Class 10th Easy Notes Civics Ch 2 FEDERALISM

Headings From Textbook

What is federalism ?

What makes India a federal country ?

How is federalism practiced ?

Decentralization in India.

What Is Federalism 

Some key features of federalism 

There are two or more levels (or tiers) of state .

Each tier  of government has its own jurisdiction in specific matters of legislation, taxation and administration, although Different tiers govern the same citizens,

The jurisdictions of the respective levels or tiers of state are laid out in the constitution.

Changes require the consent of both the amount of state.

Courts have the facility to interpret the constitution and therefore the powers of various levels of state.

Sources of revenues for each level of the state government, are clearly specified to its financial autonomy.

The federal system thus has dual objectives:

• To safeguard and promote unity of the country.
• At the same time accommodate regional diversity.

Coming Together Federation 

Involves independent States coming together on their own to make a much bigger unit.

State govt. and central govt. are equally powerful.

All states have equal powers.

For ex : Australia, Switzerland, USA etc.

Holding Together Federation 

A large country decides to divide its power between the states and therefore the central govt.

Very often different states of the federation have unequal powers.

Central govt. is more powerful.

For ex : Belgium, India, Spain etc.

What Makes India A Federal Country ?

Three levels of government : State, Central, and Local government.

These different tiers enjoy separate jurisdiction.

Our Constitution clearly provides a threefold distribution of legislative powers between the central Government and the State Governments.

Union List : It contains the subjects of national importance like defense of the country, international trade, foreign affairs, banking, communications and currency – 97 subjects.

State List : Contains subjects of State and native importance like police, trade, agriculture and irrigation – 66 subjects.

Concurrent List : It contains the subjects of common interest to both the central as well as the state government, like marriage, succession, and adoption. – 47 subjects.

Residuary List : Subjects like computer software, The Union Government has the power to legislate on these new subjects.

There are some units of the Indian Union which enjoy less or no power. These are areas which are too small to become an independent State but which couldn't be merged with any of the prevailing States.

These areas, like Andaman and Nicobar, or Lakshadweep or the capital city of Delhi, are called Union Territories. These territories don't have the powers of a State. The Central Government has special powers in running those areas.

This sharing of power between the Union Government and therefore the State governments is basic to the structure of the Constitution.

How Is Federalism Practiced ?

Language policy 

Indian Constitution did not give any specific language, the status of national language.

Hindi was identified as the official language.

There are 21 other languages in India, that are recognized as Scheduled Languages.

A candidate in an examination conducted for the Central Government positions may prefer to take the examination in any of those languages.

States too have their own official languages.

For an extended time, an equivalent party ruled both at the Centre and in most of the States.

The Central Government would often misuse the Constitution, to dismiss the State governments that were controlled by small opponent party.

All this changed significantly after 1990. This was the start of the age of COALITION GOVERNMENTS at the Centre.

This led to a replacement culture of power sharing and respect for the autonomy of State Governments
Central government can not dismiss the state government.

Decentralization In India

Decentralization can be defined as the transfer of authority and responsibility for public functions from the central government to local government.

Some states in our country are as large as independent countries of Europe. Uttar Pradesh is bigger than many countries, in terms of population. Rajasthan is about as big as Germany.

In 1992 the Indian Constitution was amended to form the third-tier of democracy that's more powerful and effective.

In urban areas : municipality and its head called mayor.

In rural areas : panchayat and its head called sarpanch.

Gram panchayat consist five members.

Several gram panchayat forms panchayat samiti or Block or Mandal.

Several panchayat samiti forms zilla parishadh in a district.

Hold regular elections to local government bodies.

Seats are reserved for the SCs, STs and OBCs.

At least one-third of all positions are reserved for ladies .

The State committee has been created in each State to conduct both panchayati and municipal elections.

The State governments are required to share some powers and revenue with government bodies.

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