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Characteristics Of Indian Federalism

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Federalism defines the relationship between the Central government at national level and its constituent units at the regional, state or local levels. Federalism talks about the existence of dual polity. The first report of the Constituent Assembly suggested a weak centre upon the encouragement of Cripps and Cabinet Mission Plans. However, passing of the India Independence Act and the subsequent partition made the Constituent Assembly to take up a more unitary vision of federalism. Moreover, the makers of the Constitution also believed that the socio-economic problems of the country needed to be handled by a strong central government in cooperation with the States.
India has two governments: the Union and the State government which does not …show more content…

The Supreme Court in the case of State of West Bengal v Union of India held that the Indian Constitution does not promote a principle of absolute federalism. Four characteristics highlighting the fact that the Indian Constitution is not a "traditional federal Constitution" was mentioned in this case. First being that there is no provision of separate Constitutions for each State as required in a federal state. The Constitution of India is the supreme document, which governs all the states. Secondly, the Constitution can be altered only by the Union Parliament; whereas the States have no power to alter it. Thirdly, the Indian Constitution renders supreme power upon the Courts to invalidate any action which violates the Constitution. Fourthly, the distribution of powers facilitates local governance by the states and national policies by the Centre. The judges concluded that the structure of the India as provided by the Constitution is centralized, with the States occupying a secondary position vis-à-vis the …show more content…

The union government appointed Sarkaria Commission in 1983 to examine and review the working of the Indian Federalism. But many recommendations of this Commission are still to be implemented properly. The Union government also took in a very easy approach with regard to some of the recommendations made by this commission. Hence, it is appropriate to restructure Indian Federalism to make it more effective and promote centre – state relation. Federalism has to continuously maintain a difficult balance between the centre and the States. No legal or institutional formula can guarantee the smooth functioning of a federal polity. A responsive polity sensitive to diversities and to the demands for autonomy can alone be the basis of a cooperative federation.
The Indian Constitution is a constitution sui generis. On one hand, the constitution contains features which are of high importance for a federal arrangement, but at the same time, it contains provisions which fight for a strong Centre, thus making it quasi-federal in nature. The fact to be appreciated here is that these dual federalism provisions were deliberately incorporated to best fit a country like

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