of government in the exercise of
their respective powers.
6. Sources of revenue for each level of government are clearly specified to
ensure its financial autonomy.
7. The federal system thus has dual objectives: to safeguard and promote
unity of the country, while at the same time accommodate regional
diversity. Therefore, two aspects are crucial for the institutions and
practice of federalism. Governments at different levels should agree to
some rules of power-sharing. They should also trust that each would
abide by its part of the agreement. An ideal federal system has both
aspects : mutual trust and agreement to live together.

What is Jurisdiction The area over which someone has legal authority. The area may be defined
in terms of geographical boundaries or in terms of certain kinds of subjects.

Two types of There are two kinds of routes through which federations have been formed:-
Federation 1. The first route involves independent States coming together on their own
to form a bigger unit, so that by pooling sovereignty and retaining
identity, they can increase their security. This type of 'coming together'
federations include the USA, Switzerland and Australia. In this first
category of federations, all the constituent States usually have equal
power and are strong vis-à-vis the federal government.
2. The second route is where a large country decides to divide its power
between the constituent States and the national government. India, Spain
and Belgium are examples of this kind of 'holding together' federations.
In this second category, the Central Government tends to be more
powerful vis-à- vis the States. Very often different constituent units of the
federation have unequal powers. Some units are granted special powers.
 Federalism
What makes India a • India had emerged as an independent nation after a painful and bloody
Federal country? partition.
• Soon after Independence, several princely states became a part of the
country.
Levels of a • The Constitution declared India as a Union of States. Although it did
Federation not use the word federation, the Indian Union is based on the principles
of federalism.

The Constitution originally provided for a two-tier system of government, the

Union Government or what we call the Central Government, representing the
Union of India and the State governments. Later, a third tier of federalism was
added in the form of Panchayats and Municipalities. As in any federation,
these different tiers enjoy separate jurisdiction.

The three lists Union List State List Concurrent List

Includes subjects of Contains subjects of Includes subjects of
national importance, State and local common interest to both
such as defence of the importance, such as the Union Government
country, foreign affairs, police, trade, commerce, as well as the State
banking, communications agriculture and Governments, such as
and currency. They are irrigation. The State education, forest, trade
Governments alone can unions, marriage,
included in this list
make laws relating to adoption and succession.
because we need a
the subjects mentioned in Both the Union as well
uniform policy on these
the State List. Total of as the State Governments
matters throughout the
can make laws on the
country. The Union 66 subjects
subjects mentioned in this
Government alone can list. If their laws conflict
make laws relating to with each other, the law
the subjects mentioned in made by the Union
the Union List. Total of Government will prevail.
97 subjects. Total of 47 subjects.
 Federalism
SpeciaL powers • All States in the Indian Union do not have identical powers. Some States
used by some states enjoy a special status.
of India • States such as Assam, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram enjoy
special powers under certain provisions of the Constitution of India
(Article 371) due to their peculiar social and historical circumstances.
• These special powers are especially enjoyed in relation to the protection of
land rights of indigenous peoples, their culture and also preferential
employment in government services. Indians who are not permanent
residents of this State cannot buy land or house here.
• There are some units of the Indian Union which enjoy very little power.
• These are areas which are too small to become an independent State but
which could not be merged with any of the existing States. T
• hese areas, like Chandigarh, or Lakshadweep or the capital city of Delhi, are
called Union Territories. These territories do not have the powers of a
State. The Central Government has special powers in running these areas.

How to make This sharing of power between the Union Government and the State
changes to this Governments is basic to the structure of the Constitution. It is not easy to make
power sharing changes to this power sharing arrangement. The Parliament cannot on its own
change this arrangement.

2 steps to make 1. Any change to it has to be first passed by both the Houses of Parliament
changes with at least two-thirds majority.
2. Then it has to be ratified by the legislatures of at least half of the total
States.

Role of Judiciary • Overseeing the implementation of constitutional provisions and

procedures.
• In case of any dispute about the division of powers, the High
Courts and the Supreme Court make a decision.
 Federalism
How is federalism Constitutional provisions are necessary for the success of federalism but these
practiced? are not sufficient. If the federal experiment has succeeded in India, it is not
merely because of the clearly laid out constitutional provisions. The real
success of federalism in India can be attributed to the nature of democratic
politics in our country. This ensured that the spirit of federalism, respect for
diversity and desire for living together became shared ideals in our country.

Linguistic States • The creation of linguistic States was the first and a major test for
democratic politics in our country.
• If you look at the political map of India when it began its journey as a
democracy in 1947 and that of 2019, you will be surprised by the extent of
the changes. Many old States have vanished and many new States have
been created. Areas, boundaries and names of the States have been changed.
• In 1947, the boundaries of several old States of India were changed in order
to create new States. This was done to ensure that people who spoke the
same language lived in the same State. Some States were created not on the
basis of language but to recognise differences based on culture, ethnicity or
geography. These include States like Nagaland, Uttarakhand and
Jharkhand.
• When the demand for the formation of States on the basis of language
was raised, some national leaders feared that it would lead to the
disintegration of the country. The Central Government resisted linguistic
States for some time. But the experience has shown that the formation of
linguistic States has actually made the country more united. It has also
made administration easier.
 Federalism
Language Policy • A second test for Indian federation is the language policy. Our
Constitution did not give the status of national language to any one
language. Hindi was identified as the official language. But Hindi is the
mother tongue of only about 40 per cent of Indians. Therefore, there were
many safeguards to protect other languages. Besides Hindi, there are 21
other languages recognised as Scheduled Languages by the Constitution.
A candidate in an examination conducted for the Central Government
positions may opt to take the examination in any of these languages.
States too have their own official languages. Much of the government
work takes place in the official language of the concerned State.
• Unlike Sri Lanka, the leaders of our country adopted a very cautious
attitude in spreading the use of Hindi. According to the Constitution, the
use of English for official purposes was to stop in 1965. However, many
non-Hindi speaking States demanded that the use of English continue. In
Tamil Nadu, this movement took a violent form. The Central Government
responded by agreeing to continue the use of English along with Hindi
for official purposes. Many critics think that this solution favoured the
English-speaking elite. Promotion of Hindi continues to be the official
policy of the Government of India. Promotion does not mean that the
Central Government can impose Hindi on States where people speak a
different language. The flexibility shown by Indian political leaders helped
our country avoid the kind of situation that Sri Lanka finds itself in.
 Federalism
Centre-State • Restructuring the Centre-State relations is one more way in which
relations federalism has been strengthened in practice. How the constitutional
arrangements for sharing power work in reality depends to a large
extent on how the ruling parties and leaders follow these arrangements.
For a long time, the same party ruled both at the Centre and in most of
the States. This meant that the State Governments did not exercise their
rights as autonomous federal units. As and when the ruling party at the
State level was different, the parties that ruled at the Centre tried to
undermine the power of the States. In those days, the Central
Government would often misuse the Constitution to dismiss the State
Governments that were controlled by rival parties. This undermined the
spirit of federalism.
• All this changed significantly after 1990. This period saw the rise of
regional political parties in many States of the country. This was also
the beginning of the era of coalition governments at the Centre. Since
no single party got a clear majority in the Lok Sabha, the major
national parties had to enter into an alliance with many parties
including several regional parties to form a government at the Centre.
• This led to a new culture of power sharing and respect for the
autonomy of State Governments. This trend was supported by a major
judgement of the Supreme Court that made it difficult for the Central
Government to dismiss state governments in an arbitrary manner. Thus,
federal power sharing is more effective today than it was in the early
years after the Constitution came into force.

What is a Coalition A government formed by the

Government? coming together of at least two
political parties. Usually
partners in a coalition form a
political alliance and adopt a
common programme.
 Federalism
Decentralisation A vast country like India cannot be run only through these two-tiers. States
in India in India are as large as independent countries of Europe. In terms of
population, Uttar Pradesh is bigger than Russia, Maharashtra is about as
big as Germany. Many of these States are internally very diverse. There is
thus a need for power sharing within these States. Federal power sharing in
India needs another tier of government, below that of the State governments.
This is the rationale for decentralisation of power. Thus, resulted a third- tier
of government, called local government.

What is When power is taken away from Central and State governments and given
decentralisation? to local government, it is called decentralisation.

Basic idea of The basic idea behind decentralisation is that:-

Decentralisation • There are a large number of problems and issues which are best settled
at the local level.
• People have better knowledge of problems in their localities. They also
have better ideas on where to spend money and how to manage things
more efficiently.
• Besides, at the local level it is possible for the people to directly
participate in decision making. This helps to inculcate a habit of
democratic participation. Local government is the best way to realise
one important principle of democracy, namely local self-government.

Condition • Several attempts were made to decentralise power to the level of villages
before 1992 and towns.
• Panchayats in villages & municipalities in urban areas were set up in all
the States, but were directly under the control of State Govt.
• Elections to these local governments were not held regularly.
• Local governments did not have any powers or resources of their own.
• Thus, there was very little decentralisation in effective terms.
 Federalism
A major step towards decentra- lisation was taken in 1992. The Constitution was
amended to make the third-tier of democracy more powerful and effective.
• Now it is constitutionally mandatory to hold regular elections to local
government bodies.
• Seats are reserved in the elected bodies and the executive heads of these
institutions for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward
Classes.
• At least one-third of all positions are reserved for women.
• An independent institution called the State Election Commission has been
created in each State to conduct panchayat and municipal elections.
• The State governments are required to share some powers and revenue with
local government bodies. The nature of sharing varies from State to State.

Governance
Structure

Gram Panchyat Rural local government is popularly known by the name panchayati raj.
Each village, or a group of villages in some States, has a gram panchayat.
This is a council consisting of several ward members, often called panch,
and a president or sarpanch. They are directly elected by all the adult
population living in that ward or village. It is the decision-making body
for the entire village. The panchayat works under the overall supervision of
the gram sabha. All the voters in the village are its members. It has to meet
at least twice or thrice in a year to approve the annual budget of the gram
panchayat and to review the performance of the gram panchayat.
 Federalism
Zilla Parishad The local government structure goes right up to the district level. A few gram
panchayats are grouped together to form what is usually called a panchayat
samiti or block or mandal. The members of this representative body are elected
by all the panchyat members in that area. All the panchayat samitis or
mandals in a district together constitute the zilla (district) parishad. Most
members of the zilla parishad are elected. Members of the Lok Sabha and
MLAs of that district and some other officials of other district level bodies
are also its members. Zilla parishad chairperson is the political head of the
zilla parishad.

Local Governments Local government bodies exist for urban areas as well. Municipalities are set
Bodies in Urban up in towns. Big cities are constituted into municipal corporations. Both
Areas municipalities and municipal corporations are controlled by elected bodies
consisting of people's representatives. Municipal chairperson is the political
head of the municipality. In a municipal corporation, such an officer is called
the mayor.

Experiment on This new system of local government is the largest experiment in

combining democracy conducted anywhere in the world. There are now about 36 lakh
decentralisation with elected representatives in the panchayats and municipalities etc., all over the
participative country. This number is bigger than the population of many countries in
democracy the world. Constitutional status for local government has helped to deepen
democracy in our country. It has also increased women's representation and
voice in our democracy. At the same time, there are many difficulties. While
elections are held regularly and enthusiastically, gram sabhas are not held
regularly. Most state governments have not transferred significant powers
to the local governments. Nor have they given adequate resources. We are
thus still a long way from realising the ideal of self-government.