Federal and Unitary Features of Indian State

Unity government is in which all the powers are vested in the national government and the regional governments, if they exist take authority from the national Government. 

Federal government is one in which powers are divided between the national government and the regional government by the constitution itself and both operate in their respective jurisdictions independently. 

Comparing Federal and Unitary Features:

US is the first and the oldest federation in the world. it was formed in 1787 following the American Revolution (1775- 83) it comprises 50 states (originally 13 states) and is taken as the model of federation. the Canadian federation comprising 10 provinces is also quite cold formed in 1867. 

Constitution of India provides for a federal system of government in the country. It was adopted due to 2 main reasons- large size of the country and its socio cultural diversity. 

The term federation has nowhere being used in the constitution. article one of the constitution describes India as a union of states. doctor BR ambedkar said that the phrase union of states has been preferred to federation of states to indicate 2 things: 

• Indian federation is not the result of an agreement among the states like the American federation 
• the states have no right to secede from the federation and hence the federation is union because it is indestructible. 

The Indian federal system is based on the Canadian model and not on the American as follows: 

• in its formation 
• in its preference to the term union 
• in its centralising tendency that is vesting more powers in the center 

Federal features of the constitution 

• Dual polity: the constitution establishes a dual polity consisting of the union at the centre and the states at the periphery. the union government bills with the matters of national importance and the state government look after the matters of regional and local importance. 
• Written constitution: the constitution of India is a written document and also the lengthiest constitution of the world. it contains a preamble, 470 articles and 12 schedules. it specifies the structure, organization, powers and functions of both the central and state governments and prescribe the limits with in which they must operate. 
• Division of powers: the constitution divided the powers between the centre and the states in terms of union list, state list and concurrent list in the 7th schedule. Then union list consists of 98 subjects, the state list consists of 59 subjects and the concurrent list consist of 52 subjects. both the centre and the states can make laws on the subject of the concurrent list but in the case of conflict, the central law prevails. the residuary subjects are given to the centre. 
• Supremacy of constitution: constitution is the supreme law of the land. this means that this constitution should be binding on the federal and state governments. neither of the 2 governments should be in a position to overwrite the provisions of the constitution relating to the powers and status which each is to enjoy. this requirement is satisfied by the supremacy overriding authority which is accorded only to the provisions relating to the division of powers 
• Rigidity: power of amending the provisions of the constitution which regulate the status and powers of the federal and state governments should not be confined exclusively either to the federal or state governments, but must be a joint act of both. as regards the provisions of the constitution that are not concerned with the federal system, there is no need to maintain the same rigidity. hence the constitution is rigid to the extent that those provisions which are concerned with the federal structure can be amended only by the joint action of the central and state governments. search provisions required for their amendment a special majority of the parliament and also an approval of half of the state legislatures. 
• Independent judiciary: the constitution establishes an independent judiciary headed by the Supreme Court for 2 purposes – one is to protect the supremacy of the constitution by exercising the power of judicial review and the second is to settle the dispute between the centre and the states or between the states. 
• Bicameralism: the constitution provides for bicameral legislature consisting of an upper house and a lower house. The Rajya Sabha represents the states of Indian federation while the Lok Sabha represents the people of India as a whole. 

Unitary features of the constitution 

• Strong centre: The division of powers is in the favour of the center as we can see in the 7th schedule the union list contains more subjects than the state list and also the more important subjects have been included in the union list. in case of conflict in case of subjects in the concurrent list the central law prevails. finally this residuary powers have also been left with the center thus making the center very strong. 
• States are not indestructible: Under Article 3 center can change the boundaries of existing states in car out new stage they should be seen in the perspective of the historical situation at the time of independence. at that time there were no independent states. 
• Single constitution: the constitution of India is not only the constitution of the center but also those of the states booth centre and the states must operate within this framework. 
• Flexibility of the constitution: the process of the constitutional amendment is less rigid than what is found in other federations. the constitution of India can be amended by the unilateral action of the parliament, either by simple majority or by special majority. the power to initiate an amendment to the constitution lies only with the center. 
• No equality of state representation: speicher give an representation in the Rajya Sabha on the basis of population The equality of units in a federation best guaranteed by their equal representation in the upper House of federal legislature. but this is not applicable in case of Indian states they have an equal representation in the Rajya Sabha. 
• Emergency provisions: the president of India can declare 3 different types of emergencies under article 352, 356 and 360. Under article 352 for an act of war, external aggression or internal armed rebellion, article 356 for the failure of constitutional machinery in a state and under article 360 to meet with financial crisis, different types of emergencies can be proclaimed by the president. during the operation of an emergency, the powers of the state governments are greatly curtailed and the union government acquires all the powers. if the president declares a national emergency for the whole or apart of India under article 352, the parliament can make laws on subjects, which are otherwise, exclusively under the state list. The parliament can give directions to the states on the matter in which to exercise their executive authority in matters within their charge. the financial provisions can also be suspended. thus in one stroke, the Indian federation acquires a unitary character. however such a situation is not possible in other federal constitutions. 
• Single citizenship: India follows the principle of uniform and single citizenship, but in the USA and Australia, double citizenship is followed. This means that people are citizens of both the federal state and their own state which has its own constitution. integrated judiciary the federal principle envisages a dual system of courts. in India there is a single integrated judicial system for the whole of the country. we have unified judiciary with the Supreme Court at the apex. the high courts work under its supervision. Similarly, the other courts in a state work under the respective state High Court. 
• All India services: under article 312, the All India services officials IAS, I PS and FS are appointed by the center but are paid and controlled by the states. However, in the case of any irregularities for misconduct committed by the officer, the states cannot initiate any disciplinary action except suspending him/ her. 
• Integrated audit machinery: the Comptroller and Auditor General of India audits the accounts of not only the central government but also those of the states. But, his appointment and removal is done by the president without consulting the states. and this restricts the financial autonomy of the states. 
• Parliament authority over state list: parliament is in power to legislate on any subject of the state list if Rajya Sabha passes a resolution to that effect in the national interest. 
• Appointment of Governor General: The governor is appointed by the president and he is the head of the state. he holds office during the pleasure of the president and also acts as an agent of the center. through him, the centre exercises control over the states. this feature is adopted by the Canadian system. 
• Integrated election machinery: election Commission conducts elections not only to the central legislature but also to the state legislatures. the election Commission is constituted by the president and the states have no say in this matter. This is seen in the case of removal of its numbers as well. 
• Veto over state bills: The governor is empowered to reserve certain types of bills passed by the it legislature for the consideration of the president and the president can withhold his SN to such bills not only in the first instance but also in the second instance and thus the president enjoys absolute veto overstate bills. 

 Thus we see, her constitution establishes a federal state in terms of the structure of governments, but it adults a unitary character in terms of functions. this is particularly true in times of emergencies when all the powers are concentrated in the hands of centre, as well As for the nature of legislative powers, administrative and financial control of centre over the states. Thus, it is quite obvious that the Indian constitution is more unitary than federal in nature. 

It is for this reason that doctor KC wheare said: “Indian constitution establish is a system of government which is at the most quasi federal, almost devolutionary in character; a unitary state with subsidiary federal features rather than a federal state with unitary features.” to say that the Indian constitution establishes a system of government which is only federal in form but unitary in spirit. Here, the centre has been made strong at the cost of the states. 

It must be noted that whatever the structure of the constitution and the resultant government is – federal, quasi – federal or unitary – it’s real nature depends on the spirit of functionaries occupying the government. We can run it in the spirit of cooperative federalism or unitary centralism. the beauty of Indian constitution is that it has been made relatively flexible so as to showcase its federal or unitary face in accordance with the socio political situations in the country. doctor ambedkar, the chief architect of the Indian constitution, rightly remarked, “our constitution would be both unitary as well as federal according to the requirements of time and circumstances”.