Chapter Seven FEDERALISM - Download NCERT …ncertbooks.prashanthellina.com/class_11.PoliticalScience...Federalism in West Indies You may have heard about the cricket team of West

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Indian Constitution at Work

Chapter Seven

FEDERALISM

INTRODUCTION

Look at the political maps (on next two pages) of India 1947 and 2001. Theyhave changed dramatically over the years. Boundaries of States have changed,names of States have changed, and the number of States has changed. WhenIndia became independent, we had a number of provinces that the Britishgovernment had organised only for administrative convenience. Then a numberof princely states merged with the newly independent Indian union. Thesewere joined to the existing provinces. This is what you see in the first map.Since then boundaries of States have been reorganised many times. During thisentire period, not only did boundaries of State change, but in some cases, eventheir names changed according to the wishes of the people of those States. Thus,Mysore changed to Karnataka and Madras became Tamil Nadu. The maps showthese large scale changes that have taken place in the span of over fifty years. Ina way, these maps also tell us the story of functioning of federalism in India.

After studying this chapter you will be able to understand the following:what is Federalism;the federal provisions in the Indian Constitution;the issues involved in the relations between the centre and the States; andthe special provisions for certain States having a distinct composition andhistorical features.

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Chapter 7: Federalism

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WHAT IS FEDERALISM?USSR was one of the world’s superpowers, but after 1989 it simplybroke up into several independentcountries. One of the majorreasons for its break up was theexcessive centralisation andconcentration of power, and thedomination of Russia over otherregions with independentlanguages and cultures of theirown e.g. Uzbekistan. Some othercountries like Czechoslovakia,Yugoslavia, and Pakistan also hadto face a division of the country.Canada came very close to a breakup between the English–speakingand the French-speaking regionsof that country. Isn’t it a greatachievement that India, whichemerged as an independentnation-state in 1947 after a painfulpartition, has remained united oversix decades of its independentexistence? What accounts forthis achievement? Can we attributeit to the federal structureof governance that we inIndia adopted through ourConstitution? All the countriesmentioned above, were federations.Yet they could not remain united.Therefore, apart from adopting afederal constitution, the nature ofthat federal system and thepractice of federalism must also beimportant factors.

Federalism in West IndiesYou may have heard aboutthe cricket team of WestIndies. But is there a countrycalled West Indies?

Like India, West Indieswas also colonised by theBritish. In 1958, thefederation of West Indiescame into being. It had aweak central governmentand the economy of each unitwas independent. Thesefeatures and politicalcompetition among the unitsled to the formal dissolutionof the federation in1962. Later, in 1973 byTreaty of Chiguaramasthe independent islandsestablished joint authoritiesin the form of a commonlegislature, supreme court, acommon currency, and, to adegree, a common marketknown as the CaribbeanCommunity. The CaribbeanCommunity has even acommon executive, andHeads of the governments ofmember countries aremembers of this executive.

Thus, the units couldneither live together as onecountry, nor can they liveseparately!

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India is a land of continental proportions and immensediversities. There are more than 20 major languages andseveral hundred minor ones. It is the home of several majorreligions. There are several million indigenous peoplesliving in different parts of the country. In spite of all thesediversities we share a common land mass. We have alsoparticipated in a common history, especially, when wefought for independence. We also share many otherimportant features. This has led our national leaders tovisualise India as a country where there is unity indiversity. Sometimes it is described as unity with diversity.

Federalism does not consist of a set of fixed principles,which are applied, to different historical situations. Rather,federalism as a principle of government has evolveddifferently in different situations. American federalism –one of the first major attempts to build a federal polity – isdifferent from German or Indian federalism. But there arealso a few key ideas and concepts associated withfederalism.

Essentially, federalism is an institutional mechanismto accommodate two sets of polities—one at theregional level and the other at the national level. Eachgovernment is autonomous in its own sphere. In somefederal countries, there is even a system of dualcitizenship. India has only a single citizenship.The people likewise, have two sets of identities andloyalties—they belong to the region as well as thenation, for example we are Gujaratis or Jharkhandisas well as Indians. Each level of the polity has distinctpowers and responsibilities and has a separate systemof government.The details of this dual system of government aregenerally spelt out in a written constitution, which isconsidered to be supreme and which is also the sourceof the power of both sets of government. Certainsubjects, which concern the nation as a whole, forexample, defence or currency, are the responsibilityof the union or central government. Regional or local

I get it! It’s like our school. Wehave our identity as studentsof class XI or XII and so on.And we also have competitionamong the various divisions.But we all belong to the schooland are proud of it.

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matters are the responsibility of the regional or Stategovernment.To prevent conflicts between the centre and the State,there is an independent judiciary to settle disputes.The judiciary has the powers to resolve disputesbetween the central government and the States on legalmatters about the division of power.Real politics, culture, ideology and history determine

the actual working of a federation. A culture of trust,cooperation, mutual respect and restraint helpsfederations to function smoothly. Political parties alsodetermine the way a constitution would work. If any singleunit or State or linguistic group or ideology comes todominate the entire federation it could generate a deepresentment among people or its units not sharing thedominant voice. These situations could lead to demandsfor secession by the aggrieved units or could even resultin civil wars. Many countries are embroiled in such conflictsituations.

Yes, I remember what we readin the first chapter: aconstitution decides whoshould have how much power.

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Federalism in NigeriaIf the regions and various communities do not trust eachother, even a federal arrangement can fail to produce unity.The example of Nigeria is instructive:

Till 1914, Northern and Southern Nigeria were twoseparate British colonies. At the Ibadan ConstitutionalConference of 1950 Nigerian leaders decided to form afederal constitution. The three major ethnic groups ofNigeria—Yoruba, Ibo and Hausa-Fulani—controlled theregions of the West, the East and the North respectively.Their attempt to spread their influence to other regionsled to fears and conflicts. These led to a military regime.In the 1960 constitution, both federal and regionalgovernments jointly controlled the Nigerian police. In themilitary-supervised constitution of 1979, no state wasallowed to have any civil police.

Though democracy was restored in Nigeria in 1999,religious differences along with conflicts over who willcontrol revenues from the oil resources continue to presentproblems before the Nigerian federation. Local ethniccommunities resist centralised control of the oil resources.Thus, Nigeria is an example of overlap of religious, ethnicand economic differences among the units.

Check your progressWho decides the powers of the centralgovernment in a federation?How are conflicts between the centralgovernment and the States resolved in afederation?

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FEDERALISM IN THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION

Even before Independence, most leaders of our nationalmovement were aware that to govern a large country likeours, it would be necessary to divide the powers betweenprovinces and the central government. There was alsoawareness that Indian society had regional diversity andlinguistic diversity. This diversity needed recognition.People of different regions and languages had to sharepower and in each region, people of that region shouldgovern themselves. This was only logical if we wanted ademocratic government.

The only question was what should be the extent ofpowers to be enjoyed by the regional governments. In viewof the agitation of the Muslim League for greaterrepresentation to the Muslims, a compromise formula togive very large powers to the regions was discussed duringthe negotiations before Partition. Once the decision topartition India was taken, the Constituent Assemblydecided to frame a government that would be based onthe principles of unity and cooperation between the centreand the States and separate powers to the States. Themost important feature of the federal system adopted bythe Indian Constitution is the principle that relationsbetween the States and the centre would be based oncooperation. Thus, while recognising diversity, theConstitution emphasised unity.

Do you know for example, that the Constitution ofIndia does not even mention the word federation? This ishow the Constitution describes India —

Article 1: (1) India, that is Bharat,shall be a Union of States.(2) The States and the territoriesthereof shall be as specified in theFirst Schedule.

After all, the purpose of livingtogether must be that all of usare happy and must make eachother be happy.

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Division of PowersThere are two sets of government created by the IndianConstitution: one for the entire nation called the uniongovernment (central government) and one for each unitor State called the State government. Both of these have aconstitutional status and clearly identified area of activity.If there is any dispute about which powers come underthe control of the union and which under the States, thiscan be resolved by the Judiciary on the basis of theconstitutional provisions. The Constitution clearlydemarcates subjects, which are under the exclusivedomain of the Union and those under the States. (Studythe chart given on the next page carefully. It shows howpowers are distributed between the centre and the States.)One of the important aspects of this division of powers isthat economic and financial powers are centralised in thehands of the central government by the Constitution. TheStates have immense responsibilities but very meagrerevenue sources.

Check your progressDo you think that there is a need formentioning Residuary powersseparately? Why?Why do the States feel dissatisfiedabout the division of powers?

I feel that States would havevery little money of their own.How can they manage theiraffairs? It is like some familieswhere the money is with thehusband and the wife has tomanage the household.

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Constitution of India

Union ListIncludes subjectslike,

DefenseAtomicEnergyForeignAffairsWar andPeaceBankingRailwaysPost andTelegraphAirwaysPortsForeign TradeCurrency &Coinage

Union Legislaturealone can makelaws on thesematters.

State ListIncludes subjectslike

AgriculturePolicePrisonLocalGovernmentPublic HeathLandLiquorTrade andCommerceLivestockand AnimalHusbandryState PublicServices

Normally only theState Legislaturecan make laws onthese matters

ConcurrentList

Includessubjects like,

EducationTransfer ofPropertyother thanAgriculturallandForestsTradeUnionsAdulterationAdoptionandSuccession

Both Union andStateLegislaturealone can makelaws on thesematters.

Residuary PowersInclude all other matters not mentioned in any of the Lists.

Cyber LawsUnion Legislature alone has the power to legislate on suchmatters

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FEDERALISM WITH A STRONG CENTRAL GOVERNMENT

It is generally accepted that the Indian Constitution has created astrong central government. India is a country of continentaldimensions with immense diversities and social problems. Theframers of the Constitution believed that we required a federalconstitution that would accommodate diversities. But they alsowanted to create a strong centre to stem disintegration and bringabout social and political change. It was necessary for the centre tohave such powers because India at the time of independence wasnot only divided into provinces created by the British; but there weremore than 500 princely states which had to be integrated into existingStates or new States had to be created.

Let me tell my honourable friendsin the House that the drift ……in all constitutions has beentowards the centre.. ... becauseof circumstances that have nowcome into being that states havebecome, whether ..federal orunitary, welfare states from beingpolice states and the ultimateresponsibility as for economicwell being of the countryhas become the paramountresponsibility of the Centres. T.T. Krishnammachari

CAD, Vol. 7, p. 234

Besides the concern for unity, the makers of the Constitutionalso believed that the socio-economic problems of the country neededto be handled by a strong central government in cooperation withthe States. Poverty, illiteracy and inequalities of wealth were some ofthe problems that required planning and coordination. Thus, theconcerns for unity and development prompted the makers of theConstitution to create a strong central government.

Let us look at the important provisions that create a strong centralgovernment:

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The very existence of a State including its territorialintegrity is in the hands of Parliament. The Parliamentis empowered to ‘form a new State by separation ofterritory from any State or by uniting two or moreStates…’. It can also alter the boundary of any Stateor even its name. The Constitution provides for somesafeguards by way of securing the view of theconcerned State legislature.The Constitution has certain very powerful emergencyprovisions, which can turn our federal polity into ahighly centralised system once emergency is declared.During an emergency, power becomes lawfullycentralised. Parliament also assumes the power tomake laws on subjects within the jurisdiction ofthe States.Even during normal circumstances, the centralgovernment has very effective financial powers andresponsibilities. In the first place, items generatingrevenue are under the control of the centralgovernment. Thus, the central government has manyrevenue sources and the States are mostly dependenton the grants and financial assistance from the centre.Secondly, India adopted planning as the instrumentof rapid economic progress and development afterindependence. Planning led to considerablecentralisation of economic decision making. Planningcommission appointed by the union government isthe coordinating machinery that controls andsupervises the resources management of the States.Besides, the Union government uses its discretion togive grants and loans to States. This distribution ofeconomic resources is considered lopsided and hasled to charges of discrimination against States ruledby an opposition party.As you will study later, the Governor has certainpowers to recommend dismissal of the Stategovernment and the dissolution of the Assembly.Besides, even in normal circumstances, the Governor

I now understand why ourConstitution is not only aboutborrowing from others. It musthave designed federalismaccording to our needs.

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has the power to reserve a bill passed by the Statelegislature, for the assent of the President. This givesthe central government an opportunity to delay theState legislation and also to examine such bills andveto them completely.There may be occasions when the situation maydemand that the central government needs to legislateon matters from the State list. This is possible if themove is ratified by the Rajya Sabha. The Constitutionclearly states that executive powers of the centre aresuperior to the executive powers of the States.Furthermore, the central government may choose togive instructions to the State government.The following extract from an article of the Constitutionmakes this clear.

Article 257 (1): The executivepower of every State shall be soexercised as not to impede orprejudice the exercise of theexecutive power of the Union, andthe executive power of the Unionshall extend to the giving of suchdirections to a State as mayappear to the Government of Indiato be necessary for that purpose.

You have already studied in the chapter on executivethat we have an integrated administrative system. Theall-India services are common to the entire territory ofIndia and officers chosen for these services serve inthe administration of the States. Thus, an IAS officerwho becomes the collector or an IPS officer who servesas the Commissioner of Police, are under the controlof the central government. States cannot takedisciplinary action nor can they remove these officersfrom service.

Oh! The central governmentappears to me to be all-powerful. Don’t the Statescomplain about it?

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Articles 33 and 34 authorise the Parliament to protect persons in theservice of the union or a state in respect of any action taken bythem during martial law to maintain or restore order. Thisprovisions further strengthens the powers of the union government.The Armed Forces Special Powers Act has been made on the basisof these provisions. This Act has created tensions between thepeople and the armed forces on some occasions.

Check your progressGive two reasons for the claim that ourConstitution has a unitary bias.Do you think that:√ a strong centre makes the States weak?

√ strong States will weaken the centre?

CONFLICTS IN INDIA’S FEDERAL SYSTEM

In the previous section, we have seen that the Constitution has vestedvery strong powers in the centre. Thus, the Constitution recognisesthe separate identity of the regions and yet gives more powers to thecentre. Once the principle of identity of the State is accepted, it isquite natural that the States would expect a greater role and powersin the governance of the State and the country as a whole. This leadsto various demands from the States. From time to time, States havedemanded that they should be given more powers and moreautonomy. This leads to tensions and conflicts in the relations betweenthe centre and the States. While the legal disputes between the centreand the States (or between States) can be resolved by the judiciary,demands for autonomy are of political nature and need to be resolvedthrough negotiations.

Centre-State RelationsThe Constitution is only a framework or a skeleton, its flesh andblood is provided by the actual processes of politics. Hence federalism

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in India has to a large extent been influenced by thechanging nature of the political process. In the 1950s andearly 1960s the foundation of our federalism was laidunder Jawaharlal Nehru. It was also a period of Congressdominance over the centre as well as the States. Excepton the issue of formation of new States, the relationsbetween the centre and the States remained quite normalduring this period. The States were hopeful that they wouldbe making progress with the help of the grants-in-aid fromthe centre. Besides, there was considerable optimismabout the policies of socio-economic development designedby the centre.

In the middle of the 1960s Congress dominancedeclined somewhat and in a large number of Statesopposition parties came to power. It resulted in demandsfor greater powers and greater autonomy to the States. Infact, these demands were a direct fallout of the fact thatdifferent parties were ruling at the centre and in manyStates. So, the State governments were protesting againstwhat they saw as unnecessary interference in theirgovernments by the Congress government at the centre.The Congress too, was not very comfortable with the ideaof dealing with governments led by opposition parties.This peculiar political context gave birth to a discussionabout the concept of autonomy under a federal system.

Finally, since the 1990s, Congress dominance haslargely ended and we have entered an era of coalitionpolitics especially at the centre. In the States too, differentparties, both national and regional, have come to power.This has resulted in a greater say for the States, a respectfor diversity and the beginning of a more maturefederalism. Thus, it is in the second phase that the issueof autonomy became very potent politically.

Demands for AutonomyMany States and even many political parties have, fromtime to time, demanded that States should have moreautonomy vis-à-vis the central government. However,

This is quite interesting. So, lawsand constitutions alone do notdecide everything. After all,actual politics decides the natureof our government!

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‘autonomy’ refers to different things for different Statesand parties.

Sometimes, these demands expect that the division ofpowers should be changed in favour of the States andmore powers and important powers be assigned to theStates. Many States (Tamil Nadu, Punjab, West Bengal,)and many parties (DMK, Akali Dal, CPI-M) have madedemands of autonomy from time to time.Another demand is that States should have independentsources of revenue and greater control over the resources.This is also known as financial autonomy. In 1977 theLeft Front Government in West Bengal brought out adocument demanding a restructuring of centre-Staterelations in India. In the autonomy demands of TamilNadu and Punjab also, there was an implicit support tothe idea of greater financial powers.The third aspect of the autonomy demands relates toadministrative powers of the States. States resent thecontrol of the centre over the administrative machinery.Fourthly, autonomy demands may also be related tocultural and linguisticissues. The oppositionto the domination ofHindi (in Tamil Nadu) ordemand for advancingthe Punjabi languageand culture areinstances of this. SomeStates also feel that thereis a domination of theHindi-speaking areasover the others. In fact,during the decade of1960, there wereagitations in some Statesagainst the imposition ofthe Hindi language.

Yes, I know that Hindi is ournational language. But myfriends from Manipur and alsofrom Tamil Nadu find itdifficult to speak in Hindi.

Are such conflicts good for the country?

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Role of Governors and President’s RuleThe role of Governors has always been acontroversial issue between the States andthe central government. The Governor is notan elected office holder. Many Governorshave been retired military officers or civilservants or politicians. Besides, the Governoris appointed by the central government andtherefore, actions of the Governor are oftenviewed as interference by the Centralgovernment in the functioning of the Stategovernment. When two different parties arein power at the centre and the State, the roleof the Governor becomes even morecontroversial. The Sarkaria Commission thatwas appointed by the central government(1983; it submitted its report in 1988) toexamine the issues relating to centre-Staterelations, recommended that appointmentsof Governors should be strictly non-partisan.

Powers and role of the Governor becomecontroversial for one more reason. One of the

most controversial articles in the Constitution is Article 356, whichprovides for President’s rule in any State. This provision is to beapplied, when ‘a situation has arisen in which the Government of theState cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of thisConstitution.’ It results in the takeover of the State government bythe Union government. The President’s proclamation has to be ratifiedby Parliament. President’s rule can be extended till three years. TheGovernor has the power to recommend the dismissal of the Stategovernment and suspension or dissolution of State assembly. Thishas led to many conflicts. In some cases, State governments weredismissed even when they had a majority in the legislature, as hadhappened in Kerala in 1959 or without testing their majority, ashappened in several other States after 1967. Some cases went to theSupreme Court and the Court has ruled that constitutional validityof the decision to impose President’s rule can be examined by thejudiciary.

READ A CARTOON

Is this how Governors should be‘appointed’?

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Article 356 was verysparingly used till 1967. After1967 many States had non-Congress governments and theCongress was in power at thecentre. The centre has oftenused this provision to dismissState governments or has usedthe office of the Governor toprevent the majority party orcoalition from assuming office.For instance, the centralgovernment removed electedgovernments in AndhraPradesh and Jammu andKashmir in the decade of 1980.

Demands for New StatesThe other dimension of tensionin our federal system has beenthe demand to create new

States. The national movementnot only created a pan-Indiannational unity; it also generateddistinct unity around a commonlanguage, region and culture. Ournational movement was also amovement for democracy.Therefore, in the course of thenational movement itself, it wasdecided that as far as possible,States would be created on thebasis of common cultural andlinguistic identity.

This ultimately led to thedemand for the creation of

READ A CARTOON

Toppling the State governments.Everyone loves to play this game!

READ A CARTOON

Flood of demands for creating new States

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linguistic States after Independence. In 1954, the StatesReorganisation Commission was set up and itrecommended the creation of linguistic States, at least forthe major linguistic groups. In 1956, reorganisation ofsome States took place. This saw the beginning of thecreation of linguistic States and the process is stillcontinuing. Gujarat and Maharashtra were created in1960; Punjab and Haryana were separated from eachother in 1966. Later, the north-east region was reorganisedand several new States were created like, Meghalaya,Manipur or Arunachal Pradesh.

ActivityMake a list of the States of India and findout the year in which each of the Stateswas created.

In the 1990s, some of the larger States were furtherdivided both to meet the demands for a separate State aswell as to meet the need for greater administrativeefficiency. Thus Bihar, UP, and Madhya Pradesh weredivided to create three new States. They are: Jharkhand,Uttaranchal and Chhattisgarh respectively. Some regionsand linguistic groups are still struggling for separateStatehood like Telangana (in AP ) and Vidarbha (inMaharashtra).

Interstate ConflictsWhile the States keep fighting with the centre overautonomy and other issues like the share in revenueresources, there have been many instances of disputesbetween two States or among more than two States. It istrue that the judiciary acts as the arbitration mechanismon disputes of a legal nature but these disputes are inreality not just legal. They have political implications andtherefore they can best be resolved only throughnegotiations and mutual understanding.

So, federalism is all aboutconflicts! First, we talked aboutCentre-State conflicts and nowconflict among States. Can’t welive together peacefully?

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Broadly, two types of disputes keep recurring. One isthe border dispute. States have certain claims overterritories belonging to neighbouring States. Thoughlanguage is the basis of defining boundaries of the States,often border areas would have populations speaking morethan one language. So, it is not easy to resolve this disputemerely on the basis of linguistic majority. One of the long-standing border disputes is the dispute betweenMaharashtra and Karnataka over the city of Belgaum.Manipur and Nagaland too, have a long-standing borderdispute. The carving out of Haryana from the erstwhileState of Punjab has led to dispute between the two Statesnot only over border areas, but over the capital city ofChandigarh. This city today houses the capital of boththese States. In 1985, the then Prime Minister RajivGandhi reached an understanding with the leadership ofPunjab. According to this understanding, Chandigarhwas to be handed over to Punjab. But this has nothappened yet.

While border disputes are more about sentiment, thedisputes over the sharing of river waters are even moreserious, because they are related to problems of drinkingwater and agriculture in the concerned States. You mighthave heard about the Cauvery water dispute. This is amajor issue between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Farmersin both the States are dependent on Cauvery waters.Though there is a river water tribunal to settle waterdisputes, this dispute has reached the Supreme Court.In another similar dispute Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh andMaharashtra are battling over sharing the waters ofNarmada river. Rivers are a major resource and therefore,disputes over river waters test the patience and cooperativespirit of the States.

ActivityCollect information about at least onedispute about river waters involving twoor more States.

Yes, conflict over Governors,over language, over borders andover water….and yet wemanage to live together!

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SPECIAL PROVISIONS

The most extra-ordinary feature of the federal arrangementcreated in India is that many States get a differentialtreatment. We have already noted in the chapter onLegislature that the size and population of each State beingdifferent, an asymmetrical representation is provided inthe Rajya Sabha. While ensuring minimum representationto each of the smaller States, this arrangement alsoensures that larger States would get more representation.

In the case of division of powers, too, the Constitutionprovides a division of powers that is common to all theStates. And yet, the Constitution has some specialprovisions for some States given their peculiar social andhistorical circumstances. Most of the special provisionspertain to the north eastern States (Assam, Nagaland,Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, etc.) largely due to a sizeableindigenous tribal population with a distinct history andculture, which they wish to retain (Art 371). However, theseprovisions have not been able to stem alienation and theinsurgency in parts of the region. Special provisions alsoexist for hilly States like Himachal Pradesh and some otherStates like Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtraand Sikkim.

Jammu and KashmirThe other State which has a special status is Jammu andKashmir (J&K) (Art. 370). Jammu and Kashmir was one ofthe large princely states, which had the option of joiningIndia or Pakistan at the time of Independence. Immediately

Check your progressWhy do States want more autonomy?What is the difference between autonomyand secession?

I now understand what theymeant by ‘intelligent andbalanced design’ in the firstchapter.

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after Independence Pakistan and India fought a war over Kashmir.Under such circumstances the Maharaja of Kashmir acceded to theIndian union.

Most of the Muslim majority States joined Pakistan but J&K wasan exception. Under these circumstances, it was given much greaterautonomy by the Constitution. According to Article 370, theconcurrence of the State is required for making any laws in mattersmentioned in the Union and Concurrent lists. This is different fromthe position of other States. In the case of other States, the division ofpowers as listed through the three lists automatically applies. In thecase of Jammu and Kashmir, the central government has only limitedpowers and other powers listed in the Union List and ConcurrentList can be used only with the consent of the State government. Thisgives the State of Jammu and Kashmir greater autonomy.

In practice, however the autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir ismuch less than what the language of article 370 may suggest. Thereis a constitutional provision that allows the President, with theconcurrence of the State government, to specify which parts of theUnion List shall apply to the State. The President has issued twoConstitutional orders in concurrence with the Government of J&Kmaking large parts of the Constitution applicable to the State. As aresult, though J&K has a separate constitution and a flag, theParliament’s power to make laws on subjects in the Union List nowis fully accepted.

The remaining differences between the other States and the Stateof J&K are that no emergency due to internal disturbances can bedeclared in J&K without the concurrence of the State. The uniongovernment cannot impose a financial emergency in the State andthe Directive Principles do not apply in J&K. Finally, amendments tothe Indian Constitution (under Art. 368) can only apply inconcurrence with the government of J&K.

Many people believe that a formal and strictly equal division ofpowers applicable to all units (States) of a federation is adequate.Therefore, whenever such special provisions are created, there is someopposition to them. There is also a fear that such special provisionsmay lead to separatism in those areas. Therefore, there arecontroversies about such special provisions.

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ConclusionFederalism is like a rainbow, where each colour is separate, yettogether they make a harmonious pattern. Federalism has tocontinuously maintain a difficult balance between the centreand the States. No legal or institutional formula can guaranteethe smooth functioning of a federal polity. Ultimately, the peopleand the political process must develop a culture and a set ofvalues and virtues like mutual trust, toleration and a spirit ofcooperation. Federalism celebrates both unity as well asdiversity. National unity cannot be built by streamliningdifferences. Such forced unity only generates greater social strifeand alienation and tends finally to destroy unity. A responsivepolity sensitive to diversities and to the demands for autonomycan alone be the basis of a cooperative federation.

Exercises

1. From the list of following events which ones would you identify withthe functioning of federalism? Why?

√ The Centre on Tuesday announced Sixth Schedule status toGNLF-led Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council, which would ensuregreater autonomy to the governing body in the Hill district ofWest Bengal. A tripartite Memorandum of Settlement wassigned in New Delhi between the Centre, West Bengalgovernment and the Subhas Ghising-led Gorkha NationalLiberation Front (GNLF) after two days of hectic deliberations.

√ Government for action plan for rain-hit States: Centre has askedthe rain-ravaged States to submit detailed plans forreconstruction to enable it to respond to their demands for extrarelief expeditiously.

√ New Commissioner for Delhi: The Capital is getting a newmunicipal commissioner. Confirming this, present MCDCommissioner Rakesh Mehta said he has received his transferorders and that he is likely to be replaced by IAS officer AshokKumar, who is serving as the Chief Secretary in ArunachalPradesh. Mehta, a 1975 batch IAS officer, has been headingthe MCD for about three-and-a-half years.

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√ CU Status for Manipur University: Rajya Sabha on Wednesdaypassed a Bill to convert the Manipur University into a CentralUniversity with the Human Resource Development Ministerpromising such institutions in the North Eastern States ofArunachal Pradesh, Tripura and Sikkim as well.

√ Funds released: The Centre has released Rs. 553 lakh toArunachal Pradesh under its rural water supply scheme. Thefirst instalment was of Rs. 466.81 lakh.

√ We’ll teach the Biharis how to live in Mumbai: Around 100 ShivSainiks stormed J. J. Hospital, disrupted daily operations, raisedslogans and threatened to take matters into their own hands ifno action was taken against non-Maharashtrian students.

√ Demand for dismissal of Government: The Congress LegislatureParty (CLP) in a representation submitted to State Governorrecently, has demanded dismissal of the ruling DemocraticAlliance of Nagaland (DAN) government for its alleged financialmismanagement and embezzlement of public money.

√ NDA government asks naxalites to surrender arms: Amid awalkout by opposition RJD and its allies Congress and CPI (M),the Bihar government today appealed to the naxalites to shunthe path of violence and reaffirmed its pledge to root outunemployment to usher in a new era of development in Bihar.

2. Think which of the following statements would be correct. Statewhy.

√ Federalism enhances the possibility of people from differentregions to interact without the fear of one’s culture beingimposed upon them by others.

√ Federal system will hinder easier economic transaction betweentwo different regions that have distinct types of resources.

√ A federal system will ensure that the powers of those at thecentre will remain limited.

3. Based on the first few articles of Belgian constitution – given below– explain how federalism is visualised in that country. Try andwrite a similar Article for the Constitution of India.

Title I: On Federal Belgium, its components and itsterritory.

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Article 1 : Belgium is a Federal State made up ofcommunities and regions.Article 2 : Belgium is made up of three communities: TheFrench Community, the Flemish Community and theGerman Community.Article 3 : Belgium is made up of three regions: The Walloonregion, the Flemish region and the Brussels region.Article 4 : Belgium has four linguistic regions: The French-speaking region, the Dutch-speaking region, the bilingualregion of Brussels Capital and the German-speaking region.Each «commune» (county borough) of the Kingdom is part ofone of these linguistic regions. ……..Article 5 : The Walloon region is made up of the followingprovinces: The Walloon Brabant, Hainault, Liege, Luxemburgand Namur. The Flemish region is made up of the followingprovinces: Antwerp, the Flemish Brabant, West Flanders,East Flanders and Limburg. ……

4. Imagine that you were to rewrite the provisions regarding federalism.Write an essay of not more than 300 words making your suggestionsabout:a. division of powers among the centre and the States,b. distribution of financial resources,c. methods of resolving inter-State disputes andd. appointment of Governors

5. Which of the following should be the basis for formation of a State?Why?a. Common Languageb. Common economic interestsc. Common religiond. Administrative convenience

6. Majority of people from the States of north India – Rajasthan, MadhyaPradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar—speak Hindi. If all these States arecombined to form one State, would it be in tune with the idea offederalism? Give arguments.

7. List four features of the Indian Constitution that give greater powerto the central government than the State government.

8. Why are many States unhappy about the role of the Governor?

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9. President’s rule can be imposed in a State if the government is notbeing run according to the provisions of the Constitution. Statewhether any of the following conditions are a fit case for impositionof President’s rule in the State. Give reasons.

√ two members of the State legislative assembly belonging to themain opposition party have been killed by criminals and theopposition is demanding dismissal of the State government.

√ Kidnapping of young children for ransom is on rise. The numberof crimes against women are increasing.

√ No political party has secured majority in the recent electionsof the State Legislative Assembly. It is feared that some MLAsfrom the other parties may be lured to support a political partyin return for money.

√ Different political parties are ruling in the State and at the centreand they are bitter opponents of each other.

√ More than 2000 people have been killed in the communal riots.

√ In the water dispute between the two States, one Stategovernment refused to follow the decision of the Supreme Court.

10. What are the demands raised by States in their quest for greaterautonomy?

11. Should some States be governed by special provisions?Does this create resentment among other States? Does this help inforging greater unity among the regions of the country?

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Chapter Seven FEDERALISM - Download NCERT …ncertbooks.prashanthellina.com/class_11.PoliticalScience...Federalism in West Indies You may have heard about the cricket team of West