Federalism

VPS
Division of power between the Central Government and the
constituent units of a country.
Example: India. In India, these constituent units are called States.
Power is divided between the Central Government and the 29
States

VPS
Democratic Countries Federal Democracies

VPS
No. There are some countries that are Unitary in
nature. There is only one Government at the
Centre that takes all decisions.
Answer on the next slide

VPS
There is only one Govt. for the whole country. It’s all powerful
There could be provincial governments and they could make
laws. But it requires the Central Govt’s approval.
The central Govt. can order the provincial / state governments.

VPS
There is division of power between the Central Govt. and the
state governments.
Some powers are given to the State Governments permanently.
The Central Govt. doesn’t interfere in the functioning of the States.
The central Govt. can not order the provincial / state
governments.

VPS
1) There are two or more levels of the Govt.1) There are two or more levels of the Govt.
2) Different tiers of the govt. govern the same citizen. Each has its own
Jurisdiction in the matters of legislation, taxation and administration.
2) Different tiers of the govt. govern the same citizen. Each has its own
Jurisdiction in the matters of legislation, taxation and administration.

VPS
3. The jurisdiction of these levels are specified in the constitution.
The powers these Governments at different levels enjoy are
constitutionally guaranteed.
4. The fundamental provisions of the constitution cannot be
changed unilaterally either by the Central Govt. or the State Govt. It
requires the approval of both.
5. Courts have the power to interpret the constitution. In case of
disputes between the different levels of the Govt. , the courts act as
umpire.

VPS
6. Sources of revenue for each level of government are clearly
specified to ensure financial autonomy
7. The Federal structure has dual objective.
a) To safe guard and promote unity of the country
b) Accommodate regional diversity

VPS
The success of Federalism depends on the following
a) Govts. At different levels should agree to the rules of
power sharing.
b) They should trust one another
Again the two important aspects – Mutual Trust & Agreement to
live together

VPS
Two types - 1) Coming Together
2) Holding together
Answer on the next slides
The type of Federation formed is mostly determined by the
Historical Context in which they are formed.

VPS
Independent states come together to form a Federation.
They pool in their sovereignty to enjoy more security while keeping
their identity.
All states enjoy equal power
A state can walk out of the Federation
The States and the Central Govt. tend to enjoy equal power
Coming TogetherComing Together

VPS
A country is divided into states and these state are given some powers
Not all the states enjoy equal power. Some enjoy special power.
Eg. J & K in India.
These states cannot walk out of the Federation.
The Central Govt. is more powerful than the States.
Holding Together

VPS
Yes, It is. The Constitution calls India a Union of States.
After the bloody partition, all the princely states were
persuaded to join India. Hence the name. But in
practice, India is a Federation.

VPS
No. India as we know today came into being on 26th
of
January 1950. The states have been created since
1953. The unification of India took place before 1950.
So it is a Holding together type of Federation

VPS
Many aspects.
One, There is clear division of Power between
the Central Govt. and the State Governments.
The Constitution provided provision for
distribution of power between these two levels.
The third level – Local Self Government – was
added later. In fact, all the seven key features of
Federalism can be seen in India.

VPS
1. What does it contain?
Ans: Subjects that are of National Importance like Defense,
Currency, Foreign Affairs etc.
2. How many such subjects are there?
Ans: 100
3. Who makes laws on these?
Ans: Only the Union Govt. i.e. the Central Govt.
By listing Responsibilities / Subjects under different Headings.
The Union List, The State List and the Concurrent List
The Union List

VPS
Ans: Subjects that are of Local Importance like agriculture,
irrigation, police etc.
Ans: 67
3. Who makes laws on these?
Ans: The State Government. The Union Govt. usually doesn’t
interfere in these matters.
The State List

VPS
Ans: Subjects on which both the Union Govt. and the State
Governments can make laws like Education, Forest, Marriage,
Adoption etc.
Ans: 52
3. What if there is conflict in laws made by the Centre and a
State?
Ans: The Law made by the Central Govt. prevails.
The Concurrent
List

VPS The Residuary Subjects
4. What about subjects that find no place in any of these lists or
the ones that have come up later like the Computer, Software
etc?
They are called Residuary Subjects and only the Union Govt. can
make laws on them.

VPS States do not enjoy equal power
1. Is that the second reason to show that India is a
Federation?
Ans: Yes. Recall, one of the features of the Holding
together type of Federation is that the states do not
enjoy equal powers.
2. Which are those states?
Ans: Jammu and Kashmir enjoys special status as per
the Article 370.

3. What is special about that Article?
Ans: As per the Article 370, J & K has its own
Constitution and flag and the provisions of the Indian
constitution don’t apply to the state unless the State
Assembly approves them. In fact, if you are a non
Kashmir resident Indian, you can’t buy property
there. Earlier you needed permission to visit J and K.
Now the permit system has gone due to the efforts
of one Shyam Prakash Mukharjee.

1. Is that the only state to enjoy special status?
Ans: No.
There are other states and specific regions of the states. The
Article 371 makes special provisions for Arunachal Pradesh,
Goa, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland etc.
In 2012, the Hyderabad Karnataka region has been given
special status as per the Article 371 (J)

2. What about the Union Territories?
Ans: They are different form states. They are either too small to
form a state or culturally too different to merge with the
neighbours. Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep
are far away and sparsely populated. Hence the UTs are ruled
by the Union Govt.

VPS
Should the Article 370 be
abbrogated?
Let’s debate

VPS
Your teacher is disappointed.
So what? Right?
Lets move on…

VPS Not easy to change the Constitution
1. Is that next reason?
Ans: Yes. Recall, one of the key features of Federalism
is that the fundamental principles of the Constitution
cannot be unilaterally changed. It needs the approval
of both the levels of the Govt.

VPS Not easy to change the Constitution
2. How rigid is the system in India? I mean, what steps
are needed to change the Constitution in India?
Ans: Such a bill has to be passed by the Loka Sabha and
the Rajya Sabha by 2/3 majority votes. This has to be
ratified by more than half of the states i.e. it has to
be approved by a minimum of 15 states. It is so rigid.

VPS Role of the Supreme Court
1. Is that next reason?
Ans: Yes, and the last one.
2. You mean the Supreme Court solves the dispute between the
Central govt. and the state governments?
Ans : Correct. There had been a number of instances where the
state governments clashed with the Centre. The Supreme
Court always acted as an Umpire in such situations.
Interpreting the Constitution, it has given many land mark
judgments that has strengthened Federalism in India. S.R.
Bommai Vs The Union of India is one classic example.

VPS
How is Federalism practiced in India?

VPS Reorganisation / Creation of States
 Creation of states in India is a continuous process
After Independence there was demand for linguistic states.
Nehru, Rajaji and other leaders were opposed to this idea .
This is because they had seen India getting divided on the basis
of religion. They didn’t want further disintegration in the name
of language.

Due to the efforts of men like Mr. Potti Sri Ramulu,
the centre agreed to create linguistic states.
There are two phases of creation of states –
a)On linguistic basis
b)Culture, Ethnicity and Geography

Some examples of linguistic states to show that the creation of
states is a continuous process
Some examples of linguistic states to show that the creation of
states is a continuous process
Name of the State Year Created
Punjab 1947
Andhra Pradesh 1953
Karnataka 1956
Goa and Maharashtra 1960

Contrary to the fears of Nehru, Rajaji and others, creation of
linguistic states has created more unity in our country. It has
made administration easier. It also has helped regional diversity
to flourish

Some examples of states created on the bases of Geography,
Culture and Ethnicity.
Name of the
State
Year
Created
Uttarakhand 2000
Chhattisgarh 2000
Jarkhand 2000
Telangana 2014

VPS
Reorganisation / Creation of States
Do you know, there has been a demand to create a
new state called Vidarbha comprising parts of
Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh?
There are similar demands from different parts of the
country. Reorganisation of States is a continuous
process

VPS
Language Policy
•There is no National language in India.
•Hindi is our official language
•English continues to be spoken for official purpose. It
can be considered as our second official language.

VPS
Language Policy
•Totally 22 languages are given Scheduled language
Status by the constitution.
•Every state is allowed to have its own official language.
•A person taking competitive examination can write the
exam in any of the 22 languages.

VPS
Language Policy
•The use of English in our country was to stop by 1965.
•But such a move was severely opposed by the Southern States.
•The Union Govt. tried to promote Hindi all over India.
•In Tamil Nadu, there was violent protest. They started Anti-Hindi
or Pure Tamil movement.

VPS
Language Policy
•The Central Govt. agreed to continue the use of English along
with Hindi for official purpose.
•Unlike Sri Lanka, our leaders did not impose Hindi on non-Hindi
speakers.
•Our leaders have shown a lot of flexibility in our language policy

VPS Some interesting Facts
Name of the state Official language Second official
language
Arunachal Pradesh English
Karnataka Kannada English
Uttar Pradesh Hindi Urdu
Goa Konkani Marathi
Telangana Telugu Urdu in 7 Districts
West Bengal Bengali & Nepali Hindi, Urdu, Santali,
Panjabi & Oriya

VPS Centre – State relations

•Restructuring the Centre – State relations is one way to enhance
the practice of Federalism. Let’s ask ourselves these questions.
•Does the Central Government allow the states to enjoy their
autonomous power?
•Is there mutual Trust and Agreement to live together between
these levels of governments?

One
•For a long period of time only one party ruled both at the centre
in many states.
•In such situations the states did not enjoy autonomous power as
they were mostly dependent on the Central Government or the
top party leaders at the centre.
•This went against the principles of Federalism
It wasn’t meaningful for 2reasons

VPSSecond reason for the absence of cordial relationship b/w the
Centre and the States
•Whenever a different party came to power in states, the central
government would misuse the Article 356 to impose President’s
rule. Such imposition of President’s rule has happened more than
100 times since 1950.

VPSSecond reason for the absence of cordial relationship b/w the
Centre and the States
•This certainly is not Power Sharing.
•Almost every government that ruled the centre did this – a kind
of revenge politics.
•This again was against the principles of Federalism

All this changed and now there exists better Centre – State
relations for two reasons.
The First Reason
a) The National Parties had to ally with Regional Parties to form
government at the Centre.
b) This led to a new culture of power sharing and respect for the
autonomy of the states.

The Second Reason
a)The landmark Judgment given by the Supreme Court in the case
of S.R. Bommai Vs The Union of India.
b)S. R. Bommai’s Govt. in Karnataka was arbitrarily dismissed by
the Centre.
c)He had approached the Supreme Court for Justice.

The Second Reason
d) The Court observed that the President of course enjoys
POWER to impose his rule on a state as per the Article 356.
e) But the power that the President enjoys is not Absolute
but Conditional. Only in case of total break down of Law and
Order or if the State Govt. loses majority support, then the
President can impose his rule.

The Second Reason
f)Thus the misuse of the Article 356 has stopped which has helped
better Centre – State relationship.
g)The Federal Power Sharing is more effective today than it was a
few years ago.

VPS Decentralisation in India
Taking some powers from the Central Government
and the State Government and giving them to the
Local Self Government is called Decentralisation.
Its all about the Third Level of the Government – The
Local Self Govt. OR The Panchayat Raj System
Taking some powers from the Central Government
and the State Government and giving them to the
Local Self Government is called Decentralisation.
Its all about the Third Level of the Government – The
Local Self Govt. OR The Panchayat Raj System

VPS Decentralisation in Urban Centres

VPS
The Structure of the Local Self Government

VPS Grama Sabha
• Every adult member of a village is a member of Grama Sabha.
•The Grama Sabha has to meet at least twice or thrice a year.
•It does two important functions in the Sabha
a) Approves the Annual Budget of the Village Panchayat
b) Reviews the performance of the Village Panchayat

VPS Village / Grama Panchayat
•It’s an elected body at the lowest level of the Panchayat Raj
System.
•Every village or a cluster of a few villages has one Grama
Panchayat.

VPS Village / Grama Panchayat
•Villages are divided into wards for the purpose of elections.
•Political Parties are not allowed to contest in these elections.
Every one is an independent candidate.
•The head of the Grama Panchayat is called the President or
Sarpanch.

VPS Taluk / Block / Mandal Panchayat
•A few villages are grouped together to form this level of the
Govt.
•Usually there would be one for a Taluk
•Political Parties can contest elections to this level.
•Apart from the elected representatives the local MLA is a
member to it.

VPS Zilla Panchayat / Zilla Parishad
•Usually there would be one Zilla Panchayat for a District.
•Political Parties can contest elections to this level.
•It is the most powerful Govt. in this hierarchy.

VPS Zilla Panchayat / Zilla Parishad
•Most developmental activities happen through this Govt.
•Apart from elected representatives, the MLAs of the District and
the local MP can participate in the proceedings.

VPS Why is it necessary?
1.India is a very big country so two tier system is not sufficient
2. Some states in India are bigger than some European countries. For
Eg. Uttar Pradesh is bigger than Russia in terms of population. One state
Government for a population of 17 crores is not sufficient.
1.India is a very big country so two tier system is not sufficient
2. Some states in India are bigger than some European countries. For
Eg. Uttar Pradesh is bigger than Russia in terms of population. One state
Government for a population of 17 crores is not sufficient.

Maharashtra is as big as Germany in terms of populationMaharashtra is as big as Germany in terms of population

3. These states are internally very diverse. Diverse population
has diverse needs and goals. Hence the need for government
below the state level.
3. These states are internally very diverse. Diverse population
has diverse needs and goals. Hence the need for government
below the state level.

4. Large number of problems and issues are best settled at the
local level. People know the solution and know where to spend
money.
5. Local people know how to manage things more efficiently.
4. Large number of problems and issues are best settled at the
local level. People know the solution and know where to spend
money.
5. Local people know how to manage things more efficiently.

6. It ensures better participation of people in the
decision making process.
7. It helps making Indian Democracy more inclusive
and participatory.
6. It ensures better participation of people in the
decision making process.
7. It helps making Indian Democracy more inclusive
and participatory.

VPS Why was decentralisation
not effective before 1992?
1. The Muncipalities and Panchayts were under the
direct control of the State Government.
2. Elections to these local bodies were not held
regularly.
3. These local governments did not have any power or
resources of their own.
1. The Muncipalities and Panchayts were under the
direct control of the State Government.
2. Elections to these local bodies were not held
regularly.
3. These local governments did not have any power or
resources of their own.

VPS
What steps were taken to strengthen the Local Self
Government?
1. The Constitution was amended in 1992 to make the
third level of the Govt. more powerful.
2. Now it is mandatory to hold regular elections to
local government bodies.
1. The Constitution was amended in 1992 to make the
third level of the Govt. more powerful.
2. Now it is mandatory to hold regular elections to
local government bodies.

VPS
Government?
3. Seats are reserved for the SCs, STs and OBCs.
4. At least 1/3 seats are reserved for women. In
Karnataka and some other states reservation for
women is 50%
3. Seats are reserved for the SCs, STs and OBCs.
4. At least 1/3 seats are reserved for women. In
Karnataka and some other states reservation for
women is 50%

VPS
Government?
5. State Election Commission has been created to hold
elections to these local bodies.
6. The state is required to share some power and
resources with the local bodies.
6. The state is required to share some power and
resources with the local bodies.

VPS
Government?
6. The state is required to share some power and resources
with the local bodies.
6. The state is required to share some power and resources
with the local bodies.

VPS
Do you know?
There are more than 2,60,000 Gram Panchayats in India.
As per the 2016 Budget of the Government of India, every
Gram Panchayat would get a fund of 75 Lakhs from the
Central Govt. every year to take up developmental activity.

VPS The positives of Decentralisation
•This is the largest experiment of power sharing in the World.
•There are more than 36 lakh elected representatives. This
number is bigger than the population of some countries.

VPS The positives of Decentralisation
•Constitutional status given to these Local Governments has
helped to deepen Democracy in our country. Indian democracy
has become more meaningful.
•Reservation for Women, SCs, STs and OBCs has made Indian
Democracy more inclusive and participatory.

VPS The Challenges of Decentralisation
•Elections are held regularly and enthusiastically but Grama
Sabhas seldom meet. They are required to meet at least twice or
thrice in a year.
•Most state governments have not transferred significant powers
to the local self governments.
•Resource sharing is also not satisfactory

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