Embedded Files
Download Math 30 SQPs pdf
Question - 1
Distinguish between a Federal form of government and a Unitary form of government.
Answer:Federal Government:
Federalism is a system of government in which the power is divided between a central authority and various constituent units of the country.
One is the government for the entire country which is usually responsible for a few subjects of common national interest. The others are governments at the level of provinces or states that look after much of the day-to-day administering of their state.
Both these levels of government enjoy their power independently of the other.
Unitary Government:
Under the unitary system, there is only one level of government, or the sub-units are subordinate to the central government.
The central government can pass orders to the provincial or local government.
Ex:- China.
Question - 2
Explain the key features of federalism.
Answer:Two or more levels: There are two or more levels (or tiers) of government.
Jurisdiction: Different tiers of government govern the same citizens, but each tier has its JURISDICTION in specific matters of legislation, taxation, and administration.
Constitutionally Guaranteed: The jurisdictions of the respective levels or tiers of government are specified in the Constitution. So the existence and authority of each tier of government are constitutionally guaranteed.
Provisions can not be unilaterally changed: The fundamental provisions of the constitution cannot be unilaterally changed by one level of government. Such changes require the consent of both the levels of government.
Courts have the power to interpret: Courts have the power to interpret the Constitution and the powers of different levels of government. The highest court acts as an umpire if disputes arise between different levels of government in the exercise of their respective powers.
Sources of revenue: Sources of revenue for each level of government are clearly specified to ensure its financial autonomy.
Dual objectives:
The federal system thus has dual objectives: to safeguard and promote the unity of the country, while at the same time accommodating regional diversity.
Governments at different levels should agree to some rules of power-sharing. They should also trust that each would abide by its part of the agreement.
An ideal federal system has both aspects: mutual trust and agreement to live together.
Question - 3
Explain the two routes to forming a federal system.
Answer:'Coming Together' Federations:
The first route involves independent States coming together to form a bigger unit so that by pooling sovereignty and retaining identity, they can increase their security.
This type of ‘coming together’ federations include the USA, Switzerland, and Australia.
In this first category of federations, all the constituent States usually have equal power and are strong vis-à-vis the federal government.
'Holding Together' Federations:
The second route is where a large country divides its power between the constituent States and the national government.
India, Spain, and Belgium are examples of this kind of ‘holding together’ federations.
In this second category, the central government tends to be more powerful vis-à-vis the States. Very often, different constituent units of the federation have unequal powers. Some units are granted special powers.
Question - 4
"Very often, different constituent units of the federation have unequal powers. Some units are granted special powers.". Explain.
Answer:Some units of the Indian Union enjoy very little power. These are areas that are too small to become an independent State but could not be merged with any of the existing States.
These areas, like Chandigarh, Lakshadweep, or the capital city of Delhi, are called Union Territories. These territories do not have the powers of a State.
The Central Government has special powers in running these areas.
Question - 5
Elaborate on the role of the Judiciary in the Indian federal system.
Answer:Courts have the power to interpret the Constitution and the powers of different levels of government. The highest court acts as an umpire if disputes arise between different levels of government in exercising their respective powers.
The judiciary plays an important role in overseeing the implementation of constitutional provisions and procedures.
In case of any dispute about the division of powers, the High Courts and the Supreme Court make a decision.
Question - 6
"It is not easy to make changes to the power-sharing arrangement.". Explain.
Answer:This sharing of power between the Union Government and the State governments is basic to the structure of the Constitution.
It is not easy to make changes to this power-sharing arrangement.
The Parliament cannot on its own change this arrangement. Any change to it has to be first passed by both the Houses of Parliament with at least a two-thirds majority.
Then it must be ratified by the legislatures of at least half of the states.
Question - 7
What makes India a federal country?
Answer:The Constitution declared India as a Union of States. Although it did not use the word federation, the Indian Union is based on the principles of federalism.
Union List includes subjects of national importance such as the defence of the country, foreign affairs, banking, communications, and currency. They are included in this list because we need a uniform policy on these matters throughout the country. The Union Government alone can make laws relating to the subjects mentioned in the Union List.
State List contains subjects of State and local importance such as police, trade, commerce, agriculture, and irrigation. The State Governments alone can make laws relating to the subjects mentioned in the State List.
Concurrent List includes subjects of common interest to both the Union Government as well as the State Governments, such as education, forest, trade unions, marriage, adoption, and succession. Both the Union as well as the State Governments can make laws on the subjects mentioned in this list. If their laws conflict with each other, the law made by the Union Government will prevail.
According to our constitution, the Union Government has the power to legislate on these 'residuary' subjects.
Question - 8
How is federalism practised?
(Or)
The real success of federalism in India can be attributed to the nature of democratic politics in our country. Why?
(Or)
Democratic Politics ensured that the spirit of federalism, respect for diversity, and desire for living together became shared ideals in our country. Explain.
Answer:Linguistic States:
The creation of linguistic States was the first and a major test for democratic politics in our country.
In 1947, the boundaries of several old States of India were changed in order to create new States.
This was done to ensure that people who spoke the same language lived in the same State.
Some States were created not on the basis of language but to recognise differences based on culture, ethnicity, or geography. These include States like Nagaland, Uttarakhand, and Jharkhand.
The experience has shown that the formation of linguistic States has actually made the country, more united. It has also made administration easier.
Flexible Language Policy:
A second test for the Indian Federation is the language policy. Our Constitution did not give the status of national language to any one language. Hindi was identified as the official language. Besides Hindi, there are 21 other languages recognised as Scheduled Languages by the Constitution.
According to the Constitution, the use of English for official purposes was to stop in 1965. However, many non-Hindi speaking States demanded that the use of English continue. In Tamil Nadu, this movement took a violent form.
The Central Government responded by agreeing to continue the use of English along with Hindi for official purposes.
Promotion of Hindi continues to be the official policy of the Government of India. Promotion does not mean that the Central Government can impose Hindi on States where people speak a different language.
The flexibility shown by Indian political leaders helped our country avoid the kind of situation that Sri Lanka finds itself in.
Centre-State Relations:
Restructuring the Centre-State relations is one more way in which federalism has been strengthened in practice.
For a long time, the same party ruled both at the Centre and in most of the States. This meant that the State governments did not exercise their rights as autonomous federal units.
In those days, the Central Government would often misuse the Constitution to dismiss the State governments that were controlled by rival parties. This undermined the spirit of federalism.
After 1990, was also the beginning of the era of Coalition Governments at the Centre. Since no single party got a clear majority in the Lok Sabha, the major national parties had to enter into an alliance with many parties including several regional parties to form a government at the Centre.
This led to a new culture of power sharing and respect for the autonomy of State Governments. This trend was supported by a major judgement of the Supreme Court that made it difficult for the Central Government to dismiss state governments in an arbitrary manner.
Question - 9
What is Decentralization? Why is it necessary?
Answer:When power is taken away from Central and State governments and given to local governments, it is called decentralization.
The basic idea behind decentralization is that there are a large number of problems and issues which are best settled at the local level. People have better knowledge of problems in their localities. They also have better ideas on where to spend money and how to manage things more efficiently.
Necessity (or) Rationale:
A vast country like India cannot be run only through these two tiers.
States in India are as large as independent countries of Europe. In terms of population, Uttar Pradesh is bigger than Russia, and Maharashtra is about as big as Germany.
Many of these States are internally very diverse. There is thus a need for power sharing within these States.
Federal power sharing in India needs another tier of government, below that of the State governments. This is the rationale for decentralization of power. Thus, resulted in a third tier of government, called local government.
Besides, at the local level it is possible for people to directly participate in decision making. This helps to inculcate a habit of democratic participation. Local government is the best way to realize one important principle of democracy, namely local self-government.
Question - 10
State the differences between the local government before and after the Constitutional amendment in 1992.
Answer:(Note:- Write this answer in Tabular Form or Columnar Form)
Before 1992:
Villages and municipalities in urban areas were set up in all the States. But these were directly under the control of state governments.
Elections to these local governments were not held regularly.
Local governments did not have any powers or resources of their own. Thus, there was very little decentralization in effective terms.
After Constitutional Amendment 1992:
A major step towards decentralisation was taken in 1992. The Constitution was amended to make the third tier of democracy more powerful and effective. Why?
Now it is constitutionally mandated to hold regular elections for local government bodies.
Seats are reserved in the elected bodies and the executive heads of these institutions for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes.
At least one-third of all positions are reserved for women.
An independent institution called the State Election Commission has been created in each State to conduct panchayat and municipal elections.
The State governments are required to share some powers and revenue with local government bodies. The nature of sharing varies from State to State.
Question - 11
Explain the system of Local-self Government.
Answer:(I) Village Panchayat:
Rural local government is popularly known by the name panchayati raj. Each village, or a group of villages in some States, has a gram panchayat.
This is a council consisting of several ward members, often called panch, and a president or sarpanch.
They are directly elected by all the adult population living in that ward or village. It is the decision-making body for the entire village.
The panchayat works under the overall supervision of the gram sabha. All the voters in the village are its members.
Gram Sabha has to meet at least twice or thrice a year to approve the annual budget of the gram panchayat and to review the performance of the gram panchayat.
(II) Zilla Parishad:
The local government structure goes right up to the district level. A few gram panchayats are grouped together to form what is usually called a panchayat samiti or block or Mandal.
The members of this representative body are elected by all the panchayat members in that area.
All the panchayat Samitis or Mandals in a district together constitute the zilla (district) parishad.
Most members of the Zilla parishad are elected. Members of the Lok Sabha and MLAs of that district and some other officials of other district-level bodies are also its members.
Zilla Parishad chairperson is the political head of the Zilla Parishad.
(III) Urban Local Government:
Municipalities are set up in towns.
Big cities are constituted into municipal corporations.
Both municipalities and municipal corporations are controlled by elected bodies consisting of people’s representatives.
Municipal chairperson is the political head of the municipality. In a municipal corporation, such an officer is called the mayor.
Question - 12
What are the challenges faced by Local Governments?
Answer:While elections are held regularly and enthusiastically, gram sabhas are not held regularly.
Most state governments have not transferred significant powers to the local governments.
Nor have they been given adequate resources. We are thus still a long way from realising the ideal of self-government.
Google Sites
Report abuse