class -10 Federalism

Ch-2 Federalism Q1. What is federalism? Ans: i. Federalism is a system of government in which the power is divided between a central authority and various constituents units of the country. ii. 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 interests. iii. The others are government at the level of provinces or states that look after much of the day-to-day administeration of their state. iv. Both these levels of governments enjoy their power independent of the other. Q2. What is unitary form of government? Ans. i. Under the unitary system, either there is only one level of government or the sub units are subordinate to the central government. ii. The central government can pass on orders to the provincial or the local governments. Q3. Mention the key features of federalism. Ans. i. There are two or more levels (or tiers) of government. ii. Different tiers of government govern the same citizen but each tier has its own JURISDICTION in specific matters of legislation, taxation and administration. iii. The jurisdictions of the respective levels of the respective government are specified in the constitution. So the existence and authority of each tier of government is constitutionally guaranteed. iv. The fundamental provisions of the constitution cannot be unliterary changed by one level of government. Such changes require the consent of both the levels of government. v. Courts have the power to interpret the constitution and the powers of different levels of government. The highest court acts as a umpire if dispute arise between different levels of government in the exercise of their respective powers. vi. Sources of revenue for each level of government are clearly specified to ensure its financial autonomy. vii. The federal system has thus dual objectives: to safeguard and promote unity of the country, while at the same time accommodate regional diversity. Q4. What are the different forms of federalism ? Ans. There are two different forms of federation- 1. Coming together federations i. This form involves independent states coming together on their own to form a bigger unit, so that by pooling sovereignty and retaining identity they can increase their security. ii. This type of federalism include the USA, Switzerland and Australia. In the first category of federations, all the constituent states usually have equal power and are strong vis-à-vis the federal government. 2. Holding together federations i. The second form is where a large country decides to divide its power between the constituent states and the national government. ii. India, Spain and Belgium are examples of this kind of ‘ holding together’ federations. iii. In this second category, the central government tends to be more powerful vis-à-vis the states. iv. Very often different constituent units of the federations have unequal powers. Some units are granted special powers. Q5. What makes India a federal country? Ans. i. The Constitution originally provided for a two-tier system of government, the Union Government and the Central Government. Later, a third tier of federalism was added in the form of Panchayats and Municipalities. ii. The Constitution clearly provided a three- fold distribution of legislative powers between the Union Government and the State Governments as Union list, State list and concurrent list. iii. ‘Holding together’ do not give equal powers to its constituent units. Thus all the states in the Union of India do not give equal power. Some states enjoy a special status like Jammu and Kashmir. iv. It is not easy to make changes to this power sharing arrangement. The Parliament cannot on its own change this arrangement. Any change to it has to be first passed by both different process and methods like Simple majority, Specific majority and specific majority with ratification. v. The judiciary plays an important role in overseeing the implementation of constitutional provisions and procedures. In case of any dispute about the division of powers, the High Courts and the Supreme Court make a decision. vi. The Union and State governments have the power to raise resources by levying taxes in order to carry on the government and the responsibilities assigned to each of them. Q6. How constitutional changes are made in federal systems? Ans. i) It is not easy to make changes to this power sharing arrangement ii) Any change to it has to be passed by both houses with two- third majority. iii) The Parliament cannot on its own change this arrangement. iv) Then, it has to be ratified by the legislatures of half of total states. Q7. What is Decentralization? What is rationale for decentralization of power in India? Ans. When power is taken away from Central and State governments and given to local government, it is called decentralization. i) Many states in India are as large as independent countries of Europe. For ex- in terms of population, Uttar Pradesh is bigger than Russia. Many of these States are internally very diverse. ii) The basic idea behind decentralization is that there are a large number of problems and issues which are best settled at the local level. iii) People have better knowledge of problems in their localities. iv) They also have better ideas on where to spend money and how to manage things more efficiently. Q8. Describe the major changes introduced by the government in 1992 to make the third-tier of democracy or local government more powerful and effective. Ans. To make the third-tier of democracy or local government more powerful and effective, the government made following changes through 73rd and 74th amendment:- i) Now it is constitutionally mandatory to hold regular elections to local government bodies. ii) Seats are reserved in the elected bodies and the executive heads of these institutions for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled tribes and other backward classes. iii) At least one-third of all positions are reserved for women. iv) An independent institution called the State Election Commission has been created in each State to conduct panchayat and municipal elections. v) The State governments are required to share some powers and revenue with local government bodies. The nature of sharing varies from State to State. Q9. Give a brief description of rural, local government of India. OR Give a brief description of Panchayati Raj in India. Ans. i) Rural local government is popularly known by the name panchayati raj. ii) Each village, or a group of villages in some States, has a grampanchayat. iii) This is a council consisting of several ward members, often called panch, and a president or sarpanch. iv) They are directly elected by all the adult population living in that ward or village. v) It is the decision-making body for the entire village. vi) The panchayat works under the overall supervision of the gram sabha. vii) All the voters in the village are its members. Q10. How is Zilla Parishad formed? Ans. i) A few gram panchayats are grouped together to form what is usually called a panchayat samiti or block or mandal. ii) The members of this representative body are elected by all the panchayat members in that area. iii) All the panchayat samitis or mandals in a district together constitute the Zilla (district) Parishad. Q11. Which are the local bodies in urban areas? What is their composition? OR What do you know about local government for the urban areas? Ans. i) Local government bodies exist for urban areas as well. Municipalities are set up in towns. Big cities are constituted into municipal corporations. ii) Both municipalities and municipal corporations are controlled by elected bodies consisting of people’s representatives. iii) Municipal chairperson is the political head of the municipality. In a municipal corporation such an officer is called the mayor. Q12. Describe the achievements of new system of local governments. Ans. i) This new system of local government is the largest experiment in democracy conducted anywhere in the world. ii) There are now about 36 lakh elected representatives in the panchayats and municipalities etc., all over the country. iii) Constitutional status for local government has helped to deepen democracy in our country. iv) It has also increased women’s representation and voice in our democracy. v) There is now uniformity in local bodies across the country. Q13. Mention the problems faced by local government bodies. Ans. i) While elections are held regularly and enthusiastically, gram sabhas are not held regularly. ii) Most state governments have not transferred significant powers to the local governments. States have also not given adequate resources. Q14. Give major ways in brief, how federalism is practiced, strengthened, in India? Ans. Federalism is practiced in the following ways:- i) Linguistic States a) In 1947, the boundaries of several old States of India were changed in order to create new States. b) This was done to ensure that people who spoke the same language lived in the same State. c) Some States were created not on the basis of language but to recognize differences based on culture, ethnicity or geography. d) The formation of linguistic sates have actually made the country, more united. It has also made administration easier. ii) Language Policy a) Our Constitution did not give the status of national language to any one language. Many non-Hindu states demanded use of English as official language and it was accepted. b) Hindi was identified as the official language. But Hindi is the mother tongue of only about 40 per cent of Indians. c) Besides Hindi, there are 21 other languages recognized as Scheduled Languages by the Constitution. d) The flexibility shown by Indian political leaders helped our country avoid the kind of situation that Sri Lanka finds itself in. iii) Centre- State relations a) Earlier, the Central Government would often misuse the Constitution to dismiss the State governments that were controlled by rival parties. This undermined the spirit of federalism. b) All this changed significantly after 1990. This period saw the rise of regional political parties in many states of the country. c) This was also the beginning of the era of COALITION GOVERNMENTS at the Centre. d) If no single party got a clear majority in the Lok Sabha, the major national parties had to enter into an alliance with many parties including several regional parties to form a government called as Coalition government. e) This led to a new culture of power sharing and respect for the autonomy of State Governments. Q15. How legislative being distributed among three-tiers of the government by the Constitution? OR Describe the distribution of power between Centre and State in India. Ans. Legislative powers are divided in the following manner:- 1) Union List It includes subjects of national importance such as defence of the country, foreign affairs, banking, communications and currency. They are included in this list because we need a uniform policy on these matters throughout the country. 2) State List It contains subjects of State and local importance such as police, trade, commerce, agriculture and irrigation. The State Governments alone can make laws relating to the subjects mentioned in the State List. 3) Concurrent List It includes subjects of common interest to both the Union Government as well as the State Governments, such as education, forest, trade unions, marriage, adoption and succession. Both the Union as well as the State Governments can make laws on the subjects mentioned in this list. If their laws conflict with each other, the law made by the Union Government will prevail. 4) Residuary Subjects Subjects like Computer Software that came up after the Constitution was made are included in Residuary Subjects. According to our Constitution, the Union Government has the power to legislate on these “Residuary Subjects” Q16. Describe the special powers or provisions for some states in India. Ans. The Constitution of India does not grant equal powers to all states. Some states enjoy special status as given below:- i) Jammu & Kashmir Under Article 370, Jammu & Kashmir has its own Constitution are not applicable to this state without the approval of the State Assembly. Indians who are not permanent residents of this state cannot buy land or house there. Amendment to the Indian Constitution, under article 368, cannot apply without the concurrent of Jammu & Kashmir government. ii) North eastern and smaller states have been given more representation in Rajya Sabha. iii) North-eastern states such as Assam, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram have a sizeable indigenous tribal population with a distinct history and culture which can be retained under article 371. iv) There are some units of the Indian Union which enjoy very little power .These are areas which are too small to become an independent State but which could not be merged with any of the existing States. These areas, like Chandigarh, or Lakshadweep or the capital city of Delhi, are called Union Territories. These territories do not have the powers of a State. The Central Government has special powers in running these areas. Q17. Write a short note on Panchayat Samiti or Block or Mandal. Ans. i) A few gram Panchayats are grouped together to form a panchayat samiti or block or Mandal. ii) All the Panchayat Samitis or Mandals or Blocks in a district together constitute Zilla Parishad. iii) The members of this representative body(Mandals) are elected by all the Panchayat member in that area. Q18. How India emerged as a federal country? Ans. i) India emerged as an independent nation after a painful and bloody partitions. Soon after independence several princely states became a part of our country. ii) The constitution declared India as a Union of States. iii) Although it did not use the word federation, the Indian Union is based on the principle of federalism.