Q. Consider the following statements with reference to federalism in India:
1. The Constitution provides for bifurcation of legislative, executive, financial and judicial power between Centre and States.
2. Indian model of federalism is based on the principle of “Coming together”, unlike US model of “holding together”.
3. The Constitution provides that the official documents should use the term ‘Central Government’ and not ‘Union Government’.
How many of the above statements are correct?
Exp) Option d is the correct answer
Federalism is a system of government in which the power is divided between a central authority and various constituent units of the country.
Statement 1 is incorrect – The Constitution of India, being federal in structure, divides all powers (legislative, executive and financial) between the Centre and the states. However, there is no division of judicial power as the Constitution has established an integrated judicial system to enforce both the Central laws as well as state laws.
Statement 2 is incorrect – US Model of federalism is called as coming together as all the states have come together to form a federation. However, when a large country, like India, chooses to divide its authority between the member states and the central government, it is regarded as holding together federalism. In this case, power is shared among various social groups to accommodate a huge diversity. Here the central government is more powerful than the state government. Different constituents of the federation may have unequal powers.
Statement 3 is incorrect – In common parlance, the terms “union government” and “central government” are used interchangeably in India. The constitution, however, has no reference to the Central Government or Union Government. However, Article 300 of the Constitution says that the Government of India can be sued in the name of Union of India.
