Question

how has the centre state relations been restructured to strengthen federalism

Answer 1

For a long time, the Central Government misused the constitutional power to dismiss State Governments that were controlled by the rival parties. But the rise of regional political parties in many states has changed the Centre-State relations. All this changed significantly after 1990.
This was 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. It led to a new culture of power sharing and respect for the autonomy of State Governments. This trend was supported by the Constitution and made it difficult for the Central Government to dismiss any State Government in an arbitrary manner.

Answer 2

Answer:

Federalism involves the distribution of power between the Centre and the State. The Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India has three lists, namely the Centre List, the State List and the Concurrent List. These lists provide various legislative heads under which ether the Centre or the State or both have power to legislate and make laws. Therefore for items listed in the State List, the States have sole power to make laws. This is the strongest feature of Indian Federalism.

Apart from this Constituional Amendments can be passed only after obtaining special majority, which means that the amendment needs to be passed by a minimum number of State Legislatures. This prevents the Centre from acting unilaterally and changing the Constitution and thus laws of the country.