FEDERALISM AND FAIRNESS
Why has this issue cropped up ?
Federalism became once again the focus of political discourse in India when Karnataka unveiled an official state flag.
The rising demands of Federalism
There are principally three demands
• a constitutional claim for autonomy;
• a demand for fairer distribution of taxes;
• and an assertion of linguistic and cultural rights.
Federalism and Constitution
• Article 1 of the Constitution declares India as a “Union of States”.
• The Federation is a Union because it is indestructible.
• Unlike the federal form of government in the United States, which is described as an indestructible union composed of indestructible States, India is an indestructible union of destructible States.
• Article 3 of the Constitution empowers Parliament to create new States. While such a provision can be seen as giving the Union too much power, it has arguably been central to holding India together since it allows the federation to evolve and respond to sub-national aspirations.
Steps taken to strengthen Federalism
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sought to assuage concerns by invoking the idea of “cooperative federalism”.
• The 14th Finance Commission, in 2015, recommended raising the share of States in the divisible pool of Central taxes from 32% to 42%.
The present concerns
• The Centre has not inspired much confidence regarding its commitment to federalism
• States such as Karnataka have asserted their linguistic and cultural rights in the wake of the Centre’s interventions such as a promotion of Hindi.
• Southern states have expressed concern over the terms of reference for the 15th Finance Commission. The Centre’s direction to use the 2011 Census instead of the 1971 Census for population data has riled the south. As the population in these States has stabilised, the concern is that their share of tax allocation would reduce.
Way forward
• There is a need to reconsider the distribution of powers between the Union and the States.
• While the flexible nature of federalism under the Constitution has served India well, the continued existence of provisions such as Article 356 (President’s rule) goes against the grain of federalism.
Conclusion
Federalism is ultimately based on trust between its various constituent units. If a set of States perceive that their progress is being penalised, the viability of such a federation comes into question. Unless the concerns regarding fairness are addressed from constitutional, financial and cultural fronts, the fault lines developing in our federation could deepen further.
Relevance : GS 2
Try this probable Mains question :
Though Constitution describes India as a Union of States, India is essentially a federal state. Comment. [ 250 words]
