Asymmetric Federalism in India

Context (TH): Special status demand from Bihar and the recent SC verdict on Art 370 have again highlighted the nature of asymmetric federalism existing in India.
“Asymmetric federalism” is based on unequal powers and relationships in political, administrative, and fiscal arrangements between the units constituting a federation.
Asymmetry in the arrangements can be viewed in both vertical (between centre and states) and horizontal (among the states) senses.
It need not necessarily be the outcome of constitutional arrangements but can also result from conventions in a federation.

Asymmetric Features of Indian Federalism

Asymmetric features of Indian federalism can be understood under the following heads:
1. Vertical asymmetry
2. Horizontal asymmetry
3. Fiscal/Financial asymmetry

1. Vertical Asymmetry (Between Centre and States)

Article 3 of the IC: The Centre can unilaterally alter the state names and boundaries.
Article 352 & 356: Provisions related to imposition of National Emergency and President’s rule.
Article 248: Residuary powers of legislation rests with the parliament.
More power vests with the Centre:
- IC guarantees more powers with the Union List.
- On the Concurrent List subjects, the parliament can make laws that can override the laws made by state legislatures.
- Parliament can also make laws regarding certain subjects in the State List.
Emergency powers: The centre is provided with emergency powers. When an emergency is imposed, the centre has increased control over states.
Integrated judiciary: The judiciary in India is integrated. There is no separate judiciary at the centre and the state levels.
Single citizenship: In India, only single citizenship is available to citizens. They cannot be citizens of the state as well.
Governor’s appointment: The governor of a state acts as the centre’s representative in the state.
All India Services: Through the All India Services, such as the IAS, IPS, etc., the centre interferes with the executive powers of the states.
Integrated election machinery: The Election Commission of India is responsible for conducting free and fair elections at both the center and the state levels in India.
Veto over state bills: The governor of a state can reserve certain kinds of bills for the president’s consideration.
Integrated audit machinery: The country’s president appoints the CAG, who audits accounts of both the centre and the states.

2. Horizontal Asymmetry (Between States/UTs)

Classification of states: In 1950, IC contained a four-fold classification of the states of the Indian Union — Part A, Part B, Part C, and Part D States.
Unequal representation of states in the Rajya Sabha: The representation of the states in the upper house is based on the states’ populations.
- For example, Uttar Pradesh has 31 seats, and Goa has 1 in the Rajya Sabha.

Part-A states comprised nine erstwhile governor’s provinces of British India.
Part-B states consisted of nine erstwhile princely states with legislatures.
Part-C states consisted of the erstwhile chief commissioner’s province of British India and some of the erstwhile princely states.
Part-D state comprised of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands only.

In an ideal federal system, all the states should have equal representation.

Part VIII of IC: Part VIII of the Indian Constitution has provisions related to the Union territories (UTs) whose federal arrangements are different from states.
Art 371A-371J of IC: Special position, powers, and protection enjoyed by north-eastern states.
Schedule 5: The Fifth Schedule of IC deals with the administration and control of Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes residing in any State other than Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram.
Schedule 6: The Sixth Schedule of IC provides for the administration of tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram. These create autonomous districts and autonomous regions.

Asymmetry within UTs
- Puducherry and Delhi have legislatures, while the other UTs do not have legislatures or a ministerial council.
- Puducherry has legislative powers on any matter mentioned in the State List or the Concurrent List. Delhi has three further exceptions: police, land, and public order are under GOI.
- Puducherry is ‘non-contiguous’ despite being a single administrative unit.
Art 371 of IC
- The governor of Maharashtra can establish separate development boards for Vidarbha & Marathwada.
- The governor of Gujarat has a similar responsibility towards Saurashtra, Kutch, and the rest of Gujarat.
Article 370 (Now amended)
- J&K was allowed to have its own Constitution and its definition of ‘permanent residents’.
- It had the right to bar outsiders from holding property.
- Indian laws had to be specifically permitted by its Assembly before India could operate there.
- J&K was allowed to have its own Penal and Criminal Procedure Codes.

Puducherry’s territory is not limited to one extent of land.
Besides Puducherry and its adjoining areas, it has enclaves located within other States: Karaikal (within Tamil Nadu), Yanam (within Andhra Pradesh) and Mahe (within Kerala).

3. Fiscal Asymmetry

Vertical asymmetry: As per the recommendations of the 15^th Finance Commission, the share of states in the central taxes for the 2021-26 period is recommended to be 41%.
Devolution among states (Horizontal asymmetry): Criteria like income distance, demographic performance, forest and ecology, etc., are used for devolution among the states.
Centrally sponsored schemes (CSS): For special category status states, the Centre pays 90% of the funds required in a CSS as against 60% in the case of normal category states.

Need for Asymmetric Federalism

Plurality of Indian society: Asymmetrical federalism is necessary for a multicultural and diverse country such as India.
Accommodation and integration: Asymmetrical federalism allows for self-rule within the framework of shared rule, and it follows the principle of weighted and differentiated equality.
Protection of minorities: By giving more power and autonomy to regions where certain minority groups are concentrated, asymmetrical federalism ensures that these groups are not marginalised.
State-specific issues: Asymmetrical federalism ensures that the state-specific issues are given the attention and resources they need.
Strengthening federalism: Strengthens federalism by ensuring decentralisation of power and decision-making as per requirements of the federal units.
India’s founding fathers recognized the need for a salad bowl approach to governance, which recognizes the distinctive cultural differences in the country and permits self-rule within the scheme of a shared rule.

Salad Bowl & Melting Pot Approach

A salad bowl or tossed salad is a metaphor for the way a multicultural society can integrate different cultures while maintaining their separate identities, contrasting with a melting pot, which emphasises the combination of the parts into a single whole.
The melting pot theory holds that, like metals melted together at great heat, the melting together of several cultures will produce a new compound with great strength and other combined advantages.

Federalism Vs Unitary Form of Government

A unitary system is governed constitutionally as one single unit with one constitutionally created legislature.
In the federal constitution, there is a division of powers between the federal and the state governments.

Why is India called “Quasi Federal”?

Quasi-federal refers to a system of government where the distribution of powers between the Center and the state is not equal.
India is a federation with a unitary bias and is referred to as a quasi-federal state because of strong central machinery.

Types of Federation

Coming together federation

It is a federation in which all the independent states come together to form a large federation unit with equal power distribution.
All the states are under the central government and follow its regulations.
Independent states unite to increase security, consolidate their sovereignty and retain their identity.
Examples of the coming together are the USA, Switzerland and Australia.

Holding together federation

It is a federation where the country’s powers are divided between the central government and constituent states.
The central government has greater authority than the states.
It has the right to ensure the sovereignty of the country.
Examples of holding together federations are India, Spain, Belgium, etc.