Indian Federalism: From ‘Unitary bias’ to ‘Being Cooperative’

Indian Federalism: From ‘Unitary bias’ 

to ‘Being Cooperative’

By Avinash Agarwal

UPSC GENERAL STUDIES: Paper II (Issues related to Federalism)

Table of Content

Design of Indian Federation

* Manifestation of unitary bias

* International Comparison

Constitutional Provisions

Why we designed our federation with a unitary bias?

Steps taken to encourage the federal character of our polity

Word on ISC

* Meetings

* Mandate

* Present Day Relevance of ISC

* Comparison with NITI Aayog’s Governing Council

* ISC Going Ahead

Cooperative Federalism

* Economic Empowerment of States

* Example from the Power Sector

* But all is not well on Administrative Front

* Hand-holding Required

Design of Indian Federation

The Indian nation is a federation with a unitary bias.

Manifestation of unitary bias: The peculiar phrase “unitary bias” arises because residuary powers—the power to legislate on matters not enumerated in the central, state or concurrent list of subjects—is given to the centre under Article 248.

International Comparison: This is unlike the constitutions in many other federations such as the United States, Germany and Australia where such power is conferred on the states.

Constitutional Provisions

Part XI of the Constitution (Articles 245 through 263) deals with centre-state relations. It covers legislative and administrative relations between states.

The financial relationship between the centre and states is covered in the next chapter of the Indian Constitution, including Article 280 that deals with the mandate for setting up a periodic Finance Commission.

Why we designed our federation with a unitary bias?

* Concerns about disunity (especially after the events that led up to the partition)

* Need for Uniform Development

* Prevailing Constitutional Design

* Minority Protection

* Interest of Princely States

(Note: B.R. Ambedkar once described India and its states as “one integral whole, its people a single people living under a single imperium derived from a single source”.

It was a necessary sentiment at a time when a newly independent and partitioned nation was trying to frame a coherent idea of itself.

But the political and economic context has changed drastically since then. The relationship between the centre and the states has failed to keep pace with its evolution.

The pertinent question is that does India still need a unitary bias? Or its interest will be better served by unshackling the states from Centre’s grip?)

Steps taken to encourage the federal character of our polity:

A National Development Council was set up in 1952 and a National Integration Council was similarly set up in 1962.

Annual conferences were held between the centre and state chief ministers on finance, labour, food and other functional areas.

The first constitutional body—called the Inter-State Council (ISC)—was set up in 1990 following the initial recommendation of the First Administrative Reforms Commission (1969), which was endorsed by the Sarkaria Commission on centre-state relations (1988).

Word on ISC

Meetings: The ISC has met 10 times since it was established. Eight of the 10 meetings have been held during non-Congress governments. It met this year (2016), for the 11 time, after a gap of 10 years.

Mandate: The ISC’s mandate is to investigate and discuss matters in which states and the Union have a common interest and to make recommendations on such matters particularly with respect to coordination of policy and implementation.

Present Day Relevance of ISC: The ISC is the only multilateral centre-state forum that operates directly within the framework of the Constitution (Article 263 (b) and (c)) where topics like the GST and contemporary issues like disaster management, terrorism and internal security can be taken up.

Comparison with NITI Aayog’s Governing Council: ISC has a similar composition, including the prime minister, chosen cabinet ministers and chief ministers—that could address centre-state issues. But the ISC has constitutional backing, as against the NITI Aayog which only has an executive mandate. This puts the states on more solid footing—an essential ingredient in building the atmosphere of cooperation needed for calibrating centre-state relations.

ISC Going ahead:

* The ISC should be further strengthened to become the critical forum for not merely administrative but also political and legislative give and take between the centre and states.

* It should function in such a manner that it reflects the equal status of states and the centre.

* It should meet once a year.

* Even though the ISC’s mandate is very broad, its aspiration has generally been limited to discussing affirmative action, welfare subjects and administrative efficiency and coordination.

Along with another constitutionally sanctioned entity—the Finance Commission (FC)—the ISC should be the body that puts the “federation” back in the definition of the Indian nation. Together, the FC and the ISC should operationalize again Part XI and XII of the Constitution that ensure appropriate financial devolution and political decentralization.

Cooperative Federalism

Punchhi Commission report on centre-state relations introduced the term ‘Cooperative Federalism’.

PM Modi on the eve of Republic Day in 2012 (then he was the CM of Gujarat) blogged thus: “It is high time the Centre realizes that giving to the states what rightfully belongs to them will not weaken the Centre. The states must co-ordinate with the Union Government and not remain subservient to it. Co-operative and not coercive federalism must be the norm in our country.” 

Economic Empowerment of States: In the past two years, the government has taken many steps to economically empower states and make them key stakeholders in India’s development agenda.

The Fourteenth Finance Commission had favoured giving states more untied funds along with greater fiscal responsibility in implementing centrally sponsored schemes. To this effect, it increased the states’ share in central taxes to 42% from 32%. In addition, the centre also decided to bring down the number of centrally sponsored schemes to less than 30 from more than 72 at present, giving states more flexibility in modifying the schemes to meet their individual requirements. This leaves the decision of how to utilize these funds to the state governments.

Effectively, the FFC had sowed the seeds of cooperative federalism as states have been accorded unprecedented fiscal freedom. For the first time, public expenditure is now decisively in the jurisdiction of states. Consequently, states are now greater stakeholders.

Example from the Power Sector: In the power sector, the Modi government framed policies by seeking views from states first rather than asking states to adopt a centrally designed scheme. One example is the turnaround scheme for state-run power distribution companies, the Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana.

But all is not well on administrative front: But there has also been a sharp increase in the number of conflicts between the Centre and the states, especially those ruled by other parties. Example: Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi.

Electoral promise of cooperative federalism was caught in the tension between the push towards decentralized governance necessary for economic growth and the desire to conquer power in the states which the ruling party does not control.

The return of President’s rule as a political weapon is totally in contradiction with the federalism promises.

Hand-holding Required: N.R. Bhanumurthy, professor at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, said that the centre has given states more fiscal responsibility with spending powers by giving them more untied funds. However, it has stopped there, he said, pointing out how some states still lack the capacity to effectively utilize these funds.

“The central government needs to handhold states which lack capacity to utilize funds to meet their development needs. The central government has given them the right through higher allocation of funds but not fixed responsibility on them,” he said.

There is a lot of ambiguity on how centrally sponsored schemes are going to be implemented at the state level.

India’s true potential will be achieved only when both the centre and the states are strong.

One Nation One Election. Is it Desirable?

One Nation One Election. Is it Desirable?

- Looma Kushwaha

UPSC GENERAL STUDIES: PAPER II (Indian Constitution - Significant Provision; Salient Features of Representation of People's Act)

Table of Content

The Case for Simultaneous Elections in India

Arguments in support of holding Simultaneous Elections

Law Commission proposal for Simultaneous Elections

Logistical and Financial Challenges in holding Simultaneous Elections

Consequences of Aligning Elections

Counter Argument: Is this the best way of improving governance?

Conclusion

The first general election to the Lok Sabha was held simultaneously with the elections of all State Assemblies in 1951-52.

This practice continued in three subsequent general elections held in the years — 1957, 1962 and 1967.

However, due to the premature dissolution of some Legislative Assemblies in 1968 and 1969, the cycle got disrupted.

As a result of premature dissolutions and extension of terms of both the Lok Sabha and various State Assemblies, the last 48 years have seen separate elections to the Lok Sabha and the Assemblies.

The Case for Simultaneous Elections in India

‘The permanent campaign’ was a phrase coined and popularised by Sidney Blumenthal, adviser to Bill and Hillary Clinton, in his 1980 book that lamented the culture of election campaigns crowding out time for policymaking. Prime Minister Narendra Modi agrees with Mr. Blumenthal. He recently bemoaned the incessant demands of electioneering for various State elections leaving little time for governance. He called for reforming India’s electoral cycle to hold simultaneous elections to State Legislatures and Parliament, ostensibly to break out of this ‘permanent campaign’ syndrome.

Arguments in support of holding Simultaneous Elections

79th Report of the Department-related Parliamentary Committee on the ‘Feasibility of Holding Simultaneous Elections to the House of People (Lok Sabha) and State Legislative Assemblies’ says that the holding of simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and state assemblies would reduce:

• The massive expenditure that is currently incurred for the conduct of separate elections;

• The policy paralysis that results from the imposition of the Model Code of Conduct during election time;  

• Impact on delivery of essential services;

• Burden on crucial manpower that is deployed during election time*;

• The disruption to normal public life associated with elections, such as increased traffic and noise pollution.

* For example, the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, which were held along with State Assembly Elections in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, was spread over nine phases and 1077 in situ companies and 1349 mobile companies of Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) were deployed,” the report states.

Law Commission proposal for Simultaneous Elections

Law Commission of India, which had suggested that elections of legislative assemblies whose term ends six months after the general elections to Lok Sabha can be clubbed together. However, the results of such elections can be declared at the end of the assembly’s tenure.

In fact the Representation of People Act, 1951 permits the Election Commission to notify general elections six months prior to the end of the terms of Lok Sabha and state assemblies.

Holding of elections in two phases: The Parliamentary Committee recommended that elections could be held in two phases. It stated that elections to some Legislative Assemblies could be held during the midterm of Lok Sabha. Elections to the remaining legislative assemblies could be held with the end of Lok Sabha’s term.

Logistical and Financial Challenges in holding Simultaneous Elections

There are several logistical and financial challenges that have to be overcome before India can hold state and central elections together:

Constitutional Amendment: For starters, the government will have to amend the Constitution to either curtail or extend the term of some of the state Assemblies to enable the EC to draw up a common poll schedule. (Articles 83, 85, 172, 174)

Gears and Equipment: Such an exercise will require large-scale purchase of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines. According to the Commission, it would need Rs 9,284.15 crore to procure the additional EVMs and VVPATs and the machines will have to be replaced every 15 years which would again entail more expenditure.

Manpower: The EC will also need more central armed forces personnel for deployment at separate polling booths meant for Lok Sabha and state assembly election

Consequences of Aligning Elections

Centralization of Polity: Political incentives for aligning elections is to increase the extent to which national politics dominates state-level electoral contests, or in other words to centralise political life. It would attempt to reverse the trend of the last several decades in which state politics has been the pre-eminent arena of Indian politics. Evidence from other countries suggests that simultaneous elections do indeed have a nationalising effect on political competition. The trend of choosing the same party at the state and the centre has gone from 68 per cent in 1999 to 77 per cent in 2004 to 76 per cent in 2009 and 86 per cent in 2014.  

International Scenario: Evidence from countries like Brazil, Argentina, Canada, Germany, the US and Europe supports the idea that elections that are held simultaneously produce greater alignment between national and regional election outcome.

Counter Argument: Is this the best way of improving governance?

When we turn to the governance implications of streamlining elections, the evidence is even less clear. The government’s argument essentially boils down to the notion that elections are a costly distraction from governance. But the real challenges of governance in India’s multi-level electoral context are more profound than that. These include:

The Challenges of Accountability: This arises from voters’ difficulties in attributing policy responsibility to one level of government or the other. If the voters can distinguish between the roles and responsibility of the state and the centre, hold the respective governments accountable in their working, then governance will automatically improve. For this what is required is voter education and awareness programs.

Divergent policy preferences across regions: Different states have different issues. One nation one election may not give the scope for accommodation of different needs of the region.

Homogenization of Polity not envisaged in the Constitution: Given the evidence that voters tend to vote for a single party when asked to cast vote simultaneously for different elections, there is a tendency that same party wins both the elections. In a federal, multi-party democracy that is India this is not desirable. A multi-party democracy was established with the vision that parties, with different ideologies, governing different states will work as a laboratory for public policy making and implementation. The best practices thus evolved could be adopted in other areas. This diversity will be sacrificed at the altar of homogenization that simultaneous elections will usher in.

Conclusion

Also states have different policy priorities and capacities which shape how well they implement the initiatives of the central government. Working upon capacity building of laggard states is more important thus. These are the real challenges for thinking about governance in India – not the frequency with which elections are held. 

These challenges require coalition building, information sharing, and political skills to navigate.

Bibliography

Discussion on Simultaneous Elections

https://www.mygov.in/group-issue/discussion-simultaneous-elections/

05.07.16: EC ready for simultaneous national, State polls

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/ec-ready-for-simultaneous-national-state polls/article8811791.eceutm_source=InternalRef&utm_medium=relatedNews&utm_campaign=RelatedNews

08.07.16: Can hold Lok Sabha, all state polls at once: Election Commission tells Law Ministry

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/election-commission-of-india-parliament-elections-state-assembly-election-clubbing-polls-modi-2840348/

07.04.16: Constitutional Experts Decry Modi’s Call to Hold Simultaneous Polls to Parliament, Assemblies

http://thewire.in/28116/constitutional-experts-decry-narendra-modis-call-to-hold-simultaneous-polls-to-parliament-state-assemblies/

India-Afghanistan Relations: Challenges and Prospects

India-Afghanistan Relations: Challenges and Prospects

UPSC GENERAL STUDIES: PAPER II (India and its neighbourhood relations)

Table of Contents

Present Situation in Afghanistan

India’s linkages with & broad objectives in Afghanistan

Recent Lows and Highs of India Afghanistan Relationship

Guiding Principles for India’s Afghanistan Policy

Novel Ways of Extending Assistance to Afghanistan

India-Afghanistan Strategic Partnership Agreement

“The closeness of the India-Afghanistan relationship is not a new phenomenon. It has existed since time immemorial. And as a close friend, ever since India's Independence, we have done and will continue to do whatever is required to be done to see Afghanistan grow and progress as a close friend.”

PM Narendra Modi

“India will stand by the people of Afghanistan as they prepare to assume the responsibility for their governance and security after the withdrawal of international forces in 2014.”

Former PM Manmohan Singh

Present Situation in Afghanistan

Security situation in Afghanistan is worsening.

Relations between Kabul and Islamabad are tense.

The peace process with the Taliban is in disarray.

There is a leadership change in Uzbekistan. Radical forces are spreading in the region as shown by suicide bombing at the Chinese embassy in Kyrgyzstan.

Note to understand Pakistan’s ploy in Afghanistan: Pakistan's former ambassador to the US, Husain Haqqani, whose book Magnificent Delusions is an essential guide, says that "Pakistan has always worried that the natural order of things would be for Afghanistan to come under the sway of India, the giant of the subcontinent. The Pakistani Army came to believe that it could gain leverage in Afghanistan through religious zealots. Afghanistan's secular groups and ethnic nationalists are all suspicious of Pakistan, so the only path in is though those who see a common religious ideology." This strategy is not new, Haqqani points out, noting that funding for such groups began in the mid-1970s, before the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979.

Is there light at the end of the tunnel? Can the insurgency be suppressed? 

The country has a democratically elected government widely viewed as legitimate. Poll after poll has suggested that the Taliban is unpopular. The Afghan army fights fiercely and loyally. And yet the Taliban comes back.

Role of Pakistan: We cannot solve the problems of Afghanistan without recognising that the insurgency against that government is shaped, aided and armed from across the border by one of the world's most powerful armies.

It is an old adage that no counterinsurgency has succeeded when the rebels have had a safe haven.

Taliban leaders have been treated as State guests, but Pakistani leadership has constantly denied these allegations in the face of increasing evidence to the contrary.

Why is it important that India works with Afghanistan to control the situation on ground? 

When the India-hating Taliban ruled Afghanistan from 1996 until December 2001, Pakistani militant groups based out of Afghanistan launched frequent cross-border attacks on Kashmir. India was in all kinds of trouble when Pakistan-based Harkat-ul-Mujahideen terrorists hijacked an Indian Airlines flight on 24 December 1999 and took it to Kandahar airport in southern Afghanistan. The eight day hijack drama ended only after India freed three high-profile Kashmiri separatist prisoners.

India’s linkages with & broad objectives in Afghanistan

India’s linkages with Afghanistan

India’s economic, political, and strategic linkages with Afghanistan have improved significantly:

Investments: Indian projects of worth $2 billion have covered various sectors.

Scholarships: Every year 1,500 Afghan students come to India on fellowships.

Military Training: Another 500 training slots are provided to officials.

Defence Equipment Supply: Last year, four Mi25 attack helicopters were supplied to Afghanistan. More military equipment from India could be in the pipeline.

Financial Assistance: An additional $1 billion assistance was committed during the visit in September 2016.

Bilateral Trade: Last year, bilateral was $835 million with more than $300 million exports from Afghanistan to India. For many years, India is the number one export market for Afghan products.

India’s broad objectives in Afghanistan include:

Assist Afghanistan, which is undergoing three simultaneous transitions: Security, Political and Economic.

Ensuring the safety and security of its assets and personnel.

Increasing trade, transit, and energy links with Central Asia through Afghanistan are added objectives.

From low to high, India-Afghanistan relationship has seen it all in the last one year (September, 2015 – September, 2016). Comment

(Author’s Note: The purpose of this question is to clarify in brief as to what has happened since Hamid Karzai stepped down and Ashraf Ghani became the president of Afghanistan. Note that during Karzai regime, India had excellent relations with Afghanistan and had even signed a Strategic Partnership Agreement.)

After President Ashraf Ghani took charge in 2014, he made a decisive shift towards mending fences with the Pakistan Army, including visits to the Pakistan General Headquarters and inviting the Army and intelligence chiefs to Kabul, and signing an MoU between intelligence agencies NDS and ISI, even as his government joined talks with the Taliban hosted by Pakistan.

President Ghani took above steps at a great risk to his popularity – domestically and with India, all in the hope Pakistan would deliver peace. That effort failed spectacularly, undermining his domestic legitimacy. The battered president has turned to India for help.

Not only has President Ghani turned to India for help, but has also unequivocally condemned Pakistan’s use of state sponsored terrorism against India and itself.

What should be India’s guiding principles, so far as getting involved in Afghanistan affairs is concerned?

Close political ties with Kabul, strong goodwill among Afghan citizens and acceptance of India as an important regional player on Afghan matters indicate that India’s aid to Afghanistan has not gone waste.

Moreover even to safeguard our own interests (as outlined above), we must redouble our efforts, and work as follows:

Coordinator of global efforts: Afghanistan is an international project. It is beyond the capacity of New Delhi alone to resolve the serious security and development challenges.

Present hand-holding desirable: However, enhanced Indian engagement at this point will be a big boost to policy-makers in Kabul. In the prevailing negative western discourse on Afghanistan, Indian experts and think-tanks can also help in changing the narrative towards a positive outcome.

Use multilateral/regional groupings to garner support for Afghanistan: The Afghanistan-India-US trilateral dialogue is going to take place in New York soon. Next month, a major international conference on Afghanistan will take place in Brussels. The Heart of Asia Ministerial is taking place in Amritsar on December 4.

With appropriate framework, India can also work out joint projects with other partners.

Security Engagement: In recent months, the news out of the country hasn’t been good: District after district has fallen to the Taliban, with Afghanistan’s 352,000-strong army proving unable to hold ground. India opens itself up to risks by siding with Afghanistan. However, allowing Afghanistan to be overrun by Islamist warlords would impose terrible costs, too. Either way, India appears to be at the cusp of its most significant overseas engagement since Sri Lanka. Each step forward must be measured.

What can India do that looks beyond traditional ways of extending assistance?

(Some novel points)

Can the Indian government get market access to the Afghan fruit industry and dry fruit growers through chartered freight flights that help sell melons, grapes and pomegranates in cities like Delhi and Mumbai?

Can the Indian government help with technological and infrastructural support to the Afghan carpet industry so that its dependence on Pakistan for final finishing process and market reduces?

Lastly, can small Indian businesses be encouraged to set up shops in secured Special Economic Zones that Afghanistan has created in abandoned bases of US and Nato forces?

India-Afghanistan Strategic Partnership Agreement

The Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) between the two sides, inter alia, provides for assistance to help rebuild:

Afghanistan's infrastructure and institutions;

Education and technical assistance to re-build indigenous Afghan capacity in different areas;

Encouraging investment in Afghanistan's natural resources;

Providing duty free access to the Indian market for Afghanistan's exports;

Support for an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned, broad-based and inclusive process of peace and reconciliation;

Advocating the need for a sustained and long-term commitment to Afghanistan by the international community.

Politico-security component: The agreement states clearly that the strategic partnership is not directed against “any other state or group of states”. India has merely agreed to assist in the “training, equipping and capacity building programmes for Afghan national security forces.”

High Powered Implementation Mechanism: A “Partnership Council” at the Foreign Ministers’ level with four separate joint working groups, on political & security consultations, trade and economic cooperation, capacity development and education, and social cultural & civil society interactions, will be set up. The numerous existing dialogue mechanisms between the two countries will be consolidated and brought under the Partnership Council. The two sides will also have a regular strategic dialogue. The setting up of a Partnership Council will ensure that bilateral relations get sustained attention.

Bibliography

17.09.16: The Afghan Push

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/afghanistan-ashraf-ghani-visit-new-delhi-india-pakistan-jihad-terror-military-the-afghan-push-3035036/

20.09.16: Coherence in the neighborhood

http://m.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/indias-diplomacy-coherence-in-the-neighbourhood/article9121256.ece

25.09.16: India's Afghanistan policy on right track'

http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/india-s-afghanistan-policy-is-on-the-right-track/story-1ydcHErzWmglejVp19qCeN.html

29.08.15: India Rebuffs Afghanistan on Strategic Meet

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-rebuffs-afghanistan-on-strategic-meet/article7592059.ece

Embassy of India, Kabul, Afghanistan – Webpage

http://eoi.gov.in/kabul/?0354?000