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.

Key Features of Federalism Government :-

 There are tow or more levels of Governments.

 Different tiers of government govern the same citizens.

 The jurisdictions of the respective levels or tiers of government are
specified in the constitution.
 The fundamental provisions of the constitution can possibly be changed
only by the consent of the both level of the government.
 Courts have the power to interpret the constitution and the powers of
different levels of the government.
 For financial autonomy source of revenue for each level of government
are clearly specified.
Main objective is to safeguard and promote unity of country while
accomodating regional diversity.
Demerits of Federal Government :-
 Central government to be more powerful.

 Only the Center should get the right to amend the Constitution.
 Parliament to have more Rights.
 Excess of monetary rights with the Centre.
 Unnecessary interference of the Central Government in the affairs of the
State Governments.
Types of Government :
Federal Government Unitary Government

State governments are

Two or more levels of
answerable to central
governments.
government.

Central government can

Central government cannot
order the state
order the state government
govermment to do
to do something.
something.

State government has Only one level of

powers of its own for which government or the sub-
 Federal Government Unitary Government

it is not answerable to the units are subordinate to

central government. the central government.

Examples :- India, Canada, Example :- France, China,

Germany Japan

Types of Federalion :-
 Coming together Federation

 Holding together Federation

Coming together Federation :- Independent units come together on their
own to form a larger unit. All the constituent units have equal
power. Example :- Australia, USA

Holding together Federation :- Large country decides to divide its powers

among the constituent units (states) keeping view of internal diversity. Central
Government tends to be more powerful. Example :- India, Spain

Difference between federations of coming together type and holding together

type :-
Coming Together Holding Together
Federation Federation

Under this, a large country

Under this, independent
decides to divide its powers
states come together on
between the constituent
their own to form a bigger
units and the national
unit.
government.

All constituents states

Under this, central
usually have equal powers
government tends to be
and the states enjoy certain
more powerful.
amount of autonomy.

The main aim of the

In this type of federation,
federation is to pool their
there is an absence of
sovereignty and maintain
pooling sovereignty and
their seperate identity to
maintaining identity.
increase their security.
 Coming Together Holding Together
Federation Federation

Some examples are USA, Some examples are India,

Australia, and switzerland. Belgium and Spain.

What Makes India a Federal Country?

 India is a federal country. The constitution declared India as the Union of
States.
 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 government.
 Later the third tier of federalism was added in the form of Panchayats and
municipalities.
The distribution of powers between the Center and the states in the Indian
Constitution :-
The constitution clearly provided a threefold distribution of legislative powers
between the Union government and state government. These are :-

 Union List
 State List
 Concurrent list
Union List :-

 It includes the subjects of national importance as-defense, foreign affairs,

banking, communications and such currency.
 These matters are included in this list as it needs a uniform policy
throughout the country.
 The union Government alone can make laws relating to the subjects
mentioned in the union list.
 Earlier there were only 97 subjects but presently it includes 100 such
subjects.
State List :-

 It contains subjects of State and local importance such as police, trade,

commerce, agriculture and irrigation.
  The state government alone can make laws relating to the subjects
mentioned in this list.
 Earlier there were only 66 subjects but presently it includes 61 subjects.
Concurrent list :-

 It includes subjects of common interest to both the Union government as

well as the state governments such as education, forest trade unions,
marriage, adoption and succession.
 Both the union and the state government can make laws on the subjects
mentioned in the list.
 If their laws conflict with each other the law made by the central
government will prevail.
Earlier there were only 47 subjects but presently it includes 52 subjects.
Residuary Subjects :-
The subjects which are not mentioned in Union, state or concurrent list come
under the power of federal or union govt. and are called residuary subjects.

Power Sharing Between Union and State Governments :

Our Constitution determines the extent of the sharing of power between Union and
State Government and it is the basic structures of the Constitution.

Any change to it has to be first passed by both the Houses of Parliament with
at least two thirds majority. Then it has to be ratified by the legislatures of at least
half of the total states.

The judiciary plays an important role in overseeing the implementation of

constitutional provision and procedures.

In case of any dispute about the division of powers, the High Courts and the
Supreme Court make a decision.

Role of the judiciary in a federal system :-

 The Judiciary plays an important role in 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.
  The Union and State governments have the power to raise resources by
levying taxes in order to carry on the government and the responsibilities
assigned to each of them.
How is Federalism Practised?
Our Constitution did not give the status of national language to any language,
though Hindi and English were identified as the official language.

HOW DOES INDIA PRACTICE FEDERALISM?

Constitutional provisions are necessary for the success of federalism but these
are not sufficient.

The real success of federalism in India can be attributed to the nature of

democracy.

The centre state relations have been restructured to strengthen federalism in

the following ways.

 LINGUISTIC STATES
 LANGUAGE POLICY
 CENTRE-STATE RELATION
Linguistic States :-
 The creation of linguistic states was the first and a major test for
democratic politics in our country.
 Many old States have vanished and many new States were created. 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 States.
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.
Language Policy :-
 Asecond 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 % of Indian therefore there were many safeguard
to protect other languages.
 Besides Hindi, there are 21 other languages recognized as Scheduled
Language by the constitution.
 A candidate in an examination conducted for the central government
positions may option 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 states.
 According to the Constitution the use of English for official purposes was
to stop in 1965 but many non-Hindi speaking states demanded that the
use of English continue.
 Promotion of Hindi continues to be the official policy 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 the Indian political leaders helped our country
avoid the kind of situation that Sri Lanka finds itself in.
Centre-state relation :-
 Restructuring the centre-state relations is one more way in which
federalism has been strengthened in practice.
 In 1990 there was the rise of regional political parties in many states of
the country.
 This was also the beginning of the era of COALITION GOVERNMENT
at the Centre.
 Since no single party got a clear majority in the Lok Sabha, the major
national parties had led to enter into an alliance with many parties.
 This led to a new culture of power-sharing and respect for the autonomy
of State Government. Thus, federal power sharing is more effective today
than it was in the early years after the Constitution came into force.
Coalition Government :-
When two or more political parties come together to form a government.

Scheduled Languages :-
Such languages that come under eighth schedule of the Indian constitution.

Decentralisation :-
 When power is taken away from Central and State government and given to
local government, it is called decentralisation.

Decentralisation in India :-
Federal power sharing needed another tier of government and hence the
government power was decentralised.

Decentralisation was done so that a large number of problems could be settled

at the local level.

A major step towards decentralisation was taken in 1992. The Constitution

was amended to make the third-tier of democracy more powerful and effective.

Major Provision of decentralisation of 1992 :-

 It is constitutionally mandatory to hold regular elections for 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 is 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.
REASONS FOR DECENTRALISATION :-
 In a big country like India, it is essential to have an elected government at
the local level also.
 Local people have better knowledge of local problems.
 Local people have better ideas of where to spend money and how to
manage things more effectively.
 Common citizens can be involved in decision-making process,
concerning their needs and how to plan development.
 People can approach a local government for solving their problems easily
and quickly. The cost is also reduced to the minimum.
 Local governments at grassroot level ensures stability, strength and
health of democracy.
Panchayati Raj :-
Rural local government is popularly known by the name of Panchayati Raj.

It has been divided into three tiers or three levels. At the village level, there is
a Gram Panchayat; at the block level, there is a Block Committee and at the district
level, there is a Zila Parishad.

Gram Panchayat :-
 Each village or a group of village 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 gram Sabha.
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.
Gram Sabha :-
Gram Sabha includes all the adult people of the village.

Functions of Gram Sabha :-

 It elects the members of the gram panchayat.

 It reviews the performance of gram panchayat.

It supervises the work of the gram panchayat.
Panchayat Samiti :-
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 Panchayat
members in that area.

Zila Parishad :-
All the Panchayat samities or mandals in a district together constitute the zila
parishad.
 Most members of the zila parishad are elected. Members of Lok Sabha and
MLA of that district and some other officials of the other district level bodies are
also its members.

Zila parishad chairperson is the political head of the zila parishad.