how is federalism practises in india
Answers
1.Many old States have vanished and many new States have been created. Areas, boundaries and names of the States have been changed. In 1947, the boundaries of several old States 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, ethnicityor geography. These include States like Nagaland, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand.
2 . Language policy : A second test for 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. ButHindi is the mother tongue of only about 40 per cent of Indians. Therefore, there were many safeguards to protect other languages. Besides Hindi, there are 21 other languages recognised as Scheduled Languages Constitution
3 . Centre-State relations : restructuring the Centre - State relations is one more way in which federalism has been strengthened in practice . since 1990 , COALITION GOVTS were 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 .
Like other federalism, in India constitutional provisions are necessary for the success of federalism, but these are not sufficient for its practical application. If the federal experiment has succeeded in India, it is not merely because of the clearly laid out constitutional provisions. The real success of federalism in India can be attributed to the nature of democratic politics in our country, which are;
• Spirit of freedom.
• Respect for diversity
• Desire for living together
• Secular outlook
Major tests or experiments for the success of federalism were:
(a) LINGUISTIC STATES: The first and a major test for democratic politics in our country was the creation of linguistic states. In 1947, the boundaries of several old states of India were changed to ensure that people who spoke the same languages lived in the same state.
The formation of linguistic states has made the country more united and also made the administration easier.
(b) LANGUAGE POLICY: Framing of language policy was another test for Indian federation. Under the language policy, Hindi has been identified as the official language. At the same time many safeguards have been provided for other languages.
(c) CENTRAL-STATE RELATIONS: Restructuring the center-state relations is one more way in which federalism has been strengthened in practice. The period after 1990 saw the beginning of the new era of coalition government and the rise of regional political parties in many states of the country.
All of these tests and practical aspects show that in India federal power sharing is more effective today than it was in the early years after the Constitution came into force.
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