Centre-State Relations Case Study

The objective of this chapter is to examine the nature of Centre-State relations and describe recent and potential reforms of the Centre-State transfer system. Indian Federalism has been the subject of careful study and considerable controversy ever since the report of the Union Powers Committee was presented to the Constituent Assembly. Not only members of the Constituent Assembly but also political scientists have sharply differed among themselves as to whether the Indian Constitution is really and truly 'federal ', 'quasi - federal ' or 'unitary with subsidiary federal features '. Historically, federalism has followed two different routes for its formation. The first has been the coming together of independent political units in such …show more content…
Since the early thirties, the constitutional measures contemplated by the British colonial regime contributed to the evolution of the idea. In 1946, the cabinet mission proposals recommended the setting up of a federation in the second model as discussed above. Given the rise of the Muslim League and their demand for a separate Pakistan on the basis of the two-nation theory, it was assumed that the interests of the Muslim majority provinces would be better protected in a loose federal arrangement. Then there were also more than 560 princely states also whose administrative structures and the economies were distinct and whose rulers had their own aspirations. It was proposed that the centre would be carrying out minimal functions i.e. defense, communications, foreign policy and currency. In the words of S.P Aiyar: 'federalism emerged as a means of reconciling conflicting elements in the Indian polity, and came to prominence in the nineteen thirties. Federalism then seemed to be the only political device for bringing together the Indian states and the British Indian provinces and for integrating politically the Hindus and the Muslims - the two major communities of the …show more content…
First, the Federal Government may be given a number of specified powers and the rest may be vested in the States. Second, the States may be given a number of specified powers and the rest of the legislative field may be left to the Centre. But the Indian Constitution has not followed either of the two traditional methods of dividing the legislative powers between the Centre and the States. Our Constitution embodies three legislative lists, namely, the Union list, the State list and the Concurrent