federal system

 WHAT IS FEDERALISM?

Federalism is a combination of government where a country or a part of the country is controlled by two levels of government. It provides two sets of politics, one is a central or national level government and the second is a state or provisional level government. Each level has different powers and responsibilities and has a separate system of government. 

The system India has adopted is written in the Constitution. The constitution is supreme and the source of powers of both governments. Though the Indian Constitution does not use the word "Federalism" anywhere, however, the structure of the Indian government is divided into two sets of governments.

1. Union government

2. State government

The Indian constitution describes three lists:

1. Union list (dealt by Central government only)

2. State list (dealt by State government only)

3. Concurrent list (dealt with by both Central and State government)

Union List

• Subjects of Union List are −
• Defense
• Atomic Energy
• Foreign Affairs
• War and Peace
• Banking
• Railways
• Post and Telegraph
• Airways
• Ports
• Foreign Trade
• Currency & Coinage

State List

• Subjects of State Lists are −
• Agriculture
• Police
• Prison
• Local Government
• Public Health
• Land
• Liquor
• Trade and Commerce
• Livestock and Animal Husbandry
• State Public Services

Concurrent List

• Subjects of Concurrent Lists are −
• Education
• Transfer of Property other than Agricultural land
• Forests
• Trade Unions
• Adulteration
• Adoption and Succession

Basically, there are two forms of government:

1. Unitary government: means where maximum powers or only source of powers lies with the Centre government. e.g: China, Japan, and France.

2. Federal government: the powers are divided between both Centre & state government. e.g: the United States and India. 

However, during an emergency time, more powers are centralized to the Central government and state governments have fewer powers. 

Territorial Jurisdiction:

Parliament: A. Parliament has the power of making laws for the whole territory or a part of it. 

B. Extra-territorial operation: Parliament has also the right of making laws, not for the Indian territory but it can also make the laws for territory outside India with territorial nexus test.

Legislative of states: Legislative of states have the power of making laws for the whole territory of the states or the part of it.

 CONFLICT IN INDIA'S FEDERAL SYSTEM

We are having a federal system with a strong central government. 

1. Centre-state relation

2. Demands for Autonomy.

3. Role of governor and President's Rule.

4. Interstate conflicts.

Centre-state relation: In some cases, the entire revenues are allocated among the states. But the rates and bases are wholly decided by the Centre regardless of the policies and desires of the states. 

Demands for autonomy: Various states demand their independence from India or we can say they want to separate from India like Punjab. 

Role of the governor and President's Rule: Sometimes, it has been seen that there a kind of fight between central and state government is going on just because of the governor's erroneous action. 

Interstate conflict: Often we can often, one state is fighting with another state over some issues like river disputes or land distribution etc.

CORRUPTION: Will it eradicate or would make an identity?

 On September 29, 2013, India’s Narendra Modi vowed to eradicate corruption. He blamed Manmohan Singh’s government for making India a laughing option. India needs a dream team and not a dirty team in 2014 and people must consider it during an election. Now you must be thinking, what does corruption mean? Moreover, why did Mr. Singh’s government made India an option to be laughed at?  So, let me make it easier for you to understand. We should understand the meaning of corruption first.

Corruption is a form of dishonesty or criminal offense undertaken by a person or organization entrusted with a position of authority, to acquire illicit benefit or abuse power for one's private gain, according to Wikipedia. In a nutshell, corruption is a dishonest behavior performed by an individual or organization for their own benefit. India has the highest bribery rate in Asia according to the Global Corruption Barometer published by Transparency International on Anti-Corruption Day, December 9. Gandhiji believed that separation of Ends & Means is the cause of corruption in public life & responsible for evils like IMPERIALISM & FASCISM.

TYPES OF CORRUPTION

1.     Bribery

2.     Misuse of Official Position.

3.     Conflict of interest.

4.     Vote buying.

5.     Influence peddling.

6.     Nepotism.

7.     Trading in expertise and insider trading.

8.     Illegal Financing of Political Parties. 

9.     Revolving door effect. 

BRIBERY 

bribery is defined as Black’s Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or another person, in charge of public or legal duty.

Bijay Ketan Upadhyay, an IAS officer, the director of state horticulture, detained for demanding and accepting a bribe for rs1 lakh from a company that was empaneled by the state government to supply sprinklers to eligible farmers under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee yojana (PMKSY).

 MISUSE OF OFFICIAL POSITION

 Misuse of official position can be understood as making, taking, or performing an act that eventually going to benefit the decision-maker or his/her relatives or anyone else close to him.

A customs official confiscates a pirated products and starts using them for himself or someone close to him. The story of Satyendra Dubey can vividly provide us an insight that powerful persons misuse their position for their own benefits. 

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CONFLICT OF INTEREST

Conflict of interest can be defined as a disequilibrium between official duties and personal interest. The person cannot overcome his personal interest and eventually performs the task according to his interest.

For instance, a son is performing his mother’s work at a ministry.

VOTE BUYING

Vote-buying means a candidate promises to the voters to vote in favor of him because he will provide various gifts or anything else to the voters after winning the election.

For instance, candidates make promises that they will provide saris or smoked fish to the voters if they vote in favor of them. 

INFLUENCE PEDDLING

Influence peddling is a type of bribery when one person takes favor of another person who has a connection with the government or with an authority.

A police officer uses his or her official position to get a debt of his friend from a third person.

NEPOTISM

Nepotism means preferring one’s close relation. For instance, a municipality hires his close relative as a constructive advisor.

TRADING IN EXPERTISE AND INSIDER TRADING

Insider trading means knowing some important news of a company before it’s getting a place into the public domain and that news will affect the price of that company’s shares.

REASONS OF CORRUPTION IN INDIA

1.     Insufficient salaries paid to employees:  Government or non-government employees often face a problem of fewer salaries paid to them, which eventually indulge them to take bribes from the customer or persons for their work to do.

2.      Lack of morale or ethics: Lack of morale or ethics plays a vital role in the occurrence of corruption. People often forget about morale knowledge they got while they were in schools. For avoiding this, government or private entities should focus more on providing moral knowledge and ethics. In addition, they should also teach employees to follow the code of conduct strictly.

3.     Lack of awareness: In India, there is a maximum number of people who are unaware of their rights, which motivates a corrupt person to cheat an innocent by taking more money than required.

4.     Lack of employment: somehow and somewhere, accept it or not, less employment is the crucial problem of corruption in India. Due to no jobs or security, a person often involves themselves in corruption to secure his and his family’s lives. 

5.     Lack of transparent laws and processes: Lack of transparent laws and processes give an opportunity to businesspersons to take advantage of it. We can take the example of Vodafone India, where Vodafone International Holdings B.V. (VIH) acquired 67% interest in the Indian telecom company Hutchison Essar Limited (HEL) for $11 billion.

This transaction took place in 2007, through an agreement between VIH, and the Hutchison Telecommunications International Limited (HTIL) involving a Cayman Island-based company CGP Investments Limited (CGP), which in turn, directly and indirectly, held 67% interest in Hutchison Essar Limited (HEL), the Indian company. Both companies did this to avoid the payment of capital gain tax to the Indian Government. As a result, GOI amended the Income Tax Act. The amendment applied retrospectively from 1962. India lost the case.

There are many more reasons for corruption in India, which government and common people should work upon, like excessive regulations, monopoly of government-controlled institutions, etc. 

VARIOUS CASES OF CORRUPTION

COMMONWEALTH GAMES SCAM: In 2010, the Commonwealth Games (CMG) Scam, involving around 70,000 crores. It was estimated that only half of the allotted amount was spent on Indian Sportspersons. The athletes were allegedly asked to shift to the shabby apartments from the very apartments were allotted by the authorities. Reports of the Central Vigilance Commission, in-charge of the investigation of the CWG scam revealed that Suresh Kalmadi, the chairman of the organizing committee of the Games offered a contract of Rs 141 crore to Swiss Timings for its timing equipment which was unnecessarily high by Rs 95 crore. 

COAL SCAM: In March 2012, a draft report accused the government of inefficient allocation of coal blocks between 2004 and 2009. With the allegation against UPA-2, Manmohan Singh said he would quit his job if proven guilty. Simultaneously, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) ordered a CBI inquiry into the allegations. It all started when some coal blocks which were not in the production plan of Coal India Ltd and the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL), were identified and a list was prepared. A total of 216 blocks were allocated between 1993 and 2010, but some were taken away at different points in time. In the end, the number of allocated blocks stood at 194. The report of CAG expressed that if this corruption did not happen, the profits would be Rs. 10.7 lakh cr.

2G SPECTRUM SCAM: The story began on 16^th November 2010, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) came out with its report on the issuance of licenses and allocation of 2G spectrum by the Department of Telecom. Vinod Rai was the head of CAG at that time. He revealed that the spectrum had been sold at a lower price than required causing a loss of Rs. 1.76 lakh crore to the exchequer. Moreover, a license had been issued to the incapable applicants who disclosed incomplete documents, submitted fictitious documents, and used fraudulent means for getting licenses and spectrum. The CAG report also revealed that the license owners sold significant stakes to the domestic/foreign companies at a high premium within a short period. The premium earned by these new telecom sectors was estimated to be the true value of the spectrum. In a free and fair bidding process, these profits should have accrued to the public exchequer.

HOW TO REDUCE CORRUPTION IN INDIA

1. Increment in salaries to employees.

2. Provide morale or ethics training during the job. 

3. Raise the value of natural resources and government contracts. 

4. Quality education is the first and foremost aspect to reduce corruption.

5. Government processes must be made transparent like for every payment, use online mode of transaction which will reduce corruption.

6. Corruption treatment must be made effective. 

7. Citizens should fight against corruption.

The Above given suggestions are not enough to eradicate corruption in India. There are needed to take various measures by the Government and Citizens as well. What measures should be taken according to you?