The philosophy and administration of the distribution of powers between Centre and state is required to be re-assessed. (UPSC CSE Mains 2016 - Political Science and International Relations, Paper 1)
- The distribution of powers between center and state was based on the modal adopted from Government of India Act,1935. 7th schedule of India constitution provides for,
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- Union list – It contains the list of subjects upon which the central government has exclusive jurisdiction.
- State list - It contains the list of subjects upon which state government has exclusive jurisdiction.
- Concurrent list- It contains the list of subjects upon which both central and state governments have jurisdiction.
- The peculiar circumstances in which India attained independence had a significant impact on the constitution. The bloody partition and ensuing violence created a deep sense of fear about India’s future. In orders to secure stability and guarantee integrity of the nation, the founding fathers gave more powers to the central government. KC Where had called India as quasi- federal, a unitary state with subsidiary federal features.
- Post-1967, with multiparty rule at center and states the clamor for state autonomy grew louder. The rampant misuse of Article 356 (which Ambedkar happed would be a dead letter) by central governments led the Supreme Court to intervene and lay guidelines regarding its invocation.
- Various committees such as Rajamannar committee, Sarkaria commission and Punchhi commission have come up with numerous recommendations to improve state center relations. They have observed the friction arouse not due to constitutional provisions but their misuse. The functionality of a provision depends upon the way it is put use.
- With the advent of coalition politics, India has witnessed a shift from competitive federalism to co-operative federalism. Lately, the central government has also shifted its attitude towards the state governments. Rarely has the Center gone against the recommendation of Finance Commission (whose allocation to the states share has seen huge increase). Also the misuse of Article 356 has been extremely rare.
- With the passage of Goods and Service Act, these have been a pooling of sovereignty in taxation. It has been viewed as a surrender of the exclusive powers that the constitution had originally provided for the realization of collective good.
- Having overcome the insecurity and fissiparous tendencies that threatened India at its independence, there needs to be more decentralization and devolution. The center should focus on important national goals. States should be allowed more flexibility on affairs that are not of national importance. A relook of the philosophy and administration of powers between central and state government shows that enormous potential lay unrealized. With constructive engagement there seems to be no bar on realization of India’s aspirations.
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