Federalism is a constitutional concept that defines a system of government where power is divided between a central authority and constituent regional units, each operating independently in its own sphere. The Indian model is often described as quasi-federal because the Union government holds a stronger position than the states, a feature designed to maintain national unity and integrity following the Partition.
The concept's origin lies in the need to accommodate India's vast diversity while ensuring a strong Centre, with its foundations laid by the Government of India Act, 1935, which introduced a division of powers. The Constitution of India, which came into force in 1950, adopted this structure, referring to India in Article 1 as a "Union of States."
The mechanism works primarily through the distribution of legislative, administrative, and executive powers detailed in Part XI of the Constitution. Article 246 and the Seventh Schedule contain three lists: the Union List (100 subjects), the State List (61 subjects), and the Concurrent List (52 subjects), which delineate the respective law-making jurisdictions. However, the Centre can legislate on State subjects under specific conditions, such as during a national emergency (Article 250) or when deemed in the national interest (Article 249).
A key related concept is cooperative federalism, which the Sarkaria Commission, constituted in 1983, sought to strengthen. The Commission, which submitted its final report in 1988, recommended the liberal use of the Inter-State Council (Article 263) for coordination and suggested that the use of Article 356 (President's Rule) be restricted to extreme cases. Federalism is also connected to the Basic Structure doctrine, affirmed by the Supreme Court in cases like S.R. Bommai vs. Union of India, which held that federalism is an unalterable feature of the Constitution.
A significant recent change was the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019, which revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and reorganized the state into two Union Territories, a move seen by some as a centralizing trend. Despite such centralizing actions, the core division of powers through the Seventh Schedule remains the fundamental structure of Indian federalism.