AT the risk of repeating cliches, any discussion on an institutional structure for mediating centre-state relations, must begin with a reaffirmation of why federalism is so critical to the survival of our democracy. Conventionally, federalism is treated merely as a power sharing arrangement between two or more levels of government, at most as a dual polity. It is, in fact, much more. It is first...
Custodians of the Republic
ONE Governor in India is regarded as being ‘something’ – the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. This is as it should be. He controls money which controls everything. He holds gold for the country. And gold holds fascination for India; always has. In history, sovereigns mint. In British mints, a gold coin called ‘sovereign’ has long been minted; still is. The RBI Governor is in a sense...
An emerging national federalism
THE Union model of Indian federalism1 has six systemic properties: (i) Autonomy (of polities, institutions and communities); (ii)Integration (coalescing people, polity and region into a federal nation); (iii) Centralization (contextualized and authorized transfer of authority from lower units to federal/central government, facilitating national governance in many macro areas of national...
Green federalism
INDIAN Federalism is constantly battling with its past. Centuries of centralized colonial rule were followed by decades of governments only too willing to assume this legacy in the mistaken belief that it was the only way forward to keep the nation together. A staging post in this long journey was reached in 2014 when a chief minister assumed the reins of the Union with the rallying cry of...
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