Federalism

Federalism is a system of government in

which the power is divided between a
central authority and various constituent
units of the country.
Usually, a federation has two levels of
government. 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.

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Unitary governments:-
Under the unitary system, either there is
only one level 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.
But in a federal system, the central
government cannot order the state
government to do something.

Some of the key features of federalism :

1. There are two or more levels (or tiers) of
government.
2. Different tiers of government govern the

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same citizens, but each tier has its
ownJURISDICTION 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

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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.
There are two kinds of routes through
which federations have been formed:

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‘Coming together’ federations:
this 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’
federationsinclude the USA, Switzerland and
Australia.
‘Holding together’ federations: In this
route 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.
What makes India a federal country?

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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 Constitution
clearly provided a three-fold distribution of
legislative powers between the Union
Government and the State Governments.
Thus, it contains three lists:
Union List includes subjects of national
importance such as defence of the country,

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foreign affairs, banking, communications
and currency. They are included in this list
because we need a uniform policy on these
matters throughout the country. The Union
Government alone can make laws relating to
the subjects mentioned in the Union List.
State List contains subjects of State and
local importance such as police, trade,
commerce, agriculture and irrigation. The
State Governments alone can make laws
relating to the subjects mentioned in the
State List.
Concurrent List includes subjects of
common interest to both the Union
Government as well as the State

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Governments, such as education, forest,
trade unions, marriage, adoption and
succession. Both the Union as well as the
State Governments can make laws on the
subjects mentioned in this list. If their laws
conflict with each other, the law made by
the Union Government will prevail.
Union Territories:- 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.
In case of any dispute about the division of
powers, the High Courts and the Supreme

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Court make a decision.
How is federalism practised?
Let us look at some of the major ways
Federalism practiced in india:-
Linguistic States
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.
experience has shown that the formation of

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linguistic States has actually made the
country, more united. It has also made
administration easier.
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

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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.
Centre-State relations
COALITION GOVERNMENTS :- A government
formed by the coming together of at least
two political parties. Usually partners in a
coalition form a political alliance and adopt a
common programme.
Decentralisation in India
Decentralisation: When power is taken
away from Central and State governments
and given to local government, it is called
decentralisation.

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Panchayats in villages and municipalities in
urban areas were set up in all the States.
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.

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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.

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

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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.
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

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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.
Municipalities and Municipal corporations
local government bodies exist for urban
areas as well. Municipalities are set up in
towns. Big cities are constituted into
municipal corporation.

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Both 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.

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