Indian political governance system is known as a ‘federal structure’. In a federal structure, power and responsibility are distributed across different layers of Government. In the case of India, the power to raise money as well as the power to spend is distributed across the Union Government, State Governments and Local Governments.
Is India possesses a Federal structure?
Quotation based
“Federalism means the distribution of force of the state among a number of coordinate bodies each originating in and controlled by the constitution.”- Dicey
“Indian Union is a unitary state with subsidiary federal features rather than a federal state with subsidiary unitary features.” – KC Wheare
“The two factors have been responsible for increasing the unitary bias (tendency of centralization) of the Constitution. These are: (i) the dominance of the Centre in the financial sphere and the dependence of the states upon the Central grants; and (ii) the emergence of a powerful erstwhile planning commission which controlled the developmental process in the states. He also observed: “India has practically functioned as a unitary state though the Union and the states have tried to function formally and legally as a federation.” – K Santhanam,
“The Indian Constitution is mainly federal with unique safeguards for enforcing national unity and growth”. – Ivor Jennings
Indian federalism as a “cooperative federalism”. He said that though the Constitution of India has created a strong Central government, it has not made the state governments weak and has not reduced them to the level of administrative agencies for the execution of policies of the Central government. He described the Indian federation as “a new kind of federation to meet India’s peculiar needs”. – Granville Austin
“Federalism is no longer the fault line of Centre-State relations but the definition of a new partnership of Team India. Citizens now have the ease of trust, not the burden of proof and process. Businesses find an environment that is open and easy to work in.”- Narendra Modi
Definition based
Federalism is a form of government in which the sovereign authority of political power is divided between the various units. This form of government is also called a “federation” or a “federal state” in the common parlance. These units are Centre, state and panchayats or the municipalities. The centre also is called union. The component units of the union are called variously as states (in the United States of America), Cantons (in Switzerland), Provinces (in Canada), Republics (in the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republic).
Literally, the word ‘federal‘ comes from Latin word ‘foedus’ which means contract. A federal union is a contractual union. A federal state is a state brought into being through a contractual union of sovereign states. The union of states by conquest cannot be called a federal union. It means that the sovereign units-union, states or local units, form a federation on the basis of mutual and voluntary agreement.
This kind of voluntary union federation is possible only in a democratic framework. It also means that the extent of division is limited. The contracting parties never surrender their complete authority power. Thus, when two or more sovereign states unite voluntarily, they retain their internal/local autonomy and unite only on matters of common interest. Therefore, James Bryce declared that ‘A federal state is a political contrivance intended to reconcile national unity and power with the maintenance of state rights.’
Body Content
Federalism refers to the distribution of powers between two or more levels of government in the modern nation-state system, The distribution of power may be between the Nation, state or local level. The powers are distributed in such a way that there is independence between the nation and State Government in their respective jurisdiction. Various Federal countries in the world are United States (US), Canada, Switzerland, Australia and India. In India, the federation is little different, wherein the geographically vast and culturally diverse state gives autonomy to its provinces for administrative convenience and for representing the regional interests. Such type of federation is called “holding together” federation.
Indian Federalism with strong Centre
In the Indian federation, Powers are distributed between two tiers of government, i.e.., at the national level and the state level with strong centre. According to political scientist, Philip Mahwood, developing countries like India, which are culturally diverse choose federalism merely not only for administrative requirements but for the very survival of the nation. But the framers of Indian Constitution refrained from creating a fully federalized political system in India at the time of the country’s independence, because of the fear of further disunity and secessionist tendencies in the country which was already being subjected to partition.
During formation of constitution, strong centre was favored, as a weak central authority would be incapable of ensuring peace, coordinating matters of common concern and maintain political stability. There have been several features which make the centre strong. Few but not all are; The union parliament has been given the unilateral discretion to reconstruct the boundaries of the states, the Union list contains more subjects than the State list, In case of a deadlock between the Union and states over subjects in the concurrent list, the Union law prevails, the union parliament can also legislate on any state subjects under extraordinary circumstances, the union government also has sweeping economic superiority in terms of resources as well as in its discretion in allocating resources to the states. Single Constitution for both Union and State governments along with Institutions of governance like single system of courts, all-India public services and integrated audit machinery and the integrated election machinery.
Political History of Indian Federalism
The Indian Constitution has an inherent bias for the Union government. For example, Article 1 describes India as a ‘Union of States’, and not ‘Federation of States’, because federation in India has not been formed due to an agreement between the federating states and secondly, the states in India do not have the right to secede, therefore its called Union of states as its indestructible. India is “quasi-federal” wherein there is a unitary state with subsidiary federal features rather than a federal state with subsidiary unitary features.” In India, through formation of coalition government regional parties have tried to have influence over the centre and policy making.
First Phase, One-party Federalism: In this phase, the influence of the regional leaders within the “Congress System” and the rise of linguistic autonomy movement marked the rise of the regional assertion over the national politics which consolidated the federal spirit right from the time of Indian independence. After Independence, INC emerged as the dominant party in centre and even in states, regional Congress leaders had a mass base of their own and possessed considerable power and influence in their respective states. Thus during 1952-67, there was co-existence of national and state leadership in their respective realms of influence with a consensual model of inner party federalism that marked the era of Congress dominance.
Second Phase, ‘Expressive’ Federalism: After 1967, there was tussle for power and single party federalism was not at work. In 1967 elections, Congress Party suffered a drawback due to which many regional parties and anti-Congress coalitions Governments were formed in the states, marking the emergence of an era of “expressive” and more active and directly conflictual federal dynamics between the Congress-led centre and the opposition parties-led state governments. Also, during this phase, due to lack of coordination of between the centre and state parties, the mass base of Congress in the state started declining.
In 1977, when the Janata Government took over, there was confrontational centre-states relation as the federal power positions were occupied by opposing political parties. The Congress party was at the Centre and anti- Congress political bloc – comprising of major regional parties- were in power in many states. The Centre frequently resorted to invoking Article 356 to tame the “recalcitrant” states, the excessive use of President Rule was a classic example of conflictual nature of federalism.
Third Phase, Multiparty Federalism: In the late 1980s, a number of emerging political, economic and institutional factors led to the “reconfiguration of Indian politics, wherein the dominance of congress was put to an end and then began the era of coalition politics at the national level which shaped the federal dynamics in two ways.
First, the coalition governments in the early years led by non-Congress and non- BJP parties, many of which were regional outfits, tried to lead the country and provide Decentralised governance but they were fragile and short-lived for their long-term effect there needs to be a stable party like Congress or BJP at the Centre and these regional parties supported a national party which fulfilled State demands, which led to multi party federalism.
Fourth Phase: The return of ‘Dominant Party’ Federalism
After 2014, BJP gained popularity through PM Narendra Modi, there began renationalisation of Indian politics” with BJP as the new national political force. BJP focused on Cooperative Federalism as a means of strengthening states. The centralised Planning Commission was replaced by the NITI Aayog in which the Union government assured “active involvement of the states in the spirit of “co–operative” federalism.” Later, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) by which the Centre and states would “become equal fiscal partners in sharing a common indirect tax base” was implemented. A GST Council was formed to create a consensus amongst the states regarding the decision.
The Union government accepted the 14th Finance Commission recommendation to give the states 42-percent share of the funds from the central pool (from the previous 32 percent). However, how far NITI Aayog and the devolution of increased funds have a bearing on deepening of federalism cannot be seen in terms of results and the effectiveness is still under doubt.
The non-BJP states have expressed concerns regarding the Union government’s intervention in state administration by direct monitoring and political appropriating through Centrally Sponsored Schemes. Policies like demonetisation, abrogation of Article 370, and changing the political status of Kashmir and the passing of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019 have faced resistance from the regional parties, but their number is few. The trend where the regional actors are largely rallying behind the nationalist policy decisions of the central government marks the beginning of ‘national federalism. The history of federalism in India has led to belief that the concept of federalism In India is a paradox.
Regionalism
Regionalism basically implies an inculcation of a strong sense of love and respect for one’s region, ethnicity, language, and culture for which one is ready to fight for greater autonomy within the nation and directly putting the authenticity of Indian federalism in danger. Regionalism started with the creation of the state of Andhra Pradesh after the demand of Potti Sriramulu in 1953 who fasted for 52 days, demanding a separate state for Telegu speaking people. In 2014, the state of Telangana was declared as the 29th state of the Indian Union.
The latest protests for Gorkhaland and Bodoland have been revived. Regionalism demands for autonomy on the grounds of language when not fulfilled, it disrupts the political and cultural environment of the nation as a whole and upheavals the basic notion of Indian federation.
Fiscal Federalism
During liberalisation, various economic reforms facilitated the dismantling of the ill-famed ‘license, permit and quota raj’ in India. The open market economy deregulated the economic interactions which were earlier strongly controlled by the Union government. After liberalisation, state governments got relative autonomy to initiate business endeavours and bring in foreign investments to their respective states. This gave state chief ministers a political opportunity to project themselves as ‘drivers of growth and development’. The Introduction of GST and increase in financial devolution to 42% is a step towards greater federalism.
Judicial Safeguard towards Quasi Federalism
The Supreme Court in the S.R. Bommai vs Union of India case gave a landmark judgment that deepened the federal design of Indian politics. The judgement created immunity for the state governments against the arbitrary use of Article 356 by the Union government. However, there was considerable resistance from the Central Government.
In the recent times, with the dominance of BJP, the prominence of the ‘politics of co-option’ of the regional parties by the BJP, a new pattern of ‘national federalism’ appears to be shaping the Indian political discourse. However, the federalism may be ‘cooperative’, ‘accommodative’, or ‘coercive’.
Cooperative Federalism: India to ensure Cooperative Federalism, needs to maintain a proper balance between the six pillars of federalism: autonomy of states, national integration, centralisation, decentralisation, nationalisation, and regionalisation. Extreme political centralisation or chaotic political decentralisation can lead to the weakening of Indian federalism. The right balance would prevent the Union government from repressing state autonomy beyond a point, while guarding the states against divergence that can begin to threaten national unity. Federalism needs to provide for national unity and regional autonomy at the same time. However, as Indian political discourse is largely being shaped by the onset of dominance of BJP, how far such a balanced approach in the federal dynamic will be politically feasible, needs to be examined.
Few steps that can be taken to deepen Federalism in India: The contentious role of the governor in suppressing the states for the Centre’s interest needs to be reviewed, proper Utilisation of the institutional mechanism of the Inter-state Council must be ensured to develop political goodwill between the Centre and the states on contentious policy issues, the gradual widening of the fiscal capacity of the states has to be legally guaranteed without reducing the Centre’s share, adequate electoral reforms for creating a level playing field for the regional political parties and regional leaders would facilitate more competitive political contest between the national and regional political forces, the third level of Indian federalism i.e. the local self-governments, must be politically empowered.
The recommendations given by the Punchhi Commission in 2010 are to be implemented by giving a clear division of labour, functions, responsibilities and regulatory role of various levels of governments. Also, there is need to re-look and redistribute entries in the Seventh Schedule. The ‘principle of subsidiarity’ can be used as a relevant guiding principle This approach could be the most optimal. The recommendations of Sarkaria Commission, wherein, the Union government must consult the states before legislating on items in the concurrent list must be implemented.
Conclusion
In moments of crisis, it is useful to sometimes visit the wisdom of the past. Some 2,300 years ago, Chanakya wrote this insightful nugget, strangely relevant to our current dilemma. “The root of wealth is economic activity and lack of it brings material distress. In the absence of fruitful activity, both current prosperity and future growth are in danger of destruction.
In the interests of the prosperity of the country, a king should be diligent in foreseeing the possibility of calamities, try and overcome those which happen, remove all obstructions to economic activity and prevent loss of revenue to the state. A king with a depleted treasury eats into the very vitality of the citizens and the country.” Federalism along with fiscal federalism is designed to protect and articulate plural quality of the society as well to secure both regional autonomy and national unity.
Federalism with time needs to change. Initially the constitution provided for a strong centre, as there were secessionist tendencies during the time of partition, but now as the nation is developing there is a need for functional, periodic review and subsequent reform of the process of federalization. Institutional and structural mechanisms needed to be reassessed, so that any accumulated stress within the political system does not explode into ugly and violent situations or disturb the functioning of public affairs.
Deepening federalism for a reasonable and stable political democracy is the need of the hour. As despite all their tussles, the Union government and the states have a mutual need for survival and Federalism in India cannot just be a paradoxical phenomenon.
