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Federalism

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How is federalism Practised

Constitutional provisions are necessary for the success of federalism but these are not sufficient. The real success of federalism in India can be attributed to the nature of democratic politics in our country.

Linguistic States:

Linguistic states- People who spoke the same language lived in the same state.
Creation of new states was done on two bases:
1. culture, ethnicity or geography, e.g., Nagaland, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand.
2. on the basis of language, e.g., Andhra, Maharashtra and many others.
Formation of linguistic states has made the country united, made administration easier.

Language Policy:

Our Constitution did not give the status of national language to any one language.
Hindi was identified as the official language.
According to the Constitution, the use of English for official purposes was to stop in 1965.
The central government responded by agreeing to continue the use of English along with Hindi for official purposes.
Promotion does not mean that the Central Government can impose Hindi on states where people speak a different language.

Centre-State Relations: The way Constitution has made the Centre and the States share powers has also strengthened federalism in India.

Before 1990	After 1990
Some party ruled the Centre and most of the states.	Rise of regional parties after 1996 changed the situation.
This led to state governments not exercising their rights as autonomous federal units.	An era of 'coalition governments' at the centre began.
Spirit of federalism undermined by the central government as they often dismissed state governments controlled by rival parties.	Since no single party got a clear majority in the Parliament (Lok Sabha), the major national parties formed alliances with several regional parties to form government at the Centre. The state governments now cannot be dismissed by the Centre arbitrarily. Result: The result is more power-sharing in the federation than before 1990.