Flam debeatures of the federalism
Answers
Answer:
India is a federal republic. So, how can its federal members — the federations, the States — get treated like a girlfriend/boyfriend that can be fobbed off with a breach-of-promise text message that reads “Force Majeure...”?
Imagine learning of Alexander Hamilton, federalist and treasurer, during the same year that the Central government was to renege on its monetary promise to its federal members?
On a wintry evening in London earlier this year, I attended a performance of the hit-musical Hamilton, based on the wondrous life of Alexander Hamilton, a Founding Father of the United States of America who served as its first Secretary of the Treasury.
After two decades spent largely travelling at 30,000 feet and living out of suitcases, my life became very grounded after being elected MLA in 2016 (the 22 wards in my constituency are missing elected City Councilors as Local Body polls have not been held in Tamil Nadu for four years). So, it was both unusual and ironic that I should learn about Hamilton the Federalist, at the Capital of the Colonial power he fought, while I myself served as an MLA in one of the least-Federal, and most centrally-controlled large nation on Earth.
Though Article 1 of India’s Constitution explicitly states that India “shall be a Union of States”, the framers skewed the balance of power in the newly formed country heavily towards the Union Government in New Delhi. This imbalance was furthered by the 42nd Amendment to India’s Constitution, enacted during the draconian period (Emergency) when India was under the infamous Maintenance of Internal Security Act (or MISA).