Federalism

Why this chapter matters for UPSC: Centre-State relations are asked every year in some form: the Seventh Schedule and the Union's override routes (Prelims), Article 356 and why it is used less since the mid-1990s (GS2 2023), the 101st Amendment and "the accommodative spirit of federalism" (GS2 2023), the 14th Finance Commission (GS2 2021), cooperation, competition and confrontation in the federation (GS2 2020), centralising tendencies seen through the Epidemic Diseases Act (GS2 2020), Article 370 (GS2 2016), inter-State water disputes (GS2 2013) and the Nagas' Article 371A (GS2 2013). NCERT's chapter supplies the frame: what federalism is, why India's has a strong Centre, where conflict comes from (autonomy, Governors, new States, inter-State disputes) and why some States are treated differently. The chapter is unchanged in the rationalised Reprint 2026-27. This page follows NCERT's order, prints the clause text where the exam turns on a word, and gives every figure a date.

🧠 First Principles — Read This First

NCERT opens with failures. The USSR, "one of the world's super powers", broke up after 1989 through "excessive centralisation and concentration of power, and the domination of Russia over other regions"; Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Pakistan divided; Canada "came very close". All were federations. So "apart from adopting a federal constitution, the nature of that federal system and the practice of federalism must also be important factors." India's survival as one country over seven decades is the question the chapter sets out to answer.

Four key ideas of federalism (NCERT). Federalism "is an institutional mechanism to accommodate two sets of polities, one at the regional level and the other at the national level", each "autonomous in its own sphere" (some federations have dual citizenship; "India has only a single citizenship"); people "have two sets of identities and loyalties" (Gujaratis or Jharkhandis as well as Indians); the dual system is "spelt out in a written constitution, which is considered to be supreme and which is also the source of the power of both sets of government"; and "there is an independent judiciary to settle disputes". But "real politics, culture, ideology and history determine the actual working of a federation. A culture of trust, cooperation, mutual respect and restraint helps federations to function smoothly."

India's design choice. Once Partition was decided, the Constituent Assembly framed "a government that would be based on the principles of unity and cooperation between the centre and the States and separate powers to the States". "The most important feature of the federal system adopted by the Indian Constitution is the principle that relations between the States and the centre would be based on cooperation." The Constitution "does not even mention the word federation": Article 1(1) says "India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States."

PART 1 — Quick Reference

Division of Powers (NCERT's chart, with the Lists as they stand)

Counts are of entries printed in the Constitution of India as on 11 November 2025, omitted entries excluded. The 42nd Amendment moved education, forests, protection of wild animals and birds, and weights and measures from the State List to the Concurrent List and added population control and family planning (20A) as a new concurrent subject; administration of justice below the High Courts went to entry 11A.

Provisions That Make the Centre Strong (NCERT's list)

NCERT's box quotes T.T. Krishnamachari (25 November 1949): "the drift... in all constitutions has been towards the centre... because of circumstances that have now come into being that the States have become, ...federal or unitary, welfare states from being Police States and the ultimate responsibility as for the economic well-being of the country has become the paramount responsibility of the centre." In the record he was speaking of "the drift of taxing power".

The Two Emergencies That Touch the States (the exact rules)

S.R. Bommai v. Union of India (11 March 1994, nine judges): the conclusions

Several judges called federalism a basic feature in their own opinions; the agreed conclusions say only "a federation but with a bias in favour of the Centre". Quote the conclusions, not a summary.

Institutions of Centre-State Relations

PART 2 — Concepts & Narrative

What Is Federalism?

NCERT's four key ideas are given above. Two boxes make the point that structure alone decides nothing. West Indies: a federation formed in 1958 "had a weak central government and the economy of each unit was independent"; political competition among the units led to its dissolution in 1962; by the Treaty of Chaguaramas (1973) the independent islands built the Caribbean Community with "a common legislature, supreme court, a common currency, and, to a degree, a common market" and even a common executive of heads of government. "Thus, the units could neither live together as one country, nor can they live separately!" Nigeria: two colonies until 1914; a federal constitution agreed at the Ibadan Conference of 1950; the Yoruba, Ibo and Hausa-Fulani controlled the West, East and North and their attempts to spread influence "led to fears and conflicts" and a military regime; the 1960 constitution gave the police to federal and regional governments jointly, the 1979 military-supervised constitution allowed no state police; democracy returned in 1999 but "religious differences along with conflicts over who will control revenues from the oil resources continue". NCERT: "an example of overlap of religious, ethnic and economic differences among the units."

India, by contrast, has "more than 20 major languages and several hundred minor ones", several major religions, "several million indigenous peoples", and yet a shared land mass and a shared history, "especially, when we fought for independence". The national leaders' phrase for it: "unity in diversity", sometimes "unity with diversity".

Federalism in the Indian Constitution

Even before Independence most leaders knew that governing a country this size "would be necessary to divide the powers between provinces and the central government", and that regional and linguistic diversity "needed recognition": "in each region, people of that region should govern themselves. This was only logical if we wanted a democratic government." The open question was how much power the regions should have; "a compromise formula to give very large powers to the regions was discussed during the negotiations before Partition" to meet the Muslim League's demand. Once Partition was decided, the Assembly chose cooperation with separate powers. Thus "while recognising diversity, the Constitution emphasised unity."

Division of powers. Two sets of government, each with "a constitutional status and clearly identified area of activity"; disputes "can be resolved by the Judiciary". NCERT's chart is reproduced above. Its own stress is fiscal: "economic and financial powers are centralised in the hands of the central government by the Constitution. The States have immense responsibilities but very meagre revenue sources." The margin student's analogy: "some families where the money is with the husband and the wife has to manage the household."

Federalism with a Strong Central Government

"It is generally accepted that the Indian Constitution has created a strong central government." The reasons NCERT gives: a country of continental dimensions and "immense diversities and social problems"; the need "to stem disintegration and bring about social and political change"; "more than 500 princely states which had to be integrated"; and socio-economic problems (poverty, illiteracy, inequality) that "required planning and coordination". "The concerns for unity and development prompted the makers of the Constitution to create a strong central government." The provisions are tabulated above; NCERT prints Article 257(1): "The executive power of every State shall be so exercised as not to impede or prejudice the exercise of the executive power of the Union, and the executive power of the Union shall extend to the giving of such directions to a State as may appear to the Government of India to be necessary for that purpose."

Conflicts in India's Federal System

"Once the principle of identity of the State is accepted, it is quite natural that the States would expect a greater role and powers." Legal disputes go to the judiciary; "demands for autonomy are of political nature and need to be resolved through negotiations."

Three phases of Centre-State relations (NCERT). "The Constitution is only a framework or a skeleton, its flesh and blood is provided by the actual processes of politics." (1) The 1950s and early 1960s under Nehru: Congress dominance at the Centre and in the States; "except on the issue of formation of new States, the relations between the centre and the States remained quite normal"; optimism about central grants and planning. (2) From the mid-1960s: Congress dominance declined, opposition parties came to power in many States, and "demands for greater powers and greater autonomy" were "a direct fallout of the fact that different parties were ruling at the centre and in many States". (3) Since the 1990s: "an era of coalition politics especially at the centre", national and regional parties in the States, "a greater say for the States, a respect for diversity and the beginning of a more mature federalism." GS2 2020's "cooperation, competition and confrontation" question maps onto these phases.

Role of Governors and President's Rule. The Governor "is not an elected office-holder", often a retired military officer, civil servant or politician, appointed by the Centre, so Governors' actions "are often viewed as interference", most of all "when two different parties are in power at the centre and the State". The Sarkaria Commission (1983; report 1988) "recommended that appointments of Governors should be strictly non-partisan." Article 356 applies when "a situation has arisen in which the Government of the State cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution"; the proclamation "has to be ratified by Parliament" (two months) and "can be extended till three years". State governments "were dismissed even when they had a majority in the legislature, as had happened in Kerala in 1959 or without testing their majority, as happened in several other States after 1967"; "the Court has ruled that constitutional validity of the decision to impose President's rule can be examined by the judiciary" (Bommai). Article 356 "was very sparingly used till 1967"; afterwards the Centre "has often used this provision to dismiss State governments or has used the office of the Governor to prevent the majority party or coalition from assuming office", for instance Andhra Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir in the 1980s. GS2 2023 asked why its use has fallen since the mid-1990s: Bommai's review and floor test, coalition governments at the Centre dependent on regional parties, and the 44th Amendment's time limits are the answer. The official counts on record: "not less than 75 times" in the Constitution's first 37 years (Sarkaria, para 6.2.14); "over ninety" by 1994, or 95 counting Union territories (Bommai); "one hundred and three times" as of 2009 (Punchhi, Vol. II, para 5.1). No later official total has been published; the figures of 130-odd found on the web vary with the date and with whether Union territories are counted.

Governors and Bills since 2023. The Supreme Court held in State of Punjab v. Principal Secretary to the Governor (10 November 2023) that a Governor who withholds assent must return the Bill under the first proviso to Article 200 and cannot sit on it; in State of Tamil Nadu v. Governor of Tamil Nadu (8 April 2025) it set timelines and deemed ten Bills assented; on 20 November 2025 a five-judge bench led by Chief Justice Gavai, answering a Presidential Reference under Article 143, held that "it would not be appropriate for this Court to judicially prescribe timelines" for the Governor under Article 200 or the President under Article 201, that Article 142 "does not allow for the concept of 'deemed assent'", and that the most a court may do against prolonged, unexplained inaction is a "limited mandamus" directing the Governor to decide within a reasonable time without touching the merits (paras 165.3, 165.5, 165.7, 165.10). The timelines of April 2025 are therefore not the current law.

Demands for new States. The national movement "generated distinct unity around a common language, region and culture", and it was decided "that as far as possible, States would be created on the basis of common cultural and linguistic identity." The States Reorganisation Commission "was set up" in 1953 and "recommended the creation of linguistic States, at least for the major linguistic groups"; the States Reorganisation Act, 1956 and the Seventh Amendment took effect on 1 November 1956; Gujarat and Maharashtra in 1960; Punjab and Haryana separated in 1966; the North-East reorganised into Manipur, Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh; in 2000 Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand out of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar; Telangana out of Andhra Pradesh in 2014; Vidarbha "still struggling". NCERT's exercises ask what the basis of statehood should be (language, economic interest, religion, administrative convenience) and whether one Hindi-speaking State of the north would suit federalism.

Inter-State conflicts. Two recurring types. Border disputes: Maharashtra and Karnataka over Belgaum; Manipur and Nagaland; Punjab and Haryana over Chandigarh, which "houses the capital of both these States", and which the 1985 understanding between Rajiv Gandhi and the Punjab leadership was to hand to Punjab, "but this has not happened yet". River waters, "even more serious, because they are related to problems of drinking water and agriculture": the Kaveri between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka ("though there is a river water tribunal to settle water disputes, this dispute has reached the Supreme Court"), and the Narmada among Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. GS2 2013 asked whether the failure of the constitutional mechanism (Article 262 and the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956) is structural or process-driven; NCERT's answer is that such disputes "can best be resolved only through negotiations and mutual understanding."

Special Provisions

"The most extra-ordinary feature of the federal arrangement created in India is that many States get a differential treatment." Rajya Sabha representation is asymmetrical by population; the division of powers is common to all; but "the Constitution has some special provisions for some States given their peculiar social and historical circumstances." Most concern the North-Eastern States (Assam, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram) "largely due to their sizeable indigenous tribal population with a distinct history and culture", though "these provisions have not been able to stem alienation and the insurgency in parts of the region"; others exist for hilly States such as Himachal Pradesh, and for Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Sikkim and Telangana. In the text these are Articles 371 to 371J (Nagaland's Article 371A, inserted by the 13th Amendment w.e.f. 1 December 1963, is the one GS2 2013 asked about) and the Sixth Schedule for the tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.

Jammu and Kashmir. NCERT's account: a large princely State with the option of joining India or Pakistan or remaining independent; in October 1947 "Pakistan sent tribal infiltrators from its side to capture Kashmir", which "forced the Maharaja Hari Singh to ask for Indian help and acceded to the Indian Union". Under Article 370 "the concurrence of the State was required for making any laws in matters mentioned in the Union and Concurrent lists"; the President, with the State's concurrence, issued "two Constitutional orders" making large parts of the Constitution applicable, so that "though J&K had a separate constitution and a flag, the Parliament's power to make laws on subjects in the Union List was fully accepted." The remaining differences: no emergency "due to internal disturbances" without the State's concurrence, no financial emergency, the Directive Principles did not apply, and amendments under Article 368 applied only with the State government's concurrence. Then NCERT's current text: "At present, the special status given under 370 no longer exists. By the Jammu and Kashmir reorganisation Act 2019, the State has been bifurcated into two Union Territories viz., (i) Jammu and Kashmir and (ii) Ladakh. The new arrangement has come into effect from 31 October, 2019." The instruments: the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 2019 (C.O. 272, notified 5 August 2019), which superseded the 1954 Order and applied "all the provisions of the Constitution, as amended from time to time" to the State; the declaration under Article 370(3) (C.O. 273) that "as from the 6th August, 2019, all clauses of the said article 370 shall cease to be operative" except a clause applying the whole Constitution; and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 (Act 34 of 2019, assented to on 9 August 2019), brought into force on 31 October 2019 by notification S.O. 2889(E). A five-judge bench upheld all three in In re: Article 370 of the Constitution (11 December 2023), in what the opinion calls "a unanimous outcome".

Conclusion

"Federalism is like a rainbow, where each colour is separate, yet together they make a harmonious pattern." It "has to continuously maintain a difficult balance between the centre and the States. No legal or institutional formula can guarantee the smooth functioning of a federal polity. Ultimately, the people and the political process must develop a culture and a set of values and virtues like mutual trust, toleration and a spirit of cooperation." "National unity cannot be built by streamlining differences. Such forced unity only generates greater social strife and alienation and tends finally to destroy unity. A responsive polity sensitive to diversities and to the demands for autonomy can alone be the basis of a cooperative federation."

PART 3 — UPSC Integration

Applying the Chapter

1. "Is India federal?" Answer with NCERT's four key ideas (all present in India) and its strong-Centre list, then the Bommai formula ("a federation but with a bias in favour of the Centre") and Ambedkar's "both unitary as well as federal according to the requirements of time and circumstances". Avoid printing "quasi-federal" as a quotation unless the edition and page are cited.
2. Article 356 questions need the exact procedure (two months, ordinary majority, six-monthly renewals, three years, the two conditions after one year), Bommai's conclusions in the Court's words, and the record (90 uses by 1994; Kerala 1959; post-1967).
3. Fiscal federalism is NCERT's own emphasis ("immense responsibilities but very meagre revenue sources"). Date the figures: 41 per cent (XVI FC, 2026-31); the GST Council's design; grants to local bodies.
4. Governors combine NCERT's "non-partisan" recommendation (Sarkaria) with the 2023-25 litigation and the 20 November 2025 advisory opinion.
5. Special provisions and new States are the asymmetry argument: chapter 10 calls it "asymmetric federalism" by design.

Exam Strategy

• Prelims: learn the two emergency columns side by side; the three List counts with their basis; the override Articles (249, 250, 252, 253); which bodies are constitutional (Finance Commission, GST Council, Inter-State Council), statutory (Zonal Councils, North Eastern Council) and executive (NITI Aayog).
• Mains: quote Article 1(1), Article 257(1) and Bommai's conclusions; frame answers with NCERT's three phases and four autonomy demands.
• Confused pairs: 352 (one month, special majority) vs 356 (two months, ordinary majority); "and" in 356(5); Inter-State Council (Article 263, 1990 Order) vs Zonal Councils (1956 Act); Article 3 (ordinary law) vs Seventh Schedule changes (ratification); Article 370 "ceased to be operative" (C.O. 273) vs "repealed".
• Cross-reading: chapter 4 (Governor), chapter 5 (Rajya Sabha and Article 249), chapter 9 (ratification by States), chapter 10 (asymmetric federalism).

Practice Questions

NCERT's exercises, worked

1. Which events show federalism at work: Sixth Schedule status for the Darjeeling hill council (tripartite settlement); the Centre asking rain-hit States for reconstruction plans; a Central University for Manipur; funds released to Arunachal Pradesh; the Congress Legislature Party asking the Governor to dismiss the Nagaland government (Article 356 politics). A municipal commissioner's transfer and the Shiv Sena incident are not federal events; the Bihar appeal to Naxalites is a State's own business.
2. Correct statements: the first (interaction without fear of imposed culture) and the third (limits on central power) are correct in principle; the second is wrong, because a federation with a common market (Articles 301 to 307) eases, not hinders, inter-regional transactions.
3. Belgium: a federal State built from communities (French, Flemish, German) and regions (Walloon, Flemish, Brussels) with four linguistic regions; an Indian equivalent would read "India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States and Union territories, whose peoples speak the languages of the Eighth Schedule".
4. Rewriting federal provisions: use NCERT's four autonomy demands as the headings (division of powers, finances, dispute resolution, Governors).
5. Basis for a State: language has been the main basis since 1956, but 2000 and 2014 show administrative convenience and regional backwardness also count; religion has never been a basis.
6. One Hindi-speaking State: against federalism's logic of regional identities and of balance among units; NCERT's own point about Hindi-belt domination.
7. Four features giving the Centre more power: Article 3; emergency provisions; financial powers; the Governor and all-India services.
8. Why States dislike the Governor: appointment and pleasure, reservation of Bills, Article 356 reports, government formation.
9. Fit cases for President's Rule: only the hung-Assembly-with-horse-trading case and the refusal to obey the Supreme Court come close (and the first calls for a floor test first); killings, crime, communal riots and party rivalry are law-and-order or political matters, not a breakdown of constitutional machinery (NCERT, Bommai).
10. Autonomy demands: the four kinds above.
11. Special provisions: yes, by design; resentment exists, but chapter 10 argues asymmetry has combined "claims to unity with claims to cultural recognition".

Practice (UPSC-pattern, not past papers)

12. "The Constitution of India has created a federation but with a bias in favour of the Centre." Examine this conclusion of S.R. Bommai with reference to the provisions NCERT lists. (GS2, 15 marks)
13. Compare the parliamentary control over a Proclamation under Article 352 with that over a Proclamation under Article 356. Why do the two differ? (GS2, 10 marks)
14. Trace the three phases of Centre-State relations since 1950 and explain how party politics, rather than constitutional text, moved the balance. (GS2, 15 marks)
15. "Autonomy means different things to different States." Set out the four kinds of autonomy demand and illustrate each. (GS2, 10 marks)

📦 Revision Capsule

Sources

• NCERT, Indian Constitution at Work (Class XI), ch. 7 "Federalism", Reprint 2026-27: ncert.nic.in PDF; whole book, Wayback copy of 27 September 2026.
• The Constitution of India, as on 11 November 2025 (Arts. 1, 3, 33-34, 245-263, 279A, 280, 352, 356, 360, 365, 370, 371-371J; Seventh Schedule; Appendices II and III for C.O. 272 and 273): Legislative Department PDF.
• Constituent Assembly Debates: 4 November 1948 (Ambedkar on "Union"), 25 November 1949 (T.T. Krishnamachari).
• S.R. Bommai v. Union of India, 11 March 1994: Indian Kanoon.
• Naga People's Movement of Human Rights v. Union of India, 27 November 1997 (constitutional validity of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958): Indian Kanoon.
• Inter-State Council Secretariat: Genesis of the Council, Composition, Sarkaria Commission, Punchhi Commission (pages as read on 4 October 2026).
• Sixteenth Finance Commission: Explanatory Memorandum as to the action taken on the recommendations, Ministry of Finance (Budget Division), February 2026 (saved copy; the memorandum records the Commission's constitution on 31 December 2023, the report's submission on 17 November 2025 and the 41 per cent share); PIB, Fourteenth Finance Commission report tabled, 24 February 2015; PIB, Report of the Fifteenth Finance Commission, 1 February 2021.
• Sarkaria Commission, Report, 1988: ch. IV, Role of the Governor; ch. VI, Emergency Provisions. Punchhi Commission, Report, Vol. II, March 2010 (from the Inter-State Council page above).
• NITI Aayog: Cabinet Secretariat Resolution, 1 January 2015; amending Resolution, 16 February 2015.
• K.C. Wheare, Federal Government, 2nd ed., Oxford University Press, London, 1951, p. 28 (Internet Archive copy).
• Union of India v. Mohit Minerals Pvt. Ltd., 19 May 2022: Indian Kanoon; In re: Article 370 of the Constitution, 11 December 2023: Indian Kanoon; Special Reference No. 1 of 2025, opinion of 20 November 2025: Indian Kanoon.
• All India Radio News, Supreme Court Rules No Timelines for Governors on Bills (20 November 2025).