Q.22) Indian constitution exhibits centralizing tendencies to maintain unity and integrity of the nation. Elucidate in the perspective of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897; The Disaster Management Act, 2005 and recently passed Farm Acts. (UPSC CSE 2020)(Answer in 250 words)

INTRODUCTION: The Indian model of federalism may be characterised as that of being a “centralised federalism.” The Indian Constitution laid down a political system which is federal in nature—i.e., there are two tiers of government: at the national level, and the state level. However, the Indian Constitution has structurally made the Union government more powerful than the states.

MAINTAINING UNITY AND INTEGRITY

Written against the backdrop of Partition, India’s Constitution adopted a unique brand of federalism that strove to strike a delicate balance between unitary and federal systems. The framers of the Indian Constitution refrained from creating a fully federalised political system because of their fear of further disunity and secessionist tendencies. At the same time, there was the recognition that India’s diversity of language, region and religion, could only be preserved and national unity guaranteed through federalism.The federal system reconciles national unity with regional autonomy.

A stronger Union government was necessary for India’s survival and political stability, given its vast diversity based on religion, language, caste and ethnicity. To govern such a diverse polity, a structure of “asymmetrical federalism” was adopted.

CENTRALISING TENDENCIES

The Indian federal system is based on the “holding together” model and the central government was given wide-ranging powers, like unitary systemswhich coexisted with a number of federal features. This can be understood through the examples of Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897; The Disaster Management Act, 2005 and recently passed 3 Farm Acts.

A)  EPIDEMIC DISEASES ACT, 1897

• Although public health is a state subject under Entry 6 of the State list, Entry 29 in the Concurrent list permits the Centre to take steps to prevent spread of infectious diseases across the states.
• The Epidemic Diseases Act is the main legislative framework at the central level for the prevention and spread of dangerous epidemic diseases.
• The Act empowers the Centre and the States to take necessary measures to control the spread of disease. Section 2A of the Act empowers the central government to take necessary measures to deal with dangerous epidemic disease at ports of entry and exit.
• Before the announcement of the lockdown, various State Governments have issued similar orders under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 on the advice of the Central Government.
• Articles 256 and 257 empowers Centre to give necessary directions to the States to fulfill its obligations arising out of Entry 29. Such directions are needed for a cohesive and coordinated response to the pandemic.

B)  DISASTER MANAGEMENT ACT, 2005

• The initial stages of the COVID-19 response highlighted the unitary tilt in the Indian federal structure. There was some debate in the legal circles about whether the Centre has overstepped state governments’ authority, since law and order and public health are state subjects.
• Entry 29 empowers the Centre (as well as the states) to take any relevant actionto prevent the disease from spreading across state jurisdictions. And as per Article 254 and the ‘Doctrine of Repugnancy’, Centre’s authority has primacy over the states in the concurrent list.
• The central government implemented a national lockdown and issued extensive guidelines to states using Section 2,Section 6 and Section 10 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
• State governments complied an in fact, requested the central government to continue with the national lockdown during initial phase ceding considerable decision-making power to the central government.
• The Covid-19 response tracker by the University of Oxford termed India’s lockdown a perfect 100% in the world.India’s unique brand of federalism allowed for a swift and coordinated response to tackle the pandemic.

C)  THE 3 FARM ACTS

• The pandemic has enabled the central government to implement far-reaching reforms in areas traditionally considered to be the domain of states.
• The three Acts on amendments to the Essential Commodities Act, new laws to bypass the state APMC Acts and to facilitate contract farming agriculture reforms replaced the ordinances promulgated during the lockdown.
• Many state governments are opposed to the Central laws as their power to govern the functioning of agriculture will be severely eroded by the new laws. They claim that it is beyond the legislative competence of the Parliament to enact any law on agriculture, which is a domain of the State governments.
• While agriculture is in the state list under the Constitution, Entry 33 of the Concurrent List provides Centre and the states powers to control production, supply and distribution of products of any industry, including agriculture.
• Entry 33 of the Concurrent List grants the Parliament control over foodstuffs in the public interest. The Centre could, therefore, argue that it is within its powers to pass the three laws.

CONCLUSION:

A diverse and large country like India requires the right balance which would prevent the Union government from repressing state autonomy beyond a point, while guarding the states against divergence that can begin to threaten national unity. Controlling these extremes is a challenge, as federalism must reconcile the need for national unity on one hand, and on the other, regional autonomy.