Sambhav-2024

• Begin with a brief introduction to federalism.
• Discuss some of the recent ongoing conflicts between the Union and State governments.
• Discuss steps ahead to ensure smoother transactions of the business in the federal structure.
• Conclude by explaining the need for continual evolution of federal structure.

Introduction

Federalism is a system of government in which powers are divided between two or more levels of government, such as the center and the states or provinces. Federalism allows for the accommodation of diversity and regional autonomy within a larger political unit.

Body
Some of the recent conflicts between the union and state governments in India have raised questions about the effectiveness of the country's federal structure:

• Goods and Services Tax (GST) Compensation: States had raised concerns over the calculation of the compensation amount and delayed release of GST compensation payments by the central government.
• Farm Laws: The central government's introduction of new agricultural laws led to significant protests and resistance from several states.
• Water Disputes: Water-sharing disputes like the Cauvery water sharing between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu or the Mahanadi water dispute between Odisha and Chhattisgarh have continued to be contentious.
• Financial Autonomy: States have often sought greater financial autonomy, including more control over their resources, fiscal policies, and the sharing of central taxes. This is an ongoing issue in the federal structure.
• Misuse of Power by Governors: There have been instances where the actions of governors have raised concerns about the potential misuse of their powers by the central government.
  • In 2016, the Governor's role in the political crisis in Arunachal Pradesh was criticized and the Supreme Court later termed the Governor's actions as "violative of the Constitution”.

Thus, the current system gives the union government a large degree of control over the states with a skewed division of powers between the union and state governments. This can lead to continuous conflicts when there is an overlap between the jurisdictions of the two levels of government.

Hence, India's federal structure needs the following reforms in order to ensure smoother transactions of business in the Federal Structure based on the recommendation of the following commissions:

• Sarkaria Commission:
  • The establishment of a permanent Inter-State Council.
  • Restricted use of Article 356 (President’s rule).
  • Communication from the President to the state regarding reasons for withholding assent to state bills.
  • Consultation with states on security deployment, laws on concurrent list subjects, and appointment of Governors.
• M M Punchhi Commission:
  • Greater flexibility for states on subjects in the state list and transferred items in the concurrent list.
  • Narrow construing of the discretionary powers given to Governors under Article 163.
• NCRWC:
  • Creation of the Inter-State Trade and Commerce Commission according to Article 307.
  • Giving states an opportunity to correct political breakdowns before invoking Article 356.
• Promote Cooperative and Competitive Federalism:
  • Cooperative Federalism: In Cooperative federalism, the Centre and states share a horizontal relationship, where they “cooperate” in the larger public interest.
    • Example: The implementation of GST
  • Competitive Federalism: In Competitive federalism the relationship between the Central and state governments is vertical and between state governments is horizontal.
    • Example: State-wise Ease of Doing Business rankings.

Conclusion

In light of ongoing conflicts, regardless of whether the federal structure is revised, there should be a continual process of evaluation and fine-tuning to ensure that it aligns with the evolving needs and aspirations of the nation.