Q1. Why is India called a Federal country?

1. Division of power-In India constitution has divided the powers of

Union and state govt. in accordance of the following lists:
Union list- subjects of national importance like defence, foreign affairs,
railways, post and telegraph etc. are included in the union list. Only union
govt. can pass laws on subjects mentioned in this list as these are important
for the whole country. This list has 97 subjects.
State list- it has 66 subjects on which the state govt. has passed laws. E.g.
police, local govt., trade, agriculture.
Concurrent list- it has 47 subjects which are of common concern to both
union and state list and both can make laws on subjects mentioned in these
lists. However, if there is conflict between centre and state over a subject,
then central and union law will be effective. This list includes subjects like civil
and criminal procedures, economic planning, education structure etc.
Residuary list of powers- Matters which are not included in any list are
known as residuary powers. The central government has been given the
power to legislate on residual subjects.
2. Three Tier System
.
3. No equal power to all administrative units.
.
4. Consent of both level of government
.
5. Supremacy of judiciary
6. Separate source of income

Q2. How is federalism practised in India?

Constitutional provisions are necessary for the success of federalism but these are
not sufficient. The nature of democratic policies adopted by the governments from
time to time has played a vital role in making federalism successful.
a)Linguistic States: -
After independence in 1950, the boundaries of several old states were
changed to create new states.
This was done to ensure that people, who spoke same language, shared
common culture or geography could live in same state.
Some national feared that this would lead to disintegration of the country and
but experience has shown that formation of linguistic states has made the
country united, stronger and made administration easier.
b)Language Policy: -
Our constitution did not give the status of national language to any one of the
language.
Hindi was identified as official language but central government did not
impose Hindi on the states which spoke different languages.
Besides Hindi, there are 21 other languages recognised as scheduled
languages by the constitution. Most of the states have their own official
languages, which are used in the offices.
According to the constitution, use of English for official purposes was
discontinued in 1965 which was not liked by some states.
 So the central government agreed to continue the use of English along with
Hindi for official purposes.
Theflexibility showed by the Indian political leaders helped india to avoid the
kind of situation that Sri Lanka finds itself in.
c) Centre State Relationships: -
Restricting of centre state relations has strengthened the federalism.
For along time, the same political party ruled at both the centre and most of
the states.
In those days, the central government would often misuse the constitution to
dismiss the state government which was controlled by their rivalries.
After 1990, the coalition government became common at centre i.e. no single
party got a clear majority in Lok Sabha and major national parties along with
the regional parties joined their hands together to form a government at
centre. This led to new culture of power sharing and respect for autonomy of
the state government.
The Supreme Court also issued judgements which made it difficult for the
central government to dismiss state government in arbitrary manner.

Q3. What is federalism?

Federalism is a system of government in which power is divided between a central
authority and various constituents of the country.
usually has a two level government i.e. central and the state government.

What is the difference between federation and unitary governments?

Federal System
Under the federal system there are two levels of government, one at the
central level and other at the state level. Both levels have their areas
of jurisdiction.
In federal system a state government has power of its own for which it is not
answerable to the central government.
Central government cannot order the state government to do something.

Unitary form of government.

But in Unitary form of government either there is only one level of government
or the sub-units are subordinate to the central government.
On the other hand in unitary system the state government does not have
power of its own.
The central government can pass on orders to the local government.

Q4. Distinguish between coming together federation and holding together

federation.
Ans. Coming Together federations
Under this independent states come together on their own to form a bigger
unit.
Under this, all constituent states usually have equal power.
USA, Switzerland and Australia

Holding together federations

 Under this, a large country decides to divide its power between the constituent
states and the national government.
Under this central government tend to be more powerful.
India, Spain and Belgium.

DECENTRALISATION IN INDIA
Ques-5 What is decentralisation?
When power is taken away from the central and state government and given it to the
local government is called decentralisation.

Q6. What is the basic idea behind decentralization?

(OR)What is the importance or need for decentralization?
The basic idea behind decentralization is that there are a large number of
problems and issues which are best settled at the local level. People have a
better knowledge of problems in their localities.
They also have better ideas on where to spend money, and how to manage
things more efficiently.
At the local level, it is possible for the people to directly participate in decision
making. This helps to inculcate a habit of democratic participation.
Local government is the best way to realist one important principle of
democracy, namely the local self government.

Q7. What steps were taken by the government to promote decentralization?

(OR) List the difference between the local government before and after 73rd
Amendment Act 1992 (or)
How has the Amendment Act of 1992 made the third-tier democracy (Local
Government) more powerful and effective?

A major step towards decentralization was taken in 1992.The constitution was

amended to make the local government more powerful and effective.

Now it is mandatory to hold regular elections to local government bodies.

Seats are reserved in the elected bodies for the SC, ST and BC
At least 50% of all positions are reserved for women.
An independent institution called the State election commission has been
created in each state to conduct panchayat and municipal elections.
The state governments are required to share some powers and revenue with
local government bodies. The nature of sharing varies state to state.
The year 1992 was a landmark year in which constitution was amended to
make third tier of the government more powerful.