Quasi Federalism

Federalism

• Federalism is a system of government in which the power is constitutionally divided between a central authority and various constituent units of the country. Usually, a federation has two levels of government.
  • One is the government for the entire country that is usually responsible for a few subjects of common national interest.
  • The others are governments at the level of provinces or states that look after much of the dayto-day administering of their state.
  • Both these levels of governments enjoy their power independent of the other.
• In this sense, federations are contrasted with unitary governments. Under the unitary system, either there is only one level of government or the sub-units are subordinate to the central government. The central government can pass on orders to the provincial or the local government.
  • But in a federal system, the central government cannot order the state government to do something. State government has powers of its own for which it is not answerable to the central government. Both these governments are separately answerable to the people.

Quasi Federalism

• Quasi Federalism refers to a system of government where the distribution of powers between the Center and the state are not equal.
  • Quasi-federalism means an intermediate form of state between a unitary state and a federation.
• India is a federation with a unitary bias and is referred as a quasi federal state because of strong central machinery.
• The Constitution of India has not described India as a federation. On the other hand, Article 1 of the Constitution describes India as a “Union of States.” This means, India is a union comprising of various States which are integral parts of it. The Indian Union is not destructible.
  • Here, the States cannot break away from the union. They do not have the right to secede from the union. In a true federation, the constituting units or the States have the freedom to come out of the union.
• India is not a true federation. It combines the features of a federal government and the features of a unitary government which can also be called the non-federal features. Because of this, India is regarded as a semi-federal state.
  • Prof K.C Wheare describes it as “a quasifederal state”.
  • The Supreme Court of India also describes it as “a federal structure with a strong bias towards the Centre”.
    • The SC in S R Bommai vs Union of India (1994), a nine-judge Bench of Supreme Court held federalism a part of the Basic Structure of the Constitution.
    • The SC in Sat Pal v State of Punjab and Ors (1969), held that the Constitution of India is more Quasi-federal than federal or unitary.

Indian Federalism

• Federalism in essence is a dual government system, constituting a Centre and a number of States.
• Unique Characteristics of Indian Federalism: Apart from the above Characteristics, Indian Federalism also has the below mentioned features:
  • Single Constitution: In India, there is only one Constitution. It is applicable to both the Union as a whole and the States. In a true federation, there are separate Constitutions for the Union and the States.
  • Division of Power: In a federation, power is divided equally between the two governments.
    • But in India, the Central government has been given more powers and made stronger than the State governments. (In the Union List of Schedule 7, there are more and important items than in the State List)
  • Constitution is not strictly rigid: The Constitution of India can be amended by the Indian Parliament as per the needs of time.
    • On many subjects, the Parliament does not need the approval of the State legislatures to amend the Constitution. (Article 3 allows alteration of areas, boundaries or names of existing States).
    • However, on certain subjects affecting States’ functions and rights, the consent of half the States is necessary. (Article 368 of the Constitution)
  • Unified Judiciary: India has a unified or integrated judicial system. The High Courts which are the highest Courts in the State come under the Supreme Court in the hierarchy.
  • Single Citizenship: Indian States do not provide separate citizenship (Single Citizenship under Part II of the Constitution).
    • All the Indian citizens are the citizens of State. This is unlike USA, where there is dual citizenship: one, federal and the other, State.

Features of Quasi federalism

• Article 3 – Destructible nature of states, unlike in other federations, the states in India have no right to territorial integrity. The parliament can change the area, boundaries, or name of any state.
• Single Constitution, it is applicable to both the Union as a whole and the Stares. In a true federation, there are separate constitutions for the union and the States.
• In Rajya Sabha, the States do not have equal representation. The populous States have more representatives in the Rajya Sabha than the less populous States.
• The emergency provisions are contained in Part XVIII of the Constitution of India, from Articles 352 to 360. In the emergency provisions, the central government becomes all-powerful and the states go into total control of the Centre.
• All India Services violate the principle of federalism under the constitution.
• The governor is appointed by the president. He also acts as an agent of the Centre. Through him, the Centre exercises control over the states.
• India has a unified or integrated judicial system. The High Court’s which work in the States are under the Supreme Court of India.
• Union veto over State Bills: The governor has the authority to hold certain sorts of laws passed by the state legislature for presidential consideration.

Benefits of a Quasi Federalism

• National Integration: The Constituent Assembly’s decision to not create a true federation was taken after looking at the precarious situation of the time.
  • With creation of Pakistan, a Nation created on the basis of religion, there were voices of separate Nation States in other states too. As a result, various provisions like Article 356 were added. A federal structure with unitary features allowed scope for such maneuver.
• Cooperation and Coordination: A Quasi Federal structure allows Centre to coordinate National level programmes like Pulse Polio Programme.
  • The recent case of allocation of oxygen to different States as per their requirement during Covid-19 was possible because of a Central authority.
• Single Market Economy: Having a quasi federal structure allows India to be a single market for the World.
  • The recent introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) has allowed creation of India as a single market.
  • Moreover, there is a single Income Tax in all of India and the States do not have power to impose it. Thus, Indian citizens are saved from double taxation.
• Procedural Ease: The Indian Parliamentary system with its bicameral legislature allows for easy passage of law as compared to passage in a true federation like the USA.
  • A bicameral legislature also ensures proper representation of States in the Upper House.
• Resolving Inter State Conflicts: A quasi federal structure allows centre to act as an arbiter in case of Inter State dispute.
  • For eg, Border dispute and River Water dispute (Article 262 Constitution of India: Adjudication of disputes relating to waters of inter-State rivers or river valleys).

Challenges of Quasi Federal system

• Abuse of Power by Centre: The federal provisions of the Constitution can only be amended with consent of the States. Schedule 7 of the Constitution provides for a separate List for Centre and State.
  • However, the Centre regularly violates the provision by legislating on State subjects. For eg, the recent Farm Laws.
• Misuse of Governor Office: The power vested upon the governor by the Article 154 of the Indian Constitution states that all the executive powers of the state are held by him.
  • This provision implies that the Governor can appoint the Chief Minister and the Advocate General of the State, and State Election Commissioners. This has been frequently misused by the Centre to favour its State unit or a regional Party which is in coalition to it.
  • The most paramount executive power at his disposal is that he can recommend the imposition of constitutional Emergency in a state.
• Regionalism: Regionalism establishes itself through demands for autonomy on the grounds of language, culture etc.
  • The nation thus faces the challenge of internal security in the form of insurgency and this causes upheavals in the basic notion of Indian federation.
• Other problems: delayed disbursal of resources and tax proceeds, bias towards electorally unfavorable States, evasion of accountability, blurring spheres of authority, weakening institutions etc
• All these signal towards the diminishing of India’s plurality or regionalization of the nation — a process that is highly antithetical to the forging of a supra-local and secular national identity that preserves and promotes pluralism.

Way Forward

• Reforms at the institutional and political level can deepen the roots of federalism in India.
• Democratic Decentralization of administration and strengthening governments at all levels in true spirit.
• The contentious role of the Governor in undermining the States’ authority for Centre’s interest needs to be reviewed.
• Proper utilisation of the institutional mechanism of the Inter-State Council must be ensured to develop political goodwill between the Centre and the states on contentious policy issues.
• The gradual widening of the fiscal capacity of the states has to be legally guaranteed without reducing the Centre’s share.

Conclusion

• The Chairman of Drafting Committee, Dr. Ambedkar had rightly said that, “Our Constitution would be both unitary as well as federal according to the requirements of time and circumstances”
• In view of the above, It would be more apt to consider Indian federalism as a separate type of federalism or Federalism sui generis.

Federal Features of the Indian Constitution	Unitary Features of the Indian Constitution
Supremacy of the Constitution: Constitution is the supreme law of land in India. A federal state derives its existence from the Constitution.	Single Constitution: In India, there is only one Constitution. It is applicable to both the Union as a whole and the Stares. In a true federation, there are separate constitutions for the union and the States.
Bicameral Legislature: The main feature of federalism is a bicameral legislature. The Constitution of India also provides for a bicameral legislature i.e. Parliament with two houses of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.	Rajya Sabha does not represent the States equality: In a true federation, the upper house of the legislature has equal representation from the constituting units or the States. But in Rajya Sabha, the States do not have equal representation. The populous States have more representatives in the Rajya Sabha than the less populous States.
Dual Government Polity: The Constitution of India has divided powers between the Central government and the state governments through the 7th schedule. It contains three legislative lists which enumerate subjects of administration, viz. Union, State and Concurrent Legislative Lists. Both the governments have their separate powers and responsibilities.	Division of power is not equal: In a federation, power is divided equally between the two governments. But in India, the Central government has been given more powers and made stronger than the State governments.
Written Constitution: The Indian Constitution is a written document containing 395 Articles and 12 schedules, and therefore, fulfils this basic requirement of a federal government. The Indian Constitution is the most elaborate Constitution of the world.	Existence of States depends on the Centre: In India, the existence of a State or a federal unit depends upon the authority of the Centre. The boundary of a State can be changed by created out of the existing States.
Rigid Constitution: The Indian Constitution is largely a rigid Constitution. All the provisions of the Constitution concerning Union-State relations can be amended only by the joint actions of the State Legislatures and the Union Parliament.	Constitution is not strictly rigid: The Constitution of India can be amended by the Indian Parliament easily. On many subjects, the Parliament does not need the approval of the State legislatures to amend the Constitution. In a true federation, both the Union and the State legislatures take part in the amendment of the Constitution with respect to all matters.
Independent Judiciary: In India, the Constitution has provided for a Supreme Court. The Supreme Court of India can declare a law as unconstitutional, if it contravenes any provisions of the Constitution.	Unified judiciary: India has a unified or integrated judicial system. The High Courts which work in the States are under the Supreme Court of India.
Revenue Sharing: In the case of a federal country there is a system of revenue sharing between the Center and the State. In India, there is the principle of dual GST system adopted by the legislation for the constitutional requirement of fiscal federalism.	Proclamation of emergency: The Constitution of India has given emergency powers to the President. When an emergency is declared, the Union or Central governments become all powerful and the State governments come under the total control of it. The State governments lose their autonomy.