Union and States: Federal Structure and Devolution to Local Levels · UPPCS (Uttar Pradesh)

What the official syllabus says

Main Examination, General Studies II:

Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States: Issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure, devolution of powers and finances up to local levels and challenges therein.

Topics in detail

Nature of Indian federalism

Federal features: two sets of government, division of powers, written and rigid Constitution, independent judiciary, bicameral Parliament
Unitary features: strong Centre, single Constitution and citizenship, integrated judiciary, All India Services, appointment of Governors, emergency powers, Parliament's power to change state boundaries (Article 3)
Descriptions of the system: quasi-federal (K. C. Wheare), "an indestructible Union of destructible states", cooperative, bargaining and competitive federalism
S. R. Bommai (1994): federalism as part of the basic structure; limits on the use of Article 356

Legislative relations (Articles 245 to 255)

Territorial extent of laws; the Seventh Schedule: Union, State and Concurrent Lists (originally 97, 66 and 47 entries)
Residuary powers with Parliament (Article 248); repugnancy between Union and state laws (Article 254)
Parliament legislating on State List subjects: Rajya Sabha resolution (Article 249), national emergency (Article 250), at the request of two or more states (Article 252), to implement treaties (Article 253), during President's rule
Bills reserved by the Governor for the President's consideration (Articles 200 and 201)

Administrative relations (Articles 256 to 263)

Duty of states to comply with Union laws; Union directions to states (Articles 256 and 257) and the consequence of non-compliance (Article 365)
All India Services (Article 312); deployment of central armed forces in states
Inter-State Council (Article 263, set up in 1990); Zonal Councils under the States Reorganisation Act, 1956
Inter-state water disputes (Article 262) and the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956

Issues and challenges of the federal structure

Office of the Governor: appointment, discretion (Article 163), role in government formation, delays in assent to Bills
Use and misuse of Article 356; the Sarkaria Commission (report 1988) and the Punchhi Commission (report 2010) on Centre-state relations
Fiscal centralisation, cesses and surcharges, conditions attached to centrally sponsored schemes
Demands for new states and smaller states; inter-state boundary and river water disputes
Planning Commission replaced by NITI Aayog (2015) as a forum of cooperative federalism; GST Council (Article 279A) as a shared decision-making body

Devolution of powers and finances to local levels

Committees: Balwant Rai Mehta (1957, three-tier Panchayati Raj), Ashok Mehta (1977), G. V. K. Rao (1985), L. M. Singhvi (1986)
73rd Amendment, 1992: Part IX (Articles 243 to 243O), Gram Sabha, three tiers, direct elections, reservation for SCs, STs and women (not less than one-third), five-year term, Eleventh Schedule (29 subjects)
74th Amendment, 1992: Part IXA (Articles 243P to 243ZG), nagar panchayats, municipal councils and municipal corporations, ward committees, Twelfth Schedule (18 subjects)
State Election Commission (Articles 243K and 243ZA) and State Finance Commission (Articles 243I and 243Y)
District Planning Committee (Article 243ZD) and Metropolitan Planning Committee (Article 243ZE)
Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA)
In Uttar Pradesh: three tiers (gram panchayat, kshettra panchayat, zila panchayat) under the U.P. Panchayat Raj Act, 1947 and the U.P. Kshettra Panchayats and Zila Panchayats Adhiniyam, 1961; the state's own system is studied in General Studies V

Challenges in devolution

Funds, functions and functionaries: transfer of the listed subjects only on paper, staff controlled by state departments
Low own-source revenue (property tax, user charges) and dependence on grants
Parallel bodies and schemes that bypass elected local bodies; delays in local elections
Proxy representation of elected women; capacity building of elected representatives

Overlaps

Finance Commission and Centre-State Financial Relations: the financial side of the federal structure.
General Studies V: Centre-state relations, local self government (urban and Panchayati Raj) and the State Election Commission of Uttar Pradesh.
Prelims General Studies Paper I: Panchayati Raj in Indian Polity and governance.