Federalism and the COVID-19 crisis:

Centre-State apposite relations in

Pandemic Federalism - India
states of Haryana, Maharashtra, Delhi and Goa followed suit
Author: Rekha Saxena
shortly thereafter. Subsequently, the central government
Rekha Saxena is a Senior Adviser to the Forum of
Federations. She is a Professor in the Department of
asked all the states to invoke the provisions of Section 2
Political Science at University of Delhi and Honorary of the act, which relates to the enforceable character of
Vice Chairperson, Centre for Multilevel Federalism, advisories released by both the Union health department
New Delhi. and state governments. It is important to note that despite
The COVID pandemic around the world has put both health being a state competence, there is no conflict of
healthcare and federal structures to the test. A key feature of interest between the Centre and states with respect to the
India’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak has been the close implementation of this act. Since disaster management
collaboration and cooperation between the Union (central) competences are not enumerated within the Indian
and state governments. The pandemic has underlined the constitution, it is considered a residual power allocated to
necessity for strengthening cooperative federalism since no the Union. However, the 2005 Act is rooted in Entry 23 of the
single jurisdiction or level of government has the capability to concurrent list, namely, “Social security and social insurance,
deal with the crisis on its own. In India, as in most federations, employment and unemployment”, thereby empowering all
the constitution lists healthcare a responsibility assigned to tiers of government to contribute to disaster management
state governments. In extraordinary circumstances such and mitigation. The act enabled both the central and state
as the outbreak of coronavirus, the constitution provides governments to impose a complete lockdown and regulate
for the Union government to take the lead in coordinating the movement of people.
between and supporting the states. The legal framework for
The central government has sustained its measures by
these interventions is provided by two laws, the Epidemic
widening the testing criteria for the virus and enlisting
Diseases Act 1897 and the Disaster Management Act 2005.
private labs to conduct them. Interventions are being
The Epidemic Diseases Act constitutionally empowers both
the central and state governments to regulate the spread
of epidemic diseases. According to the act, the Union
is empowered to take preventive steps with respect to
epidemic diseases at ports of entry and exit. At the same time,
it also empowers the state governments to take preventive
and regulatory measures to curb the spread of epidemic
diseases within their own jurisdiction. Consequently, the
act enables states to impose bans on public gatherings,
close educational institutions including schools, colleges
and universities, and instruct companies to devise work
from home strategies within their territories. The state of
Karnataka became the first to invoke the act, and put the
powers assigned under it into action on 11 March 2020. The
made in the economy to alleviate growing public concerns. Bhilwara became one of the most affected COVID-19
Alongside the measures taken by the central government to districts in India initially, but it has not reported a new
manage the crisis, some states are adopting innovative ways COVID-19 case since March 30. The district administration
of dealing with COVID, and have become true ‘laboratories adopted an aggressive approach to containing the spread
of innovation’. In many instances, mitigation measures of this virus. More than 2.2 million people were screened in
taken by state governments preceded those taken by the Bhilwara, several of multiple times. The district’s success is
Centre. As noted above, lockdowns were first initiated by attributed to the collective efforts of dedicated local officials,
the states. On the economic front, Kerala became the first and has encouraged the central government to embrace
jurisdiction to advance an economic support package of the ‘Bhilwara model of containment’ across the country,
INR 200 billion (USD 2.6 billion) on March 19. The central particularly in the most-affected districts in different states
government announced its own financial support package of India. The Agra city administration’s proactive tactic in
worth USD 22.6 billion a week later. This stimulus included categorizing cases, rigorous testing, conducting door-to-
free food grains and cooking gas for the poor for three door surveys, and stringent quarantine procedures has also
months, and cash doles to women and poor senior citizens proven to be effective so far. The city administration adopted
for the same period. Odisha took proactive action even
the policy of preparing a list of people returning from foreign
before coronavirus cases began surfacing in the state. The
tours and classifying their family and other intimate contacts.
state government reached out to people in smaller towns
The neighborhoods in which confirmed cases resided were
and villages asking everyone who had returned home since
designated ‘hotspots’, with a three-km radius containment
the outbreak of COVID-19 to self-quarantine at home - an
zone established around them and a further five-km radius
estimated 84,000 people were put under home quarantine
area designated as a buffer zone. Signifying the spirit of
to contain the virus in the state. Furthermore, it created
cooperative federalism, the Union health ministry was highly
an online portal which all people entering the state were
engaged in supporting the administrations’ containment
required to register with in order to facilitate contact tracing
plans. At least 2,000 health workers are working constantly
and health screening.
in fighting the outbreak, and over 3,000 ASHA (Accredited
District administrations have also been very proactive in the Social Health Activist) have been enlisted to help with door-
context of the COVID-19 outbreak and its management. The to-door surveillance of over 160,000 households comprising
efforts and initiatives of Bhilwara (Rajasthan) district and Agra more than one million city residents. This has made Agra yet
city (Uttar Pradesh) administrations are particularly notable. another case study for other states and cities to emulate.
The pandemic has provided much impetus to
intergovernmental collaboration. Over the last month
alone, there have been three video conferences
between the prime minister and the chief ministers,
the most recent occurring on April 11. While affirming
their support for an extended lockdown, states are also
looking for additional financial support from the central
government to alleviate their own challenging fiscal
situations. In his last address to the nation the Prime
Minister acknowledged the collective decision making
that had gone into extending the current lockdown into
early May.

However, as expected there have also been points of

disagreement between the Centre and states. In extending
the lockdown until May 3, the central government allowed
for the possibility of some relaxation in non-containment
areas from April 20. However, the decision by Kerala state
to allow limited reopening of restaurants and local public
transit has brought it into conflict with the Union Ministry
of Home Affairs which has suggested that these measures
violate lockdown guidelines. In developing a more graded
So far the Central government as responded by getting the
understanding of the COVID situation across the country,
Reserve Bank of India to extend additional credit lines to the
the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has identified some
states and by pre-paying the April installment of the states’
districts where the spread is “especially serious”. These
share of the Central Taxes and Duties to the tune of INR 460
places include seven districts in the state of West Bengal,
billion (USD 5.9 billion).
Delhi, Indore in Madhya Pradesh, Pune and Mumbai in
Maharashtra. Inter Ministerial Central Teams are being sent As testing in India - currently running
to these places to assessments and suggesting additional at 30,000 tests per day – expands,
mitigation measures. However, the state government of the absolute number of cases
West Bengal has raised objections to Centre’s interventions, is also expected to rise. The
having lack of clarity on deploying these teams under key challenege is to ensure
Disaster Management Act, 2005. Without clarifying the that rates of infection do
criteria for the basis of selection of those districts in west not grow while economic
Bengal, the state government believes that these measures activities are re-started
violate the spirit of federalism. in a phased manner.
Rajasthan state became
States have also been asking for additional financial support
the first state to put in the
from the Centre as their own revenues have collapsed.
public domain its plans for
Some of the requests made by the chief ministers included:
a phased reopening of the
a request that donations to the to the state based on chief
economy this week and it is
minister’s relief funds (and not just to the national Prime
expected that others will follow
Minister’s relief funds) should be counted as corporate social
in due course.
expenditure; greater accessibility of testing kits and personal
protective equipment for health workers; relaxations in fiscal
deficit norms in relation to the payment of compensation
under the Goods and Services Tax regime; a larger economic
package for different sectors; and fiscal sustenance for states.