Federalism in India: A Critical Appraisal

Publius: The Journal of Federalism, 2014

The Indian federalist system is a unique variant of federalism. Introduced by the British in 1935 and fueled by the popularity of federalism in the twentieth century as practical for a heterogeneous society, the Indian constitution framers decided on a distribution of powers between the center and the states. The uniqueness was that the constitution recognized a strong central government that directed the economy and could exercise certain legislative and executive powers over the states in times of need. Although designed as a federal system, the Indian constitution refers to it as the Union government, and is considered a centralized federation (Singh and Verney 2003). In Federalizing India in the Age of Globalization, the authors M. P. Singh and R. Saxena adopt an analytical approach to explain the development and expand understanding of federalism in India. The authors argue that this book is ''the first comprehensive and systematic study of the processes of greater federalization of the Indian political system since the early 1990s'' (p. ix). Chapter 1 begins with a discussion of the devolutionary decentralization in precolonial India followed by a review of the political system in British India. Chapter 2 is a comparative examination of the concept of federalism in the United States, Canada, and other countries in an attempt to draw on some commonalities and explain why a federal system of government works better for India. The authors allude to the conditions of federalism as propounded by other political scientists and expand these in the Indian context in Chapter 3. Here nationalism, multiculturalism, and federalism are explained taking into account cultural, religious, linguistic, and ethnic diversities. Noteworthy in this chapter is the discussion of the shifting territories and boundaries of the states against this diversity resulting in a push for more federal democracy through a separation of powers, and the rise of a capitalist society due to global influences. In Chapter 4, the authors discuss six indicators of increased federalization in India by underlining the decline in the central dominance over state administrative and legislative matters, the increased involvement and interest of state governments in treaties with other nations and private organizations, and increased push for functional autonomy by state governments. The authors argue that factors such as increase in the number of political parties and transformation of multiparty configuration with federal coalitions have brought about these changes. They also argue that liberalization of economic policies that led to privatization of most industries resulting in globalization and influx of global companies is another reason for the increased

The article examines the recent trends and issues in Indian federalism. The federal system has become transformedy in the last seven decades-from being dismissed as a full-fledged federal system to a widely acclaimed federal system in the world. Simply put, Indian federalism has become more meaningful and functional post-liberalisation. The article has examined this turnaround. From a subordinate position till the late 1980s, states rose to occupy a strategic position in India's move from a command economy to a market economy. No wonder, therefore, the Centre became more interested in involving states in even forbidden area such as foreign policy matters. Divisive politics in several states today is being replaced by developmental politics. States are not only competing but also learning from each other. States are being seen by the Centre as drivers of India's growth.

2017

In recent days, the process of federalization within the Indian Union has become more debatable due to the unequal federal development at various levels. In this context, the issues of state formation in India have become very crucial within the domain of the Indian federal structure. In the 1950s, the nature of demands for a new state was based on the ‘identity’ aspect under federal governance; but at present, the focus has shifted to ‘regional development,’ particularly to the aspects of socio-cultural, economic and political opportunities. The main objective of adopting the federal structure in Indian polity was to promote cultural homogeneity and improved federal governance in all the Indian states. However, the unequal development between the states and lack of socio-economic and political opportunities in society has challenged federalism in India. This situation has opened the door for the emergence of many regional parties, volunteer groups and civil society organiza...

International Journal of Political Science and Governance , 2022

This paper tries to examine a deep overview of the working of Indian federalism in general and to the contemporary era in particular. This includes all those issues that have often been presented in recent times. Large numbers of debate and discussion therefore widely taking place around the federalist part whether the federal government that the country has adapted is in form of suit or ultra verse. On the other side, important significance also set forth on the norms of constitution and principal objectives of federalism. Hence, in federalism; both the centre and states is an equal partner and equal par excellence. They also guaranteed to believe in the assumption of 'self-rule' with 'share-rule'. But, several controversy and dichotomy have originated due to the uncertain nature as per in our practice that frequently challenged the federal working system of India. In short, a recent trend has occupies some of its significant stances to look upon the prime concern of federalism. However, such kind of discourses has been raised over more than seven decades. It is also a kind of attempt of the federal form. Critiques have also mentioned about various strengths and weaknesses of this system. Besides, it incorporated some definite trends that have come in our way to disturb the balance of power and cooperative character of Indian federalism. For instance, more recently, the political development around the citizen Amendment Act, 2019 and other related issues have generated a lot of debates in the understanding of federalism. In addition to this, there is some tension between the Union & the state on the implementation issue of NRC-CAA. The opposing state like Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan and West Bengal addresses that Indian federalism becoming more competitive than cooperative over time to time. Contrary to this, Interstate River disputes, increasing demand for the new state, Covid-19 and its impact on Indian federalism etc. have broadened, to sum up centre-state relations. To the finding, this paper offers different recommendations or possible suggestions for underpinning India's federal arrangement. Now, time has come for India and its Indians to take a fresh look in reviewing the federal ideas for restoring the federal irritants in order to maintain a sense of balance between centre-state and inter-states relations in India.

In spite of the fact that "federalism" is sandwiched in comparative politics. Efforts to study about federalism constitute a part of relative legislative issues i.e. comparative politics or political establishments since federalism isn't just cross-national but a multifaceted i.e. cross-cultural research as well. While the study of federalism has in numerous regards stretched to an advanced stage today, but nevertheless there remains a disturbing absence of arrangement with regards to the exact connotation of the concept. This study analysed basically, some issues and challenges in the concept of federalism in distinctive kind as a system of government in different states and nations of the world. The main objective of this work, however, has been to bring to attention the current new trends in federalism more specifically about the asymmetric nature of the Indian federalism and discover new patterns in federalism as observed by different researchers in different fields in connection to federalism. It isn't an attempt to give a complete scientific account in any case, but this paper would be dealing with some of the issues which would be essential in order to define the real concept of federalism in India. Moreover an attempt has been made to uncover, some of the essential ambiguities in the working of the federalism governance in the present political setting. Additionally, this article to a great extent is an attempt to express our hopeful worry over the capability of the standard of cooperative federalism in Indian conditions instead of a negation of it being the most ideal elective.

Federalism in India " Insight into India's political structure and its colonialist traits " ederalism in India is more a well publicized project than a working reality. Like democracy and much published principles of Gandhian equality and self-determination, federalism in India is no more than a statement of good intention. Pandit Nehru and the small clique of political opportunists freely spoke of India's diversity of cultures and ethnicities but when it came to creating a federal framework to accommodate this multiplicity of aspirations for nationhood they were less than willing to look around for best practice. Instead they repeatedly made the excuse of India's specificity and the need to find a ‚home-grown' solution. The best examples of federalism are often stated to be those where there is a strong in-built tendency towards administrative and institutional decentralization; where local political self-definition is strongly reinforced by a corroborative local administration and fiscal system. In India, however, the idea of local government did not come to prominence until the 1990s. One therefore has to ask oneself the question that: if all the fundamental elements of federalism are absent, what is the appropriate word or adjective to describe the form of the Indian political structure? At closer attention one might discover that although the Indian situation might not be that ugly as historic logic leaves us to think, it is non-the-less deeply disturbing. Since a careful examination of the nature of federalism in India will forcefully lead us to ponder upon the colonial state of the sub-continent. One is left to consider the real possibility that colonialism did not end with the withdrawal of Britain from the Indian sub-continent. On the contrary, it might have been deepened and intensified, leaving no possibility for federalism in India to gain credibility. Before going into the heart of the matter I have to alert the reader that the study of Indian history is filled gaps, false assumptions, misplaced sympathy and wishful thinking. This means that objective inquiry will assume diverting from long established " tendencies " in the study of Indian history. To begin with there was an explosion of good intension from scholars, like the rest of India observers, since it was thought that India gained independence through non-violence. Given the background of the World War Two bloodbath, non-violence was a very commendable thing. Added to this there was a ‚poor country' assiduously trying to build a democratic system when everywhere it was considered to be a rare commodity. So whatever out-of-the-norm action was forgiven as a ‚false-step' of an infant democracy, it would have been deeply irresponsible to aim criticism against it. This was topped-up by the charisma of Gandhi and Nehru who commended esteem and respect at home and abroad, and directing criticism against them was almost treated as F

Special Issue of the monthly magazine Yojana, February 2015, on Indian Federalism

2007