: Opinion: Embrace competitive federalism #IndiaNEWS #News By Dr Seela Subba Rao The Seventh Schedule under Article 246 of the Constitution provides a dual polity with a clear division of powers between

Opinion: Embrace competitive federalism #IndiaNEWS #News
By Dr Seela Subba Rao
The Seventh Schedule under Article 246 of the Constitution provides a dual polity with a clear division of powers between the union and the States, each being supreme within the sphere allotted to it. The States are not the creation of the Centre nor do they draw their authority from the union government.
On the other hand, like the union government, they draw their authority directly from the Constitution and are free to operate in the field allocated to them by the Constitution. The Constitution has made elaborate provisions such as union List, State List and Concurrent List, and divides all power – legislative, executive and financial – between the union and the States.
But, the actual operation of the Centre-State relations for all these seven decades has given rise to a controversy about the arrangement made under the Constitution. The arrangement means – the Centre’s control over the States through different institutions such as Governor, directions by the union to the State government, delegation of Union’s functions, grants-in-aid and inter-State councils. Critics have expressed doubts about the present system of arrangement and suggested re-allocation and adjustment for refinement of the Centre-State relations.
Three-tier System
The 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments in 1992 mandated the establishment of panchayats and municipalities as elected local governments and devolved a range of powers and responsibilities to them. Thus, India’s two-tier system of a Central and State government got transformed into a three-tier one.
However, little progress has been made so far in this direction. Local governments remain hamstrung and ineffective and are mere agents to do the bidding of the higher-level government. Currently, democracy has not been enhanced to the expected level in spite of nearly 32 lakh people’s representatives being elected to 2. 50 lakh local government bodies across India every five years with great fanfare.
Certain provisions empower the States to take active participation in administrative, legislative and financial matters. For example, the States are empowered to make their own laws in accordance with the State List. Similarly, they perform their administrative or executive functions without much interference from the Centre. Also, they perform certain financial functions such as levying and collecting taxes. All these functions make the State autonomous and make India a better federal.
The provision for different Lists ensures less confusion and conflicts between the Centre and States. Similarly, making the laws of Parliament superior to that of State legislature ensures a streamlined mechanism.

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