Indian Polity · Topic 13 of 25
Distribution of legislative, administrative and financial powers between Union and States, and inter-state coordination
The Basics
The Seventh Schedule of the Constitution tells Parliament and the State legislatures what each can make laws on. It contains three lists: the Union List, the State List and the Concurrent List, found in Articles 245 to 248.
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Legislative relations describe how the Constitution arranges law-making power between the Union and the states, so that both can function without constant clashes. Articles 245 to 255, placed in Part 11 of the Constitution, lay down this scheme, along with a few other scattered articles. Four aspects make up this relationship: the territorial reach of Central and state laws, the distribution of subjects (already studied through the Seventh Schedule), Parliament's power to legislate on state subjects in special situations, and the Centre's control over state legislation.
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The normal rule is that only a state legislature can make laws on a State List subject. But the Constitution allows Parliament to legislate on State List matters in five extraordinary circumstances, so that national needs are not blocked by the ordinary division of powers.
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Administrative relations decide who runs day-to-day government work on a given subject. They also decide how the Union watches over or helps the states. Articles 256 to 263 in Part Eleven of the Constitution, along with a few other scattered articles, lay down this framework.
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Financial relations between the Centre and the states are laid down mainly in Articles 268 to 293 in Part Twelve of the Constitution. These articles cover how taxes are allocated, shared and granted.
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Goods and Services Tax, or GST, is a single indirect tax on the supply of goods and services. It replaced many separate central and state taxes. It was introduced through the Constitution (One Hundred and First Amendment) Act, 2016.
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India is called federal in form but unitary in spirit. The Constitution gives the Centre tools to override or control the States. These tools apply when national unity, security or economic planning demands it. The framers chose this design because India had to integrate over five hundred princely states and provinces after independence. They feared a weak centre could not handle disintegration, poverty or large-scale planning. So they built unitary features into an otherwise federal structure.
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Nation-building continued after Independence. From the 1960s to 1980s, people in several regions sought greater autonomy. Some groups even demanded separation from India. The state responded with force, political dialogue, boundary reorganisation and peace accords.
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Rivers do not respect state boundaries, but states depend on river water for drinking, irrigation and power. When one state's use of water affects another downstream or upstream state, a dispute arises. The Constitution provides a special mechanism to settle such disputes outside the ordinary court system.
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The Inter-State Council improves coordination between states, and between the Centre and the states, on matters of common interest. It is not a court. It only discusses, advises and recommends; it gives no binding verdicts.
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The North Eastern Council is a statutory, not constitutional, advisory body created for the north-eastern region of India.
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Zonal Councils are statutory, not constitutional, bodies. They were set up by an ordinary law of Parliament, the States Reorganisation Act of 1956, and do not find any mention in the Constitution itself.
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When the Constitution began in 1950, all property, assets and liabilities of the old Dominion of India and the Indian states passed to the Union and the states. Any property that would otherwise go to the government for want of an owner also vests in the state or Union.
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