Federalism

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T s h
R l i
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Overview

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Chapter 2
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In the previous chapter, we noted that vertical division of power among

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different levels of governments is one of the major forms of power
sharing in modern democracies. In this chapter, we focus on this form
of power sharing. It is most commonly referred to as federalism. We

b
begin by describing federalism in general terms. The rest of the chapter
tries to understand the theory and practice of federalism in India. A
discussion of the federal constitutional provisions is followed by an

o
analysis of the policies and politics that has strengthened federalism in

t
practice. Towards the end of the chapter, we turn to the local

t
government, a new and third tier of Indian federalism.

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Federalism

13
 What is federalism?
Let us get back to the contrast between for all practical purposes, a unitary
Belgium and Sri Lanka that we saw in system where the national government
the last chapter. You would recall that has all the powers. Tamil leaders want
one of the key changes made in the Sri Lanka to become a federal system.
Constitution of Belgium was to reduce
Federalism is a system of
the power of the Central Government
government in which the power is
I am confused. and to give these powers to the regional
divided between a central authority and
governments. Regional governments

d
What do we call
various constituent units of the
the Indian existed in Belgium even earlier. They

e
country. Usually, a federation has two
government? Is had their roles and powers. But all these
levels of government. One is the

h
it Union, Federal powers were given to these
or Central? governments and could be withdrawn government for the entire country that

s
is usually responsible for a few subjects

T
by the Central Government. The

i
of common national interest. The

l
change that took place in 1993 was that

R
the regional governments were given others are governments at the level of

b
constitutional powers that were no provinces or states that look after

E
longer dependent on the central much of the day-to-day administering

u
government. Thus, Belgium shifted of their state. Both these levels of

C p
from a unitary to a federal form of governments enjoy their po wer

e
independent of the other.

N
government. Sri Lanka continues to be,

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Federal
political systems

b Russia

o
Canada Germany

t
Belgium Austria
Switzerland
United States
Spain

t
of America Bosnia and Pakistan
Herzegovina
St. Kitts

o
India
Mexico and Nevis Nigeria PACIFIC OCEAN
United
Venezuela

n
Arab
Ethiopia Emirates
ATLANTIC Comoros Malaysia
Democratic Politics

PACIFIC OCEAN Brazil OCEAN INDIAN

OCEAN
Micronesia Australia
Argentina
South Africa

Source: Montreal and Kingston, Handbook of Federal Countries: 2002, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2002.

Though only 25 of the world’ s 192 countries have federal political systems, their citizens make up 40 per cent of
the world’ s population. Most of the large countries of the world are federations. Can you notice an exception to this
rule in this map?

14
 In this sense, federa tions are 7 The federal system thus has dual
contrasted with unitary governments. objectives: to safeguard and promote
Under the unitary system, either there unity of the country, while at the same
is only one level of government or the time accommodate regional diversity.
sub-units are subordinate to the central Therefore, two aspects are crucial for
government. The central government the institutions and practice of
can pass on orders to the provincial or federalism. Governments at different
the local government. But in a federal levels should agree to some rules of If federalism
system, the central government cannot power-sharing. They should also trust works only in big
order the state government to do that each would abide by its part of countries, why

d
something. State government has the agreement. An ideal federal system did Belgium

e
powers of its own for which it is not has both aspects : mutual trust and adopt it?
answerable to the central government. agreement to live together.

h
Both these governments are separately
The exact balance of power

s
answerable to the people.

T
between the central and the state

i
Let us look at some of the key

l
government varies from one federation

R
features of federalism :
to another. This balance depends

b
1 There are two or more levels (or
mainly on the historical context in which

E
tiers) of government.

u
the federation was formed. There are
2 Different tiers of government
two kinds of routes through which

C p
govern the same citizens, but each tier
federations have been formed. The first
has its own JURISDICTION in specific

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r oute involves independent States
matters of legislation, taxation and

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coming together on their own to form
administration.
a bigger unit, so that by pooling
3 The jurisdictions of the respective
sovereignty and retaining identity they
levels or tiers of government are
specified in the constitution. So the can increase their security. This type of

b
existence and authority of each tier of ‘coming together’ federations include
gover nment is constitutionally the USA, Switzerland and Australia. In

o
guaranteed. this first category of federations, all the

t
4 The fundamental provisions of constituent States usually have equal
power and are strong vis-à-vis the

t
the constitution cannot be unilaterally
changed by one level of government. federal government.

o
Such changes require the consent of The second route is where a large
both the levels of government.

n
country decides to divide its power
5 Courts have the power to interpret between the constituent States and the
the constitution and the powers of national government. India, Spain and
different levels of government. The Belgium are examples of this kind of
highest court acts as an umpire if ‘holding together’ federations. In
disputes arise between different levels Jurisdiction: The area
this second category, the central over which someone
Federalism

of government in the exercise of their government tends to be more powerful has legal authority. The
respective powers. vis-à-vis the States. Very often different area may be defined in
6 Sources of revenue for each level constituent units of the federation have terms of geographical
boundaries or in terms
of government are clearly specified to unequal pow ers. Some units are of certain kinds of
ensure its financial autonomy. granted special powers. subjects.

15
 Some Nepalese citizens were discussing the proposals on the adoption
of federalism in their new constitution. This is what some of them said:
Khag Raj: I don’t like federalism. It would lead to reservation of seats for
different caste groups as in India.
Sarita: Ours in not a very big country. We don’t need federalism.
Babu Lal: I am hopeful that the Terai areas will get more autonomy if they get
their own state government.

d
Ram Ganesh: I like federalism because it will mean that powers that were earlier

e
enjoyed by the king will now be exercised by our elected representatives.
If you were participating in this conversation what would be your response to each

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of these? Which of these reflect a wrong understanding of what federalism is?

T s
What mak es India a federal country?

R l i
E b
What makes India a federal country?

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C p
We have earlier seen how small the Union of India and the State

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countries like Belgium and Sri Lanka governments. Later, a third tier of

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face so many problems of managing federalism was added in the form of
diversity. What about a vast country like Panchayats and Municipalities. As in
India, with so many languages, religions any federation, these different tiers
and regions? What are the power enjoy separa te jurisdiction. The

b
sharing arrangements in our country? Constitution clearly provided a three-
Isn’t that Let us begin with the Constitution. fold distribution of legislative powers

o
strange? Did our India had emerged as an independent between the Union Government and

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constitution nation after a painful and bloody the State Governments. Thus, it
makers not know partition. Soon after Independence, contains three lists:

t
about several princely states became a part of z Union List includes subjects of
federalism? Or

o
the country. The Constitution declared national importance such as defence
did they wish to
India as a Union of States. Although it of the country, foreign affairs, banking,

n
avoid talking
did not use the word federation, the communications and currency. They
about it?
Democratic Politics

Indian Union is based on the principles are included in this list because we need
of federalism. a uniform policy on these matters
Let us go back to the seven features throughout the country. The Union
of federalism mentioned above. We can Government alone can make laws
see that all these features apply to the relating to the subjects mentioned in
provisions of the Indian Constitution. the Union List.
The Constitution originally provided z State List contains subjects of
for a two-tier system of government, State and local importance such as
the Union Government or what we call police, trade, commerce, agriculture
the Central Government, representing and irrigation. The State Governments

16
alone can make laws relating to the There are some units of the Indian
subjects mentioned in the State List. Union which enjoy very little power.
z Concurrent List includes subjects These are areas which are too small to
of common interest to both the Union become an independent State but
Government as well as the State which could not be merged with any
Governments, such as education, forest, of the existing States. These areas, like
trade unions, marriage, adoption and Chandigarh, or Lakshadweep or the
If agriculture and
succession. Both the Union as well as capital city of Delhi, are called Union
commerce are
the State Governments can make laws Territories. These territories do not state subjects,
on the subjects mentioned in this list. have the powers of a State. The Central why do we have

d
If their laws conflict with each other, Government has special powers in ministers of
running these areas.

e
the law made by the Union agriculture and
Government will prevail. This sharing of power between the commerce in the

h
What about subjects that do not Union Government and the State Union cabinet?

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fall in any of the three lists? Or subjects governments is basic to the structure

T i
like computer software that came up of the Constitution. It is not easy to

l
after the constitution was made? make changes to this power sharing

R b
According to our constitution, the arrangement. The Parliament cannot

E
Union Government has the power to on its own change this arrangement.

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legislate on these ‘residuary’ subjects. Any change to it has to be first passed

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We noted above that most by both the Houses of Parliament with

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federations that are formed by ‘holding at least two-thirds majority. Then it has

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together’ do not give equal power to to be ratified by the legislatures of at

© er
its constituent units. Thus, all States in least half of the total States.
the Indian Union do not have identical The judiciary plays an important
powers. Some States enjoy a special role in overseeing the implementation
status. Jammu and Kashmir has its own of constitutional provisions and

b
Constitution. Many provisions of the procedures. In case of any dispute about
Indian Constitution are not applicable the division of powers, the High Courts

o
to this State without the approval of and the Supreme Court make a decision.

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the State Assembly. Indians who are The Union and State governments
not permanent residents of this State have the power to raise resources by

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cannot buy land or house here. Similar levying taxes in order to carry on the

o
special provisions exist for some other government and the responsibilities
States of India as well. assigned to each of them.

n
Listen to one national and one regional news bulletin broadcast by All India
Federalism

Radio daily for one week. Make a list of news items related to government policies or
decisions by classifying these into the following categories:
z News items that relate only to the Central Government,
z News items that relate only to your or any other State Government,
z News items about the relationship between the Central and State Governments.

17
 z Pokharan, the place where India conducted its nuclear tests, lies
in Rajasthan. Suppose the Government of Rajasthan was opposed to
the Central Government’s nuclear policy, could it prevent the Government of
India from conducting the nuclear tests?
z Suppose the Government of Sikkim plans to introduce new textbooks in its schools.
But the Union Government does not like the st yle and content of the new

d
textbooks. In that case, does the state government need to take permission from
the Union Government before these textbooks can be launched?

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z Suppose the Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Orissa have

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different policies on how their state police should respond to the naxalites. Can the
Prime Minister of India intervene and pass an order that all the Chief Ministers will

T i s
have to obey?

R b l
C E u
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Democratic Politics

18
How is federalism practiced?
Constitutional provisions are necessary the political map of India when it
for the success of federalism but these began its journey as a democracy in
are not sufficient. If the federal 1947 and that of 2006, you will be
experiment has succeeded in India, it surprised by the extent of the changes.
is not merely because of the clearly laid Many old States have vanished and
out constitutional provisions. The real many new States have been created.
success of federalism in India can be Areas, boundaries and names of the
attributed to the nature of democratic States have been changed.

d
politics in our country. This ensured
In 1947, the boundaries of several

e
that the spirit of federalism, respect
old States of India were changed in
for diversity and desire for living

h
order to create new States. This was
together became a shared ideal in our

s
done to ensure that people who spoke

T
country. Let us look at some of the

i
the same language lived in the same
major ways in which this happened.

l
State. Some States were created not on

R
Linguistic States

b
the basis of language but to recognise

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The creation of Linguistic States was differences based on culture, ethnicity

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the first and a major test for democratic or geography. These include States like

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politics in our country. If you look at Nagaland, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand.

N e p
© er 2006

b
t o
o t
n z Has your village or town
remained under the same State
since Independence? If not,
what was the name of the
Federalism

earlier State?
z Can you identify three State
names in 1947 that have
changed later?
z Identify any three States which
have been carved out of a
bigger State.

19
 When the demand for the continues to be the official policy of
formation of States on the basis of the Government of India. Promotion
language was raised, some national does not mean that the Central
leaders feared that it would lead to the Government can impose Hindi on
disintegration of the country. The States where people speak a different
Central Government resisted linguistic language. The flexibility shown by
States for some time. But the Indian political leaders helped our
experience has shown that the country avoid the kind of situation that
formation of linguistic States has Sri Lanka finds itself in.
actually made the country, more united.
Centre-State relations

d
It has also made administration easier.
Restructuring the Centre-State

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Language policy relations is one more way in which
A second test for Indian federation is federalism has been strengthened in

h
the language policy. Our Constitution practice. How the constitutional

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did not give the status of national arrangements for sharing power work

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language to any one language. Hindi was in reality depends to a large extent on

l
how the ruling parties and leaders

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identified as the official language. But

b
Hindi is the mother tongue of only follow these arrangements. For a long

E
Why Hindi? about 40 per cent of Indians. Therefore, time, the same party ruled both at the

u
Wh y not there were many safeguards to protect Centre and in most of the States. This

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Bangla or other languages. Besides Hindi, there are meant that the State governments did

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Telugu? 21 other languages recognised as not exercise their rights as autonomous

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Scheduled Languages by the federal units. As and when the ruling

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Constitution. A candidate in an party at the State level was different,
examination conducted for the Central the parties that ruled at the Centre tried
Government positions may opt to take to undermine the power of the States.
the examination in any of these In those days, the Central Government

b
languages. States too have their own would often misuse the Constitution
off icial languages. Much of the to dismiss the State governments that

o
government work takes place in the were controlled by rival parties. This

t
official language of the concerned State. undermined the spirit of federalism.
Unlike Sri Lanka, the leaders of our All this changed significantly

t
country adopted a ver y cautious after 1990. This period saw the rise

o
attitude in spreading the use of Hindi. of regional political parties in many
According to the Constitution, the use States of the country. This was also

n
of English for official purposes was to the beginning of the era of
CO A L I T I O N G OV E R N M E N T S a t the
Democratic Politics

stop in 1965. However, many non-

Hindi speaking States demanded that Centre. Since no single party got a
the use of English continue. In Tamil clear majority in the Lok Sabha, the
Coalition government: major national parties had to enter
A government for med Nadu, this movement took a violent
by the coming together for m. The Central Government into an alliance with many parties
of at least two political responded by agreeing to continue the including several regional parties to
parties. Usually par tners use of English along with Hindi for form a government at the Centre.
in a coalition form a This led to a new culture of power
official purposes. Many critics think
political alliance and
adopt a common that this solution favoured the English- sharing and respect for the autonomy
programme. speaking elite. Promotion of Hindi of State Governments. This trend was

20
The States Plead for More Powers

© Kutty - Laughing with Kutty

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T l i s
ER b
Perils of Running a Coalition Government

C p u
N e
© er
b
© Ajith Ninan - India Today Book of Cartoons

t o
o t
n
Here are two cartoons showing the relationship between Centre and States. Should the
State go to the Centre with a begging bowl? How can the leader of a coalition keep the Are you
Federalism

partners of government satisfied? suggesting that

regionalism is
supported by a major judgement of arbitrar y manner. Thus, federal
good for our
the Supreme Court that made it power sharing is more effective today
democracy? Are
difficult for the Central Government than it was in the early years after
you serious?
to dismiss state governments in an the Constitution came into force.

21
 + Linguistic diversity of India
How many languages do we have
in India? The answer depends on
z Make a bar or pie chart on
the basis of this information .
how one counts it. The latest z Prepare a map of linguistic
information that we have is from diversity of India by shading the
the Census of India held in 1991. region where each of these
This census recorded more than languages is spoken on the map
of India.
1500 distinct languages which
z Find out about three
people mentioned as their mother
languages that are spoken in

d
tongues. These languages were
India but are not included in this

e
grouped together under some
table.
major languages. For example

h
languages like Bhojpuri, Magadhi,

s
Bundelkhandi, Chhattisgarhi,

T i
Rajasthani, Bhili and many others Scheduled Languages of India

l
were grouped together under

R
Language Proportion of
‘Hindi’. Even after this grouping,

b
speakers (%)

E
the Census found 114 major
Assamese 1.6

u
languages. Of these 22 languages
Bangla 8.3

C
are now included in the Eighth

p
Bodo 0.1
Schedule of the Indian Constitution
Dogri 0.2

N e
and are therefore called ‘Scheduled
Gujarati 4.9

© er
Languages’. Others are called ‘non-
Hindi 40.2
Scheduled Languages’. In terms of
languages, India is perhaps the
Kannada 3.9
most diverse country in the world.
Kashmiri 0.5

b
Konkani 0.2
A look at the enclosed table Maithili 0.9
makes it clear that no one

o
Malayalam 3.6
language is the mother tongue of

t
Manipuri 0.2
the majority of our population. The Marathi 7.5

t
largest language, Hindi, is the
Nepali 0.3
mother tongue of only about 40

o
Oriya 3.4
per cent Indians. If we add to that
Punjabi 2.8

n
all those who knew Hindi as their
Sanskrit 0.01
second or third language, the total
Democratic Politics

Santhali 0.6
number was still less than 50 per
Sindhi 0.3
cent in 1991. As for English, only
Tamil 6.3
0.02 per cent Indians recorded it as
their mother tongue. Another 11
Telugu 7.9
per cent knew it as a second or
Urdu 5.2
third language. Note: The first column in this table lists all the languages
currently included in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian
Constitution. The second column gives the proportion of the
Read this table carefully, but speakers of each of these languages as per cent of the total
population of India. These figures are based on the Census of
you do not need to memorise it. India, 1991. The figures for Kashmiri and Dogri are based on
estimates, as the Census was not conducted in Jammu and
Just do the following: Kashmir in 1991.

22
 Read the following excerpts from an article by noted historian,
Ramachandra Guha, that appeared in the Times of India on No vember 1,
2006:

‘ N
© er
b
C ER
e
T
p u b l i s

‘
h ed

t o
o t
n
Federalism

Take the example of your own state or an y other state that was affected by
linguistic reorganisation. Write a short note for or against the argument given by
the author here on the basis of that example.

23
 Decentralisation in India
We noted above that federal villages and municipalities in urban
governments have two or more tiers areas were set up in all the States. But
of gover nments. We have so far these were directly under the control
discussed the two-tiers of government of state governments. Elections to
in our country. But a vast country like these local governments were not held
India cannot be run only through these regularly. Local governments did not
two-tiers. States in India are as large as have any powers or resources of their
So, we are like a independent countries of Europe. In own. Thus, there was ver y little

d
three-tier coach
terms of population, Uttar Pradesh is decentralisation in effective terms.

e
in a train! I
bigger than Russia, Maharashtra is
always prefer the A major step towards decentra-
about as big as Germany. Many of

h
lower berth! lisation was taken in 1992. The
these States are internally very diverse.

s
Constitution was amended to make the

T
There is thus a need for power sharing

i
third-tier of democracy more powerful

l
within these States. Federal power
and effective.

R
sharing in India needs another tier of

b
government, below that of the State z Now it is constitutionally

E
governments. This is the rationale for mandatory to hold regular elections to

u
decentralisation of power. Thus, local government bodies.

C p
resulted a third-tier of government, z Seats are reserved in the elected
called local government. bodies and the executive heads of

N e these institutions for the Scheduled

© er
When power is taken away from
Central and State governments and given Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other
to local government, it is called Backward Classes.
decentralisation. The basic idea behind z At least one-third of all positions

b
decentralisation is that there are a large are reserved for women.
number of problems and issues which z An independent institution called

o
are best settled at the local level. People
the State Election Commission has

t
have better knowledge of problems in
been created in each State to conduct
their localities. They also have better ideas
panchayat and municipal elections.

t
on where to spend money and how to
z The State governments are required

o
manage things more efficiently. Besides,
at the local level it is possible for the to share some powers and revenue with

n
people to directly participate in decision local government bodies. The nature of
sharing varies from State to State.
Democratic Politics

making. This helps to inculcate a habit

of democratic participation. Local Rural local g ove rnment is
government is the best way to realise one popular ly known by the name
important principle of democracy, panchayati raj. Each village, or a group
namely local self-government. of villages in some States, has a gram
The need for decentralisation was panchayat. This is a council consisting
recognised in our Constitution. Since of several ward members, often called
then, there have been several attempts panch, and a president or sarpanch.
to decentralise power to the level of They are directly elected by all the
villages and towns. Panchayats in adult population living in that ward

24
or village. It is the decision-making constitute the zilla (district) parishad.
body for the entire village. The Most members of the zilla parishad are
panchayat works under the overall elected. Members of the Lok Sabha
supervision of the gram sabha. All the and MLAs of that district and some
voters in the village are its members. other officials of other district level
It has to meet at least twice or thrice bodies are also its members. Zilla
in a year to approve the annual budget parishad chairperson is the political
of the gram panchayat and to review head of the zilla parishad. Prime Minister runs
the perfo rmance of the g r am Similarly, local government bodies the country. Chief
panchayat. e xist for urban areas as well. Minister runs the

d
The local government structure Municipalities are set up in towns. Big state. Logically,

e
goes right up to the district level. A cities are constituted into municipal then, the
chairperson of Zilla

h
few gram panchayats are grouped corporations. Both municipalities and
Parishad should
together to form what is usually called municipal corporations are controlled

s
run the district.

T i
a panchayat samiti or block or mandal. by elected bodies consisting of people’s
Why does the D.M.

l
The members of this representative representatives. Municipal chairperson

R
or Collector
body are elected by all the panchyat is the political head of the municipality.

b
administer the
members in that area. All the panchayat In a municipal corporation such an

E
district?

u
samitis or mandals in a district together officer is called the mayor.

N C e p
© er
b
t o
o t
n
Federalism

What do these newspaper clippings have to say about efforts of decentralisation in India?

25
 + An experiment in Brazil
A cit y called Porto Alegre in Brazil has carried out an extraordinary experiment
in combining decentralisation with participative democracy. The city has set up a
parallel organisation operating alongside the municipal council, enabling local
inhabitants to take real decisions for their city. The nearly 13 lakh people in this
city get to participate in making the budget for their own city. The city is divided
into many sectors or what we call wards. Each sector has a meeting, like that of
the gr am sabha, in which anyone living in that area can participate. There are

d
some meetings to discuss issues that affect the entire city. Any citizen of the city
can participate in those meetings. The budget of the cit y is discussed in these

e
meetings. The proposals are put to the municipality that takes a final decision

h
about it.

s
About 20,000 people participate in this decision making exercise every year.

T i
This method has ensured that the money cannot be spent only for the benefit of

l
the colonies where rich people live. Buses now run to the poor colonies and

R
builders cannot evict slum-dwellers without resettling them.

E b
In our own country, a similar experiment has taken place in some areas in

u
Kerala. Ordinary people have participated in making a plan for the development

C
of their locality.

N e p
This new system of local increased women’s representation and

© er
government is the largest experiment voice in our democracy. At the same
in democracy conducted anywhere in time, there are many difficulties. While
the world. There are now about 36 lakh elections are held regularly and

b
elected re presentatives in the enthusiastically, gram sabhas are not
panchayats and municipalities etc., all held regularly. Most state governments

o
over the country. This number is bigger have not transferred significant powers

t
than the population of many countries to the local governments. Nor have
in the world. Constitutional status for they given adequate resources. We are

t
local government has helped to deepen thus still a long way from realising the

o
democracy in our country. It has also ideal of self-government.

n
Democratic Politics

Find out about the local government in the village or town you live in.
If you live in a village, find out the names of the following: your panch or ward
member, your sarpanch, your panchayat samiti, the chairperson of your zilla
parishad. Also find out when did the last meeting of the gram sabha take place and
how many people took part in that.
If you live in urban areas, find out the name of your municipal councillor, and the
municipal chairperson or mayor. Also find out about the budget of your municipal
corporation, municipality and the major items on which money was spent.

26
1. Locate the following States on a blank outline political map of India:
Manipur, Sikkim, Chhattisgarh and Goa.
2. Identify and shade three federal countries (other than India) on a
blank outline political map of the world.
3. Point out one feature in the practice of federalism in India that is
similar to and one feature that is different from that of Belgium.
4. What is the main difference between a federal form of government
and a unitary one? Explain with an example.
5. State any two differences between the local government before and

d
after the Constitutional amendment in 1992.
6. Fill in the blanks:
Since the United States is a ___________________ type of

h e

Exercises
federation, all the constituent States have equal powers and States

s
are ______________vis-à-vis the federal government. But India is a

T i
_____________________ type of federation and some States have

l
more power than others. In India, the ____________ government

R
has more powers.
7.

E b
Here are three reactions to the language policy followed in India.

u
Give an argument and an example to support an y of these positions.

C
Sangeeta: The policy of accommodation has strengthened

p
national unity.

N e
Arman: Language-based States have divided us by making

© er
everyone conscious of their language.
Harish: This policy has only helped to consolidate the
dominance of English over all other languages.
8. The distinguishing feature of a federal government is:

b
(a) National government gives some powers to the pro vincial
governments.

o
(b) Power is distributed among the legislature, executive and

t
judiciary.
(c) Elected officials exercise supreme power in the government.

t
(d) Governmental power is divided between different levels of

o
government.
9. A few subjects in various Lists of the Indian Constitution are giv en

n
here. Group them under the Union, State and Concurrent Lists as
provided in the table below.
A. Defence; B. Police; C. Agriculture; D. Education;
E. Banking; F. Forests; G. Communications; H. Trade; I. Marriages
Federalism

Union List
State List
Concurrent List

27
 10. Examine the following pairs that give the level of government in
India and the powers of the government at that level to make laws
on the subjects mentioned against each. Which of the following pairs
is not correctly matched?

(a) State government State List

(b) Central government Union List
(c) Central and State governments Concurrent List
(d) Local governments Residuary powers

d
11. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using

e
the codes given below the lists:

List I List II

h
Exercises
1. Union of India A. Prime Minister

T s
2. State B. Sarpanch

i
3. Municipal Corporation C. Governor

R l
4. Gram Panchayat D. Mayor

(a)
E
1
D

u b 2
A
3
B
4
C

C p
(b) B C D A

e
(c) A C D B

N
(d) C D A B

© er
12. Consider the following two statements.
A. In a federation the powers of the federal and provincial

b
governments are clearly demarcated.
B. India is a federation because the powers of the Union and State

o
Governments are specified in the Constitution and they ha ve

t
exclusive jurisdiction on their respective subjects.
C. Sri Lanka is a federation because the country is divided into

t
provinces.
D. India is no longer a federation because some powers of the States

o
have been devolved to the local government bodies.

n
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Democratic Politics

(a) A, B and C (b) A, C and D (c) A and B only (d) B and C only

28