Explain India as a “indestructible union of destructible states”.
The Indian Constitution in Article 1 describes the country as ‘Union of States’ although its Constitution is federal in nature. India has been described as ‘union of states’ and not ‘federation of states’. The country was divided into states for easing governance and is not a coming together of states to form a country.
Indestructible union of states
- India is called so because it is not the result of an agreement among the states, like the American Federation.
- The states have no right to secede from the federation. The federation is a union because it is indestructible.
- The integrity and unity of the country is fixed and no state can claim independence from the union.
Destructible states
- Article 3 of the constitution gives powers to the union government to create new states, merge two or more states or even alter the boundaries of states.
- The states are not indestructible as they can be modified. This ensures that aspirations of the people to form their own state are fulfilled and the unity and integrity of the country is intact.
Thus, constitution framers designed a structure that is flexible to accommodate India’s linguistic and regional diversity but upholds the unity of the country.
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