Q12 What is the importance of judiciary in a federal system?

Ans Importa nce of J udi ciar y:

i) The ju diciary kee ps a c he ck on the governm en t so th at governm ent does not ta ke any ar bit rary
(unrea sona bleor unj ust ifie d) ste p .

ii) It restricts the powers o f the central govern ment so that it does not interfer e in the functioning of the
state govern ment.
iii) It helps the state gover nments to maintain an autonomous status, so that state govern ments c an
operate fr eel y without the interfer ence o f the central govern m ent.
iv) Judiciar y helps in maintaining the spirit of power s haring in a true sense. In case o f an y dispute
about division of power then Supreme Court and High Court ma ke a decision.
v) Judiciar y overse es the imple mentation of constitutional provisions and procedures.

Q 13 What is t he popular na me given t o r ur al local gove rn me nt?

Ans P ancha yati Raj

Q 16 Define C oaliti on gove rn me nt and give ex ample?

Ans A govern ment for med by the co ming together of a t least t wo political parties. Usuall y partners in a
coalition government for m a political alliance and adopt a common progra m.
Exa mple: ND A govern ment led by BJP .
UP A govern ment led by Co ngress

Q 17 What are R esi duary Subj ect s or R esi duary Pow ers?
Ans R esi duary Subj ect s: Subjects which are not present in any of the lists mentioned in the constitution
are kno wn as Residuar y Su bjects. Union Govern ment has the powers to ma ke la ws on Residuary
Subjects. Such subjects include: Computer soft war e, e -commer ce et c. Thes e subjects ca me into being
aft er the constitution was c reated.

Q 18 Write s hort not e on Uni on Li st, State list and Conc ur re nt List?
Ex plain the t hre e -fol d dis tributi on of legislati ve pow ers betw een the U ni on G over nme nt and State
Gover n me nt? Ex plain t he pow er shari ng betw een Ce ntr e a nd State i n I ndia?
What ar e the legislati ve pow ers distri bute d betw een state and c e ntr al gover nme nt? Ex plain.
Ans U ni on List: It contains those subjects for which Union Govern ment alone can make la ws. A unifor m
policy is required throughout the country for such subjects. Henc e, Union Government ma kes la ws
related to them.
Subj ect s incl ude d i n U nion List are: D e fence o f the country, Foreign Affairs, B anking, Communic ation
and Currency et c.

State List: It contains subjects of state and local i mportance. Stat e Govern ment a lone can ma ke la ws on
these subjects.
Subj ect s incl ude d i n the State List are : contains subjects such as P olice, Trade, Commerc e, Agri culture
and Irrigation etc.
Conc ur re nt List: It includes subjects which are co mmon interest to both the Uni on Govern ment and the
State Go vern ment. Both Union Govern ment and the State Govern ments can ma ke la ws on these subjects
but if there is a conflict or dispute then the laws made by the Union Govern ment will prevail.
Subj ect s incl ude d i n the C onc urr ent List are: Educa tion, Forest, Trade Unions, Marriage, Adoption
and Succession etc.

Q 19 Restr uct uri ng Ce ntr e -State r elati ons is one more w ay in w hich fe der alis m has bee n
stre ngthe ne d in pr acti ce?
Ans R e fer Q8 (c)

Q 20 The fe de ral pow er shari ng is more eff ecti ve t o day t han it w as in the earl y years aft er t he
Constit utions ca me i nto f orc e?
Or
How has the ris e of r egional politic al partie s made f eder al pow er sharing mor e effec tive t oday?
Ans Ri se of t he Regional Partie s:
i) Since 1990s, no national part y was able to se cure ma jority in Lok Sabha on its own. Hence the y had to
for m allianc e with state par ties. The stat e parties pla ye d an important role in formation of coalition
govern ment. This is how the y contributed in stren gthening federalis m and de mocrac y in our country.
ii) Initially the central government dominated the stat e govern ments but after 1990 the whole situation
changed as the er a of coali tion gove r nme nt started be cause no maj or national party w as able t o get
maj ority to f or m gover nment on it s ow n. The region al parties beca me strong.
iii) To for m a coalition government, the major national parties needed the support of re gional parties.
Due to this a new culture of pow er sharing has start ed i n I ndi a and state go ver n ments st arted enjoyin g
autonomy.

iv) Supreme court gave ma ny judge ments to make it difficult for the central gove rnment to dismi ss stat e
govern ments at will. This has gi ven strength to feder al structure in India.

Q 21 M ention t he diffic ulti es and c halle nge s fac e d by local gove rn me nts i n I ndi a?
Or
We ar e a long w ay from r ealisi ng the i de als of self - gove rn me nt. Jus tify.
Ans Di ffi culties fac ed by Local Go vern ments such as P anchayats in India are:
1 . Irregul arity: Gra m S abhas are not held regularly.
2 . Lac k of Pow er: State govern ments ha ve not transfe rred enough powers to the local govern ments.
3 . Lac k of Res ourc es: Stat e govern ments have not provided enough resources to the local govern ments.

Q 22 Why is it diffi c ult to ma ke changes i n the pow er shari ng ar range m e nt be tw een U nion
gove rn me nt and Stat e gover nme nt.
Ans
(a) The P arliament cannot make any changes in constitution so as make changes in the power sharing
arrange ment.
(b) B oth the H ouse s of P arliame nt has t o pass it w ith at le ast tw o -thir ds maj ority.
(c) This change has t o be ratifie d by (ac ce pte d by) the legisl atures of at l eas t half of t he tot al st ates
in I ndi a.
(d) The Judici ary als o doe s not allow the Ce ntr al gover n me nt to dis miss St ate Gover n me nt.

Q 23 What ma ke I ndia a fe de ral c ountry?

Ans
(a) Thre e tier syst e m: The constitution originally provided for a t wo tier s yste m of govern ment i.e
Union
govern ment and the State govern ment. Lat er third tier of federalis m wa s added in the for m of
Municipalities and P anchayats. Thes e different tiers en joy s eparate jurisdiction.

(b) Di vision of Pow er: The constitution demarcat es the legisl ative po wers o f the central and the state
govern ments through three lists. The y are:
(i) Union list:
It includes, subjects of national importance such as defenc e, foreign a ffair s, banking currenc y,
communic ations. The y ar e included in this list because we ne ed a unifor m policy on these matter s
throughout the country.
The Union govern ment alone can make la ws r elating t o the subjects mentioned in the Union lists.
(ii) State list:
It includes matter s of st ate and local level i mportance. The state govern ment can alone ma ke de cisions
on these areas. The y include matter s like police, trade, agriculture, co mme rce and irrigation.
(iii) Conc urr ent List:
It includes those subjects which are of co mmon interes t to both the Central as wel l as State Govern ment
Both the State and Central Govern ment can make la ws on the subjects mentioned in the list: marria ge,
trade unions, education, forest, adoption and successio n. If their is a conflict with each other, the law
made b y the Central Gover nment will prevail.
(iv) Resi duary Subiect s:
The subjects which do not fall in any of the three lists or subjects that came up aft er the constitution was
made are known as r esiduary po wer s e.g. co mputers The Central Govern ment has been given, the power
to legislate on these residuar y subjects.

d) I nde pe nde nt Judici ary:

Judiciar y pla ys an i mportant role in over seeing the i mplementation of constitutional provisions and
procedures. In case of an y dispute about division of power s, the High Courts and Supreme Courts ma ke a
decision.
e) Separate Source of Revenue:
1. The union and state gove rnments ha ve the power s to raise resource s b y levying taxe s in order to carry
on government and the responsibilities assigned to each of them.

TRY THESE Q UESTIO NS

Q 24 “The Indi an Fe der ati on w as pr acti ce d on a f ew ex peri me nts”. Ex plain any 2 ex peri me nts f or
the s ucce ss of I ndi an Fe de rati on.
Ans .

Q 25 What is t he r eal r eas on f or t he s ucce ss of f eder alis m i n I ndia.

Ans .

Q 26 Indi a is fe de ral st ate w ith a unitary bi as.

Ans .

Q 27 What are t he s ubje ct s that do not f all in any of the t hr ee lis ts? What are thei r feat ures?
Ans .

Q 28 Whi ch l anguage w as ide ntifie d as t he Offi cial language in t he I ndi an C ons titution? What
pe rce nt of people s peak t his lang uage?
Ans .

Q 29 “Federali s m is s uit able only for big countries”. Do you agre e w ith this st ate me n t? Give
reasons. .
Ans .

Q 30 What is the relationship between de mocra c y and power sharing?

Ans .

Q 31 What policies have strengthened feder alis m in India?

Ans .

Q 14 Ex plain t he organiz at ion of local s elf gove r nme nt up t o the le vel of dist ri ct?
Or
Ex plai n the organisati on of panc hay at Raj Syste m?
Or
How is local gover nme nt organi se d at village le vel, bloc k l evel and dist rict le vel?
Ans P ancha yati Raj S yste m :
Village Level
i) Each village or a group of vill ages has a Gr a m P ancha yat.
ii) It is a council consisting of man y me mbers c alled the P anch and a head called Sarpanch. The y ar e
elected b y adult population of the village.
iii) P anchayat's decision making body wor ks under gra m sabha. All the voters in the village are the
me mber s of Gr a m Sabha.
iv) The gra m sabha me ets t wi ce or thrice in a year for the annual budget.

B loc k Le vel
i) A fe w gra m pancha yats a re grouped together to form a pancha yat sa miti or block or mandal.
ii) The me mb ers of pancha yat sa miti are el ected b y al l the panchayat me mber s in that area.

District L evel
i) All the pancha yat s a mitis are grouped together to form Zilla P arishad or District Committ ee.
ii) The me mb ers of the pari shad are elect ed. Me mbers of Lo k Sabha and MLA o f t he district along with
some govern ment offici als are also its me mb ers.

Q 15 Draw flow chart of pow er shari ng in I ndi a?

Ans D ec entralisation of power centre