Federalism

The last chapter (jess401) listed four forms of power-sharing; this one takes up the vertical division — federalism. NCERT first describes federalism in general (its features and the two routes by which federations form), then asks what makes India federal under its Constitution, then how federalism has been practised — linguistic States, language policy and Centre–State relations — and ends with decentralisation, the third tier of panchayats and municipalities.

• Live pages to pair with: keps207 (Federalism, Class 11 — the detailed constitutional account: lists, Governors, Article 356, special provisions, Jammu and Kashmir), keps208 (Local Governments — the 73rd and 74th Amendments in detail), keps201 (constitutional design), keps205 (Rajya Sabha as the States’ House), leps201 (nation-building and the reorganisation of States), leps207 (regional aspirations), leps208 (the coalition era), lesy106 (linguistic diversity and States), lesy203 (the Constitution and panchayats), legy201 (population and languages) and jess401 (power-sharing, Belgium and Sri Lanka).
• UPSC: Polity is among the most heavily tested areas in Prelims and is the core of GS2, where federalism, Centre–State relations and local government recur almost every year. Prelims has asked what makes India federal (1987, 1994, 2021), what is not a feature of Indian federalism (2017 — the ‘agreement among units’ idea), Eighth Schedule languages (1979, 1985) and women’s reservation in local bodies (1995); Mains has asked whether Indian federalism leans to a strong Centre (2014), whether local self-government has been effective (2017) and how far the federal framework accommodates diversity (2026).

• Federalism: power divided between a central authority and constituent units; two or more tiers, each with constitutionally guaranteed jurisdiction, courts as umpire, own revenue.
• Coming together (USA, Switzerland, Australia: equal, strong units) vs holding together (India, Spain, Belgium: stronger Centre, unequal units).
• India: ‘Union of States’; Union, State, Concurrent Lists; residuary powers to the Union; Union law prevails on concurrent subjects; Art. 371 special provisions; Union Territories.
• Changing federal provisions: two-thirds of both Houses + ratification by at least half the States; courts decide disputes.
• Practice: linguistic States (1953, 1956 on), no national language, Hindi official + English continued (anti-Hindi agitation, 1965), 22 Scheduled languages; coalition era after 1989–90; Bommai (1994).
• Third tier (1992): 73rd and 74th Amendments — regular elections, SC/ST and one-third women’s reservation, State Election Commission; gram sabha; panchayat samiti; zilla parishad; municipalities and corporations.

NCERT returns to Belgium and Sri Lanka. Belgium had regional governments before, but their powers were given by the Central Government and could be withdrawn; in 1993 they received constitutional powers no longer dependent on the centre — Belgium moved from a unitary to a federal form. Sri Lanka, NCERT says, remains for all practical purposes unitary, and Tamil leaders want it to become federal.

Federalism is a system in which power is divided between a central authority and the constituent units of a country. Usually there are two levels: a government for the entire country, responsible for a few subjects of common national interest, and governments of provinces or states that handle much of the day-to-day administration. Each enjoys its power independently of the other. In a unitary system, by contrast, there is only one level, or the sub-units are subordinate and can be ordered by the centre; in a federation the centre cannot order a State government on the State’s own subjects, and both are separately answerable to the people.

NCERT’s key features of federalism: (1) two or more levels (tiers) of government; (2) different tiers govern the same citizens, each with its own jurisdiction in legislation, taxation and administration; (3) these jurisdictions are specified in the constitution, so each tier’s existence and authority is constitutionally guaranteed; (4) fundamental provisions cannot be changed unilaterally by one level — both must consent; (5) courts interpret the constitution and the powers of each level, the highest court acting as umpire in disputes; (6) sources of revenue for each level are specified, to ensure financial autonomy; and (7) the system has dual objectives — to safeguard the country’s unity while accommodating regional diversity. So two things are crucial: governments at different levels must agree to rules of power-sharing, and trust each other to keep them. An ideal federation combines mutual trust and agreement to live together.

The balance of power between the centre and the states varies, depending mainly on the history of how each federation was formed. In ‘coming together’ federations, independent States unite on their own into a bigger unit, pooling sovereignty while keeping their identity, to increase their security — the USA, Switzerland and Australia; the constituent States usually have equal power and are strong relative to the federal government. In ‘holding together’ federations, a large country decides to divide power between its constituent States and the national government — India, Spain and Belgium; the Central Government tends to be more powerful, units often have unequal powers, and some get special powers.

India became independent after a painful partition, and several princely states soon joined it. The Constitution declared India a Union of States; it does not use the word ‘federation’, but the Union is based on federal principles — all the features above apply. It originally provided for two tiers: the Union (Central) Government and the State governments; a third tier of panchayats and municipalities was added later. The Constitution makes a three-fold distribution of legislative powers:

• Union List — subjects of national importance needing one policy throughout the country: defence, foreign affairs, banking, communications, currency. Only the Union Government legislates on them.
• State List — subjects of State and local importance: police, trade, commerce, agriculture, irrigation. Only State governments legislate on them.
• Concurrent List — subjects of common interest: education, forest, trade unions, marriage, adoption, succession. Both may legislate; if their laws conflict, the Union law prevails.
• Residuary subjects — those in no list, or new ones such as computer software: the Union legislates.

As a holding-together federation, India does not give all States identical powers. States such as Assam, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram enjoy special powers under Article 371 provisions because of their particular social and historical circumstances — especially to protect indigenous peoples’ land rights and culture and for preferential employment in government; similar provisions exist for some other States. Some units have very little power: areas too small to be States that could not be merged with existing ones — such as Chandigarh, Lakshadweep and the capital Delhi — are Union Territories, where the Central Government has special powers.

The sharing of power between the Union and the States is basic to the structure of the Constitution and not easy to change: Parliament cannot change it alone — an amendment must pass both Houses with at least a two-thirds majority and then be ratified by the legislatures of at least half the States. The judiciary oversees the constitutional provisions; in disputes about the division of powers, the High Courts and the Supreme Court decide. Both Union and State Governments can levy taxes to raise resources for their responsibilities.

Constitutional provisions are necessary but not sufficient. NCERT attributes the real success of Indian federalism to the nature of democratic politics, which made the spirit of federalism, respect for diversity and a desire to live together shared ideals. The first and major test was the creation of linguistic States. The political map of India in 1947 and today are very different: many old States have vanished, new ones have been created, and areas, boundaries and names have changed. Boundaries of several old States were redrawn so that people who spoke the same language lived in the same State; some States were created not on language but to recognise differences of culture, ethnicity or geography — Nagaland, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand. When the demand for linguistic States arose, some national leaders feared it would lead to disintegration, and the Central Government resisted for some time; experience has shown, NCERT says, that linguistic States made the country more united and administration easier.

The second test was language policy. The Constitution gives no language the status of national language. Hindi was made the official language, but it is the mother tongue of only about 40 per cent of Indians (NCERT’s figure on page 20), so there are many safeguards for other languages. Besides Hindi, 21 other languages are Scheduled Languages; a candidate in an examination for Central Government posts may opt to write in any of them; States have their own official languages, and much government work happens in them.

Unlike Sri Lanka, India’s leaders were cautious in spreading Hindi. Under the Constitution, the use of English for official purposes was to stop in 1965; many non-Hindi-speaking States demanded that it continue, and in Tamil Nadu the movement turned violent. The Central Government agreed to continue English along with Hindi for official purposes. Many critics, NCERT notes, think this favoured the English-speaking elite. Promotion of Hindi remains official policy, but promotion does not mean the Centre can impose Hindi on States where people speak other languages. This flexibility, NCERT concludes, helped India avoid Sri Lanka’s situation.

The box ‘Linguistic diversity of India’ adds the Census 2011 picture: more than 1,300 distinct mother tongues were recorded, grouped (for example Bhojpuri, Magadhi, Bundelkhandi, Chhattisgarhi and Rajasthani under ‘Hindi’) into 121 major languages, of which 22 are in the Eighth Schedule (‘Scheduled Languages’) and the rest ‘non-Scheduled’. No language is the mother tongue of a majority: Hindi is about 44 per cent (43.63%); even adding those who know it as a second or third language, NCERT says the total was under 50 per cent in 2011. English was the mother tongue of only 0.02 per cent, with another 11 per cent knowing it as a second or third language.

Restructuring Centre–State relations is the third way federalism was strengthened in practice. How constitutional arrangements work depends largely on how ruling parties and leaders follow them. NCERT’s account: for a long time the same party ruled at the Centre and in most States, so State governments did not use their rights as autonomous units; when a State was ruled by a different party, parties ruling at the Centre tried to undermine its powers, and the Central Government often misused the Constitution to dismiss State governments controlled by rival parties, undermining the spirit of federalism.

This changed significantly after 1990, NCERT says, with the rise of regional parties in many States and the beginning of the era of coalition governments at the Centre: since no single party won a clear Lok Sabha majority, the major national parties had to ally with many parties, including regional ones, to form governments. This produced a new culture of power-sharing and respect for State autonomy, supported by a major Supreme Court judgment that made it difficult for the Centre to dismiss State governments arbitrarily. So federal power-sharing is more effective today than in the early years after 1950.

A vast country cannot be run through two tiers alone. Indian States are as large as independent European countries — NCERT notes that Uttar Pradesh has more people than Russia and Maharashtra about as many as Germany — and many are internally very diverse. So power must be shared within States too. Taking power from Central and State governments and giving it to local government is decentralisation. Its logic: many problems are best settled locally; people know local problems and have better ideas about spending money and managing things efficiently; and at the local level people can participate directly, building a habit of democratic participation. Local government is the best way to realise local self-government.

The Constitution recognised the need for decentralisation and panchayats and municipalities were set up in all States, but they were directly controlled by State governments, elections were irregular, and they had no powers or resources of their own. A major step came in 1992, when the Constitution was amended to make the third tier more powerful and effective: regular elections became mandatory; seats and chairperson posts were reserved for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes; at least one-third of all positions were reserved for women; an independent State Election Commission was created in each State to conduct panchayat and municipal elections; and State governments must share some powers and revenue with local bodies (the nature of sharing varies from State to State).

Rural local government is popularly called panchayati raj. Each village, or group of villages, has a gram panchayat — ward members (panch) and a president (sarpanch), elected by the adult population of the ward or village; it is the decision-making body for the village and works under the supervision of the gram sabha, of which all the village’s voters are members, which NCERT says must meet at least twice or thrice a year to approve the annual budget and review performance. A few gram panchayats form a panchayat samiti (block or mandal); all the samitis of a district form the zilla parishad, most of whose members are elected, alongside the district’s Lok Sabha members, MLAs and some officials; its political head is the chairperson. In urban areas, towns have municipalities (head: municipal chairperson) and big cities municipal corporations (head: mayor), both controlled by elected representatives.

NCERT calls this the largest experiment in democracy anywhere: about 36 lakh elected representatives in panchayats and municipalities — more than the population of many countries. Constitutional status has deepened democracy and increased women’s representation and voice. But difficulties remain: elections are regular and enthusiastic, but gram sabhas are not held regularly; most State governments have not transferred significant powers or adequate resources. India is still a long way from the ideal of self-government.

The chapter’s side questions in page order. Short outlines follow.

Twelve questions, pages 27–28. Map questions are answered in words — we draw no maps. Keys for the objective items are given with reasons; note the comments on Questions 11 and 12.

Numbers

One-liners

• Federalism divides power between a central authority and constituent units.
• In a federation each tier’s jurisdiction is guaranteed by the constitution.
• The highest court is the umpire in disputes between levels of government.
• USA, Switzerland and Australia are ‘coming together’ federations.
• India, Spain and Belgium are ‘holding together’ federations.
• The Constitution calls India a ‘Union of States’.
• Residuary powers lie with the Union in India.
• On a Concurrent subject, Union law prevails over a conflicting State law.
• Article 371 gives special provisions to several States.
• Linguistic States made India more united, NCERT argues.
• India has no national language; Hindi is the official language.
• Hindi is the mother tongue of about 44 per cent of Indians (2011).
• Coalition governments from 1989–90 encouraged respect for State autonomy.
• The 1992 amendments made local government a constitutional third tier.
• At least one-third of local-body seats are reserved for women.

Traps to avoid

• Residuary powers lie with the Union, not the States or local bodies.
• Panchayat samiti and zilla parishad members are directly elected — only their chairpersons are indirectly elected.
• OBC reservation in local bodies is left to States; SC/ST and women’s reservation is mandatory.
• Women’s reservation in local bodies is at least one-third, not 30 per cent.
• Linguistic reorganisation took place mainly in 1956, not 1947.
• Hindi is 43.63% of mother tongues (2011); NCERT’s ‘40 per cent’ is the 2001 figure.
• English is not a Scheduled language.
• ‘Agreement among federating units’ is NOT a feature of Indian federalism (Prelims 2017).
• Sri Lanka has provinces but is constitutionally unitary.
• Trade within a State is a State subject; inter-State and foreign trade are Union subjects.
• Federal amendments need two-thirds of members present and voting plus a majority of total membership, then half the States.
• India has had no national language since 1950 — only official languages.

Prelims — what UPSC asks

• Asked so far (kept here): what makes India federal (1987, 1994, 2021 — the 2021 key, ‘Union legislature has elected representatives from constituent units’, is debated); not a feature of Indian federalism (2017: ‘result of an agreement among units’); Eighth Schedule (1979: Sindhi; 1985: Sindhi and Kashmiri); women’s reservation is one-third, not 30% (1995). Many list-placement, Governor and Article 356 questions sit on keps207 and keps208.
• Use the trap list: direct election at all panchayat levels, OBC reservation optional, one-third women, 1956 reorganisation, Hindi 43.63%, English not scheduled, residuary powers with the Union, trade within vs between States.

Mains — where it appears and how to answer

• GS2 — nature of Indian federalism: ‘leans to a strong Centre’ (2014) and ‘accommodating diversities; asymmetric federalism’ (2026): define holding-together federation (Stepan), list unitary features (residuary powers, Art. 254, emergency provisions, Governor) and federal guarantees (Art. 368(2), courts, Bommai), then practice — linguistic States, language flexibility, Art. 371, coalitions. Attribute Wheare, Ambedkar and Austin; give J&K only as dated facts.
• GS2 — local government (2017 and many on keps208): NCERT’s ‘largest experiment’ vs weak devolution of functions, funds and functionaries; gram sabhas; women’s representation; Kerala’s People’s Plan and Porto Alegre as participatory models; suggestions from the Second ARC (2007).

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