UNIVERSITY OF LUCKNOW

FACULTY OF LAW
SESSION- 2024-25
SUBJECT :CONSTITUTIONALISM ,PLURALISM
AND GOOD GOVERNANCE

TITLE: COOPERATIVE FEDERALISM : A NEW FRAME

WORK FOR INTERGOVERNMENTAL COOPERATION

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY

DR. CHANDRASEN PRATAP SINGH ABU SUFIYAN
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR LL.M. ( SEMESTER III )
UNIVERSITY OF LUCKNOW ROLL NO . 2310013215023
UNIVERSITY OF LUCKNOW ROLL NO. 2310013215023
FACULTY OF LAW ROLL NO. 2310013215023
UNIVERSITY OF LUCKNOW LL.M.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my deep gratitude to professor sir ,who gave me the golden
opportunity to do assignment of CONSTITUTIONALISM ,PLURASIM
AND GOOD GOVERNANCE on the topic: “COOPERATIVE FEDERALISM :
A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR INTERGOVERMENTAL COOPERATION ” who
also helped in completing my assignment.
Their guidance, encouragement, care also helped me to complete this assignment on
time . I came to know about many new things. I really thankful to him.
 CONTENTS
1. CONCEPT OF FEDERALISM
2. MEANING OF COOPERATIVE FEDERALISM

3. INDIA TOWARDS COMPARATIVE FEDERALISM

4. SARKARIA COMMISSION ON INDIAN FEDERALISM

5. LEGAL FRAMEWORK SUPPORTING COOPERATIVE FEDERALISM

6. CONCLUSION

7. BIBLIOGRAPHY
CONCEPT OF FEDERALISM

The word federalism means a political concept where power is divided between a central authority
and number of regional governing authority. So, it is the division of power of government at the
Centre and the state level. The origin of word 'federalism' is from Latin work 'foedus' meaning
treaty or covenant. Federalism is a system of government wherein a country is controlled by two
levels of government. Broadly, there are two kinds of states – Union and Federal. In the union
form of the government the powers are vested in the central government whereas in federal states
the power is divided in both centre and its states. In the federal system, the states and the Centre
work together for inclusive growth and all-round national development. In the unitary form of
government, the powers of the government are centralised in one government i.e., central
government and the provinces are subordinate to the centre while in the federal system there is a
division of powers between the federal and state governments and both are independent in their
own spheres. The framer of the Indian Constitution took note of federalism as it was operating in
countries like US and Australia. They took note of the practical needs of the country and recognised
the need for a system that would be able to subserve the needs of a vast and diverse country like
India. The Indian Constitution is, therefore, neither purely federal nor purely unitary but a
combination of both. It is based on the principle that in spite of federalism the national interest and
unity are paramount. The Unitary form of government is the most common form of government in
the world – China ,UK, Indonesia, Japan and France are few examples. A single power confers the
control over the whole government. The decision-making power is with the central government and
the freedom of speech and expression is not exercised in its full capacity. In the unitary system the
states can’t pass their own laws and they have to abide by the sovereign authority. In the Federal
system of government there is a horizontal relationship between the states and the Centre. The state
units jointly share the powers and it doesn’t rest only with the centre. However, India has a
‘Quasifederal’ system. If we look our country India the states and the central government has no
treaty, agreement or anything else of similar nature is signed among themselves. So, to term India
and union of states as Federal government is not ideal way in any sense .1

MEANING OF COOPERATIVE FEDERALISM

Federalism may be executive, cooperative, collaborative or competitive. Cooperative Federalism 2

is a concept or subset of federation where national, state and local government interact
cooperatively and collectively to solve common problems and to deliver goods and services to the
people. According to State of Rajasthan V. Union of India, the Indian system of government is
cooperative.“ In a sense, the Indian Union is federal. But the extent of federalism in it is largely
watered-down by the needs of progress and development of the country which has to be nationally
integrated, politically and economically co-ordinated and socially, intellectually and spiritually
uplifted. With such a system, the States cannot stand in the way of legitimate and comprehensively
planned development of the country in the manner directed by the Central Government”.

In Cooperative federalism, a horizontal relationship is seen between the centre and the state. They
focus upon National Development by working in the same direction. Cooperative federalism
advocates variety of issues and concerns of the States and Union territories with the ministers.
There is no supremacy in this kind of federalism structure. The states and the centre have a healthy
and flexible relationship and they have to work together. In cooperative federalism, union
government is expected to play a role of elder brother.

This concept of co-operative federalism helps in promoting co-operation between the states and
minimizes friction which in turn helps in achieving desired goals. This co-ordination between the
states helps in promoting public welfare. The Centre has the largest amount of funds and its position
is such that it can help other states in meeting their demands. The Centre is also dependent on states
for implementation of laws that are made under the Concurrent list.

Grandville Austin calls Indian federation as cooperative federation however Morris Jones called
India as an example of bargaining federation. In bargaining model centre acts a big brother.

1
Narendra kumar ------------------------ ‘Constitutional law of India’, tenth edition 2018 published by Allahabad law
However, because of the coalition government in contemporary times there is a comparative
increase in the bargaining powers of state government as well. Unlike USA, neither all states have

Agency at Haryana2018 , at P.939

equal representation in union parliament nor all states have equal status. There are variety of
provisions for different states. Alfred Stepen calls USA as ‘Demos constraining model’ whereas

India as ‘Demos enabling model’. In USA, all states irrespective of the population have two seats

1. 1977 AIR 1361 in senates & thus there is under representation of demos/people. Whereas in
India seats are allocated in Rajya Sabha according to the population and hence more representation
which is why it is called ‘Demos enabling model’. Hence according to Alfred Stepens, India is a
better example than USA with respect to the model of federation for new countries .

INDIA TOWARDS COOPERATIVE FEDERALISM

The concept of ‘competitive federalism’ which signified a sense of competition between the Centre
and the States slowly turned into ‘co-operative federalism’ because when the Indian Constitution
was drafted, at that time that classical economies of the USA, Canada were facing a great depression
of the 1930s and they had also experienced two world wars. During that period, despite the nature
of the constitution the political systems in those countries had experienced centralisation.
Therefore, when the constitution of India was being drafted, the doctrine of dual sovereignty in
federal theory had given way to shared or collaborative sovereignty instead of applying dual
sovereignty between the centre and state. Since the constitution of India was drafted in such altered
times, the framers of the constitution found it relevant to give significant powers to the Parliament.
So, during the emergency the State becomes highly centralised but also in normal circumstances
the centre has overriding effect. In case of the conflict, the parliamentary law prevails as it has been
given special powers. Hence, the concept of cooperative federalism is built into the constitution of
India which was not the case in the classical federal system.
India is a vast and diverse country with numerous languages, ethnicities and cultures that cannot be
governed by just a central authority. Due to this the makers of the constitution had opted federal
polity. According to the constitution, states are not supreme in their own sphere. A complete federal
flavour is not seen in India due to the centralising tendency of the Indian federalism. The Union
has a control over most of the important subjects like defence, currency, external affairs,
citizenship, railways. Both centre and state can make laws in the subjects mentioned in the
concurrent list but the centre has an overriding effect. The state government are dependent upon
the centre for finances and the centre is dependent upon the state for implementation of policies
because it doesn’t have such huge administrative machinery. There is no independence but
interdependence is present.

The quasi-federal nature of our Constitution has been referred to as cooperative federalism
recognizing the inherent independence of centre and state governments. Article 1 states that India
i.e. Bharat is Union of States which means Union of India is permanent and indestructible as Indian
federalism is devised with strong centre and makers of the constitution is aware that resources of
our country is unequally distributed and to ensure basic needs to common man and to bring
fundamental change in structure of Indian society we require a strong centre. The drafting
committee has also made it clear that India is a federation but such federation is not a result of
agreement by states to join federation unlike USA and the states has no right to secede themselves
from the union of India. The country is divided only because of administration convenience and
the whole country is one unit. Therefore, having a strong centre and other states they have their
division of legislative power under Schedule 7 of the Indian constitution. Hence, we are not unitary
or federal we are quasi federal government.

The Parliament can make changes in the area, boundaries or name as mentioned under Article 3 of
the Indian Constitution. Due to unilateral action of Parliament, states are destructible and can be
merged or removed by the centre. Also, the Parliament can make amendments to the constitution
without consulting the states. In emergency, the Central government becomes the most powerful
and the states go into the control of the centre. Even the constitutional head of the state i.e. the
governor holds the office as per the President.
SARKARIA COMMISSION ON INDIAN FEDERALISM

After Independence, strong centralising tendencies arose in India because of the rule of one
monopoly party. This power of Congress Party was however broken in 1967 and several political
and regional parties have emerged since then. The States are at a strong position and can also bring
pressure on the Centre. Now since the scenario has changed and demands of re-ordering of Indian
Federalism have been made time and again. But mostly, they are unrealistic and exaggerated. The

Sarkaria Commission’s report made the following recommendations;

• The residuary powers should not be transferred from Centre to the States
• .The need for federal supremacy for a successful functioning was emphasized.
• Article 356 is a very debatable provision but the demand to remove it was rejected
.However, It should be used in a restrictive manner and with great caution2.

• The contention of merging Finance and Planning Commission was also rejected.
• The Commission also recommended the need for Intergovernmental Council under
Article263.

LEGAL FRAMEWORK SUPPORTING COOPERATIVE FEDERALISM

Article 1 of the Constitution quotes that “India shall be a Union of States.” This clarifies that Union
and the states are inseparable and are constitutionally obliged to cooperate with each other.

Schedule 7 of the Constitution of the constitution consists of three lists – the Union list, the state
list and the Concurrent list which lists down the subject matters on which the said authority can
make laws. The matters that are mentioned in Concurrent list are matters on which both state and
union can make laws.

Article 263of the Indian Constitution establishes Inter-state council to investigate upon the subject
matters that are of larger public interest and are necessary to investigate. The council is responsible

2
. https:// testbook.com/amp /ias –prepartion /cooperation –federalism –in –India, last visited on 19 October 2024
for making recommendations for better implementation and coordination between centre and state
which is a major challenge of cooperative federation. This council also has a function to resolve
the disputes arising between the states as mentioned under Article 263 (a). It helps in promoting
horizontal and vertical cooperation. Four regional councils have been established to make
recommendations for better co-ordination of policy relating to sales tax which is a State subject.
The Central Council of Health has also been established under Article 263 and it is an advisory
body whose functions are to recommend policies relating to health, make legislations and determine
broad lines of policy, to examine the possibility of co-operation between states during the times of
quarantine and epidemics. Intergovernmental Council Article 263 of the constitution establishes a
committee to examine and investigate matters of mutual interest between the federal government
and the states. The Supreme Court proposed the formation of a council under Article 263 to discuss
and resolve issues of central state taxation in Dabur India Limited v.State of Uttar Pradesh.

Under Article 282, the Union or State can make grants for public purposes even when the public
purpose are beyond their respective legislative competences as laid down in the seventh schedule.

Fiscal transfers to states are also implemented through Article 282. It is done for the Centrally
Sponsored Schemes (CSS).

The Full Faith and Credit clause in Article 261 provides that all public acts, documents ,and judicial
proceedings of the Union and each State shall be given full confidence and credit throughout the
territory of India. This is a step toward increasing collaboration and trust between the federal
government and the states.

The States Re-organisation Act, 1956 introduced Zonal Councils in between the centre and the
States. There are 5 zonal councils that have been established according to the geography –
Northern, Eastern, Western, Central and Southern. All the states have equal representation. It aims
to promote the councils can discuss any matter that is presented before them by the States where
they have common interest like economic and social planning, water disputes, inter-State transport
or linguistic minorities matters etc.
CLASSIC EXAMPLES OF COOPERATIVE FEDERALISM

NITI AAYOG

NITI Aayog has been constituted to enable good governance in India. It formulates special schemes
and policies to ensure sustainable development. NITI Aayog is evolving into a cuttingedge resource
centre with the requisite expertise and skills to respond quickly, stimulate research and innovation,
offer the government with a strategic policy vision, and cope with unforeseen difficulties. It has an
affiliated office, the Development Monitoring and Evaluation Organisation (DMEO), a flagship
initiative, the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM). Cooperative federalism reassures that the
government at all levels take steps towards the national development.

NITI Aayog aims to achieve national development with active involvement of states through
structured support initiatives and policies with states on a continuous and regular basis and
recognizes that strong States make a strong Nation. It also focuses on integrated bottom to top
planning approach by formulating plans at village level and aggregating those plans progressively
at higher level of governance.3

In 2017, the NITI Aayog called out for competitive “cooperative federalism” stressing that this
formula would redefine the relationship between the Centre and the States. Former vice chairman
of the Aayog Arvind Panagariya put the burden on the States to reimagine brand India. There
appears to be a silver lining in the functioning of the Aayog in enabling states competing with each
other to promote governance initiatives in the spirit of co-operative, competitive federalism.

The Aspirational Districts Programme is the flagship initiative of NITI Aayog in the competitive
cooperative federalism. The programme focuses on 112 least developed districts of the country. It
ranks these districts on 5 Pillars - Health & Nutrition, Education, Agriculture & Water Resources,
Financial inclusion & Skill Development, and, Basic Infrastructure. The rankings promote a sense
of competitive as well as cooperative federalism. It also follows a 3C’s approach – Convergence,

3
ILJAR https:/ijrpr.com https://www.niti .gov.in Last visited on 20 Oct 2024.
Collaboration and Competition. It creates a strong set of innovative practices and creates a real time
feedback mechanism to rank these districts

GST COUNCIL (ARTICLE 279A)

Goods and Services Tax (GST) is one of the most revolutionary financial tax reforms that our
country has adopted. It was introduced by the passage of the 101st Constitutional Amendment
Act,2016, which has eliminated various Central and States-level taxes and cesses. It has opened a
wide opportunities for development of states ensuring proper tax management. The Act was passed,
as required, by 2/3rd majority of the Parliament as well as agreed to by more than half of the states.

The provisions abolishing custom duties truly uphold the federal principle of the Constitution. The
tag like “One India, One Tax” showcases the spirit of federalism. The introduction of the GST is a
massive example of co-operative federalism where certain powers of both the centre as well as the
states are sacrificed for the common good of the public in the form of a single tax. In the GST
council all states ministers and union ministers jointly made recommendations and undertook
important tax decisions.

Not just the passage of the Act, but various other measures such as giving the voting powers to the
states to the extent of 66.67% in the GST Council (Article 279 A) is also testament to the fact what
co-operative federalism can achieve. The achievement is a commendable effort considering the
geo-political situation of Indian politics where consensus building is rather rare, even so, when a
measure involves a fundamental reordering of fiscal relations between the Centre and the states. It
is important for governance to be carried out through cooperative federalism, particularly in a
country like India where diversity is so great; and it is imperative that decisions be made by
consensus and discussion between the centre and the states so that policies can be implemented in
the best way possible to serve the common good of the people. As a result, while the GST has been
praised as a symbol of cooperative federalism's success, It contains its positives and negatives, as
many people believe that a state's financial authority has been taken away. The true test of
cooperative federalism is still to come, and it will be determined by how well and efficiently the
GST is implemented.
ALL INDIA SERVICES (ARTICLE 312)
AIS Services is another example of cooperative federalism. These services are maintained by the
central government by consultation of the state government even though All India Service is a
unitary feature. To enforce both state and federal laws, an integrated judicial system has been
formed. The Union government recruits the people and assign them to the states. Major decisions
regarding the recruitment like retirement age, dismissal and removal etc are kept in the hands of
the union government however minor matters like promotion and transfer are kept with the state
government. So, the central government has ultimate control whereas state has immediate control.

Since the All India Services are managed in consultation with the states, it is good example of
cooperative federalism.

In the spirit of cooperative federalism, several agreements have been signed in the last three years
to end extremism and bring lasting peace to the North Eastern states. A historic agreement was
signed by CM of Assam and CM of Meghalaya for settlement of their inter-state boundary on
29March, 2022.This agreement is said to immensely benefit people living in these areas, ensure
long lasting peace and boost development. Additionally, New Medical Colleges are being
established in the government sector under centrally sponsored scheme throughout the country with
central share at 60%. The programme is a demonstration of cooperative federalism as it provides
no room for either party to claim total ownership.

The federal structure of India had some striking unitary features as well. The federal nature of the
government is time and again doubted due to the supremacy of power at the centre. Due to these
eccentricities in federal character the federal government is perceived to be more of a unitary nature.
The states do not play any relevant role in amending of the constitution and most of the power lies
with the union itself. In the pandemic, few opposition states demanded autonomy with respect to
lockdown and declaring containment zones. Several states complained about fiscal Centralization
by Centre and not getting fiscal grants from the Centre. Although the federalism has come a long
way from applying President’s rule. Between 1947 and 1977 emergency was imposed 44 times. In
the case S.R. Bommai V. Union of India the apex court narrowed down the legislative powers of
the President as mentioned under Article 356. In the said case, it was noted that federation is the
basic structure of constitution. The Centre enjoys control over the states. There have been many
occurrences of contentious terrain. Firstly, Taxation is one controversial issue because of the
constitutional provisions. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) had put forward a scenario where
states had to forego their taxation powers. There are many items of taxes on which the centre keeps
full the revenue with itself.

The distribution of responsibility in the Seventh Schedule indicates that the State list includes
subjects like Agriculture, Sanitation, Public health, Maintenance of law and order which requires a
lot of development. But the subjects which have revenue rising capacity are given to the Centre.

This lands us on a situation where money is with the central government and responsibilities are
given to the state government. This in turn creates vertical imbalances i.e., the revenue generating
capacity of the state government is not in proportion to the developmental requirements. This was
addressed by the Finance Commission of India which acts as the balancing wheel in the centre and
state financial relations. It recommended that the net profit generated by the taxes should be shared
with the states. Earlier the share of the state governments in net tax revenue was 22% which was
very progressively increased to 42%. Due to implementing recommendations made by the 14th
finance commission, the fiscal condition of the states has improved.

1.1994 AIR 1918 the emergence of covid-19 highlighted the drawbacks of our federal system. A
huge criticism was received on the sudden imposition of nationwide lockdown without consulting
the states. Migrant workers suffered in a big number and a crisis of basic necessities was witnessed.
Due to this, the states themselves had to deal with the situation. During the lockdown, the centre
government also controlled the key state powers by banning the liquor sale, stoppage of public
transportation which put states into a trouble. This ‘centralised federalism’ was also seen in fiscal
matters. The states were going through a phase of financial disruption and the centre took financial
claims from the general public through PM Cares Fund. The centre was expected to lead the states
in the crisis but a debate arose regarding the subject matter of health. It was pointed out that health
is a state subject and the state are solely responsible for the condition faced by them. The political
interest could clearly be seen and he focus was less on saving people . In such a situation the
country required an impactful decentralization response in which state could be key drivers . A
highly centralized administered was quick to realise the role of state and local bodies .

Therefore mutual disputes and selfish political motives hindered the path of cooperative federalism
in India , as a result of which ,positive result could not be achieved.

CONCLUSION

India being most densely and highly populated State with numerous ethnicities is almost
incomparable with other countries. And with such diversity, Cooperative federalism is the only way
forward looking at the needs of our country. When state and centre work together with schemes,
the speed of work increases and benefits reach to the last person who is to benefit from the scheme.
Both, the Centre and State are mutually interdependent. The roles are very well defined in the
constitution for centre and states and we are a union of centre but with a strong centre. The political
masters need to understand that the schemes and programmes introduced by the centre are of
common interest of the state as well. The opposition party leaders should also take up those
programmes and not cause any hinderances to it. Because states do not have the resources which
are required to fulfil the objective of the schemes and the centre will provide the necessary
resources to the state.

The centre must bring enough flexibility to the scheme allowing the states to pick and choose .
Because what might be required in North-eastern states might not be required in southern states.
There cannot be a common prescription for all states as some states are larger than most countries
in the world and have their own peculiarities and requirement. The centre must make arrangement
according to the necessities of the states. The state should also go with clean hands to the centre for
getting the budgetary requirements fulfilled. The centre after realizing the difficulties of the states
shall provide assistance and support so that there is leeway and flexibility built in the schemes. The
aim of a collaborative federation is to address the issues and problems and work towards its
solution. The states should express their readiness to acquire common goals and working
harmoniously. The authorities, irrespective of their political interests should show concern over any
conflict and hardships faced by the people. The states need to be empowered and encouraged for a
healthy competition among themselves regarding the formation of new policies implementation.
The Centre should develop good conventions for getting corporation from the states instead of
applying ‘one size fits all’ approach. All the different ethnicities of states must be taken into
account. Hence, the centre must take the anchor’s role in difficult times buts tates should not be
neglected

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Narendra kumar ------------------------ ‘Constitutional law of India’, tenth edition

2018 , published by Allahabad law agency at Harayana.

ONLINE SOURCE :-

• https:// www. scribd .com /document /642462073/cooperative –federalism in

• –India – ILJAR https:/ijrpr.com https://www.niti .gov.in

• https:// testbook.com/amp /ias –prepartion /cooperation –federalism –in –

india.