Union Government
1 Scope of this document
The following note is a background document for teachers. It summarises the things we will need to know on the topic of Union Government in India. This note is meant to be a ready reference for the teacher to develop this. This document attempts to cover all the topics identified in the concept map. To plan the actual lessons, the teacher must use this in connection with the theme plan.
2 Syllabus
Class 8
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Union Government
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3 Concept Map
4 Theme Plan
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THEME PLAN FOR THE TOPIC UNION GOVERNMENT
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ತರಗತಿ
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SUBTOPIC
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ಮಕ್ಕಳಲ್ಲಿ ಮೂಡಿಸುವ ಪರಿಕಲ್ಪನೆ
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ಮಾಹಿತಿ '/ 'ಜ್ಞಾನ
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ಕೌಶಲ್ಯ
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ಚಟುವಟಿಕೆ
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9
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Introduction to the Federal Government
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1.Gets an idea about meaning of federal and comprehends the features of fedaral sytem
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know the constitutional background for the unitary system of government in india
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identification of scope of powers between union and state government
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Activity 1 (Lecture on 246th Amendment)
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legislature
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The structure of the legislature and its functions
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1.compares to other legislatures outside india 2.analyses the execution of legislature
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Activity 2 (Mock Parliament)
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executive
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1. importance of executive when compared to other branches of government. 2.the relevance of different parts of executive like president,PM,and council of ministers.
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The structure of the executive and its functions
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Listing and comparing the powers of different institutions of the executive
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Activity 3 (Collect news articles) Activity 4 (School Cabinet)
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Judiciary
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1.the independence of indian judiciary. 2. the supremacy of the constitution. 3.the indian judiciary is unitary.
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The structure of the judiciary and its functions
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gets a practical knowledge of arguements in courts.
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Activity 5 (Visiting a district court) Activity 6 (Seminar)
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Structure of central administration.
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the hierarchy within the administration and the necessity for the complex structure
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the structure of bureaucracy
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Listing ; understanding division of labour within the government
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Activity 7 (Visit to a government office)
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Administration of Union Territories
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The difference in the adminstration of Union Territories; understand the importance of the central government here
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1. roles of governer in administration. 2. the administrative details.
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Activity 8 (Study of Union Territories)
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Centre- State relations
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Tthe need for Centre-State divisions and how it emerged. Understand its complexities.
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List the Concurrent items
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Comprehend statistical data
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Activity 9 (Data Analysis)
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5 Curricular Objectives
- To understand federalism and how and why Indian government practises it
- To understand Parliament formation and its working
- To identify the scope of the powers of central and state governments
- To understand the different wings of the Union Government: legislation, executive and judiciary; their roles and their inter relations. Supreme Court (should we add separately?)
- to explain the administration of union territories
- To familiarise students with the concept of bureaucracy and the way that it works at the local level.
- To familiarise students with roles and responsibilities when one is in a position of power. (Student council).
- To develop democratic values within children by helping them understand our federal government.
- To understand the electoral process in the country.
6 Federal Government (Division of power between State and Centre).
Sourced from NCERT textbooks and wikipedia and [[1]]
Federalism
is a system of government in which the power is divided between a
central authority and various constituent units of the country.
Usually, a federation has two levels of government. One is the
government for the entire country that is usually responsible for a
few subjects of common national interest (Our Central Government).
The others are governments at the level of provinces or states that
look after much of the day-to-day administering of their state (State
Government). Both these levels of governments enjoy their power
independent of the other. In a federal system, the central government
cannot order the state government to do something. State government
has powers of its own for which it is not answerable to the central
government.
Both
these governments are separately answerable to the people.
Governments
at different levels should agree to some rules of power sharing. They
should also trust that each would abide by its part of the agreement.
An ideal federal system has both aspects : mutual trust and agreement
to live together.
In our
Constitution, there is a clear division of powers, so that the States
and the Centre are required to enact and legislate within their
sphere of activity and none violates its limits
and tries
to encroach upon the functions of the other. This is called
Federalism.
A division of authority exists
between the federal government and the States, there are three lists
enumerating the powers of Union, State and Concurrent. A federal
state derives its existence from the Constitution. Every power-
Executive, Legislative, or Judicial whether it belongs to the
federation or to the component units is subordinate to and controlled
by the Constitution. The Indian Constitution is a written document
which defines the structure, organization and powers of the Central
as well as State governments, and clearly prescribes the limits
within which each wing functions.
The constitution of India provides a
bicameral legislature (consisting of two houses:
the directly-elected
552-member Lok Sabha ("House of the
People"), the lower house, and the 250-member
indirectly-elected
and appointed Rajya Sabha ("Council of States"),
the upper house. )at the Centre (The
Parliament). The parliament enjoys parliamentary supremacy. All
the members of the Council of Ministers as well as the Prime
Minister are members of Parliament. If they are not, they must be
elected within a period of six months from the time they assume their
respective office. The Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers
are responsible
to the Lok Sabha, individually as well as collectively. The
Rajya Sabha gives representation to the States. Parts of the Indian
Constitution which concern the federal structure can be amended by
the Centre only with
the consent of the majority of the Sate legislatures. Independent
Judiciary in a federal system the courts are vested with a final
power to interpret the Constitution and see to it that no action on
the part of the federal and state
governments violates the provisions of the Constitution. In India
Supreme Court is given this power to guard the distribution of powers
and the constitutional provisions. Despite the essential features of
a federation that characterize the Indian Constitution there are some
features that make it different from the typical federal systems of
the world. There is a single Constitution for the Union and the Sates
in India unlike the case of other federations . No State except Jammu
and Kashmir has its own separate Constitution.
The Constitution clearly provides a
three- fold distribution of legislative powers between the Union
Government and the State Governments. Thus, it contains three lists:
Union List
includes subjects of national importance such as defence of the
country, foreign affairs, banking, communications and currency. They
are included in this list because we need a uniform policy on these
matters throughout the country. The Union Government alone can make
laws relating to the subjects mentioned in the Union List. State
List contains
subjects of State and local importance such as
police, trade, commerce, agriculture
and irrigation. The State Governments alone can make laws relating to
the subjects mentioned in the
State List. Concurrent
List includes
subjects of common interest to both the Union Government as well as
the State Governments, such as education, forest, trade
unions, marriage, adoption and succession. Both the Union as well as
the State Governments can make laws on the subjects mentioned in this
list. If their laws conflict
with each other, the law made by the Union Government will prevail.
Legislature
Sourced from NCERT textbooks and wikipedia.
Legislature is not merely a law
making body. Lawmaking is but one of the functions of the
legislature. It is the centre of all democratic political process. It
is packed with action; walkouts, protests, demonstration, unanimity,
concern and co-operation. All these serve very vital purposes.
Indeed, a genuine democracy is inconceivable without a
representative, efficient and effective legislature. The legislature
also helps people in holding the representatives accountable. This is
indeed, the very basis of representative democracy. Yet, in most
democracies, legislatures are losing central place to the executive.
In India too, the Cabinet initiates policies, sets the agenda for
governance and carries them through. This has led some critics to
remark that the Parliament has declined. But even very strong
cabinets must retain majority in the legislature. A strong leader has
to face the Parliament and answer to the satisfaction of the
Parliament. Herein lies the democratic potential of the Parliament.
It is recognised as one of the most democratic and open forum of
debate. On account of its composition, it is the most representative
of all organs of government. It is above all, vested with the power
to choose and dismiss the government.
Legislature of the Union, which is
called Parliament, consists of the President and two Houses, known as
Council of States (Rajya Sabha) and House of
the People (Lok Sabha). Each House has to meet within six
months of its previous sitting. A joint sitting of two Houses can be
held in certain cases. Countries with large size and much diversity
usually prefer to have two houses of the national legislature to give
representation to all sections in the society and to give
representation to all geographical regions or parts of the country.
Such a legislature has one more advantage. It makes it possible to
have every decision reconsidered. Every decision taken by one house
goes to the other house for its decision. This means that every bill
and policy would be discussed twice. This ensures a double check on
every matter. Even if one house takes a decision in haste, that
decision will come for discussion in the other house and
reconsideration will be possible.
6.1 Rajya Sabha
Each of the two Houses of the Parliament has different bases of representation. The Rajya Sabha represents the States of India. It is an indirectly elected body. Residents of the State elect members to State Legislative Assembly. The elected members of State Legislative Assembly in turn elect the members of Rajya Sabha. We can imagine two different principles of representation in the second chamber. One way is to give equal representation to all the parts of the country irrespective of their size or population. We may call this as symmetrical representation. On the other hand, parts of the country may be given representation according to their population. This second method means that regions or parts having larger population would have more representatives in the second chamber than regions having less population. The second method is what our constitution has chosen. States with larger population get more representatives than States with smaller population get. Thus, a more populous State like Uttar Pradesh sends 31 members to Rajya Sabha, while a smaller and less populous State like Sikkim has one seat in the Rajya Sabha.
Members of the Rajya Sabha are
elected for a term of six years. They can get re-elected. All members
of the Rajya Sabha do not complete their terms at the same time.
Every two years, one third members of the Rajya Sabha . complete
their term and elections are held for those one third seats only.
Thus, the Rajya Sabha is never fully dissolved. Therefore, it is
called the permanent House of the Parliament. The advantage of this
arrangement is that even when the Lok Sabha is dissolved and
elections are yet to take place, the meeting of the Rajya Sabha can
be called and urgent business can be conducted.
The
Constitution provides that the Rajya Sabha shall consist of 250
members, of which 12 members shall be nominated by the President from
amongst persons having special knowledge or practical experience in
respect of such matters as literature, science, art and social
service; and not more than 238 representatives of the States and of
the Union Territories.
Rajya Sabha Chamber
Rajya Sabha, at present, has 245 seats. Of these,
233 members represent the States and the Union Territories, and 12
members are nominated by the President.
6.2 Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha is composed of representatives of people chosen by direct election on the basis of adult suffrage. For the purpose of election, the entire country (State, in case of State Legislative Assembly) is divided into territorial constituencies of roughly equal population.
The maximum strength of the House
envisaged by the Constitution is now 552 (530 members to represent
States, 20 to represent Union Territories, and not more than two
members of the Anglo-Indian community to be nominated by the
President, if, in his opinion, that community is not adequately
represented in the House). The total elective membership of the Lok
Sabha is distributed among States in such a way that the ratio
between the number of seats allotted to each State and population of
the State is, as far as practicable, the same for all States. The Lok
Sabha at present consists of 545 members. Of these, 530 members are
directly elected from the States and 13 from Union Territories, while
two are nominated by the President to represent the Anglo-Indian
community. Following the Constitution 84th Amendment Act,
the total number of existing seats as allocated to various States in
the Lok Sabha on the basis of the 1971 census, shall remain unaltered
till the first census to be taken after the year 2026.
Lok Sabha Chamber
The term of the Lok Sabha, unless dissolved
earlier, is five years from the date appointed for its first meeting.
However, while a proclamation of emergency is in operation, this
period may be extended by Parliament by law for a period not
exceeding one year at a time, and not extending in any case, beyond a
period of six months after the proclamation has ceased to operate.
Fourteen Lok Sabhas have been constituted so far.
6.3 Qualification for Membership of Parliament
In order to be chosen a member of Parliament, a person must be a citizen of India and not less than 30 years of age in the case of Rajya Sabha and not less than 25 years of age in the case of Lok Sabha. Additional qualifications may be prescribed by Parliament by law.
6.4 Functions and Powers of Parliament
Apart from law making, the Parliament is engaged in many other functions. Let us list the functions of the Parliament.:
Legislative Function: The Parliament enacts
legislations for the country. Despite being the chief law making
body, the Parliament often merely approves legislations. The actual
task of drafting the bill is performed by the bureaucracy under the
supervision of the minister concerned. The substance and even the
timing of the bill are decided by the Cabinet. No major bill is
introduced in the Parliament without the approval of the Cabinet.
Members other than ministers can also introduce bills but these have
no chance of being passed without the support of the government.
Control of Executive and ensuring its
accountability: Perhaps the most vital function of the Parliament
is to ensure that the executive does not overstep its authority and
remains responsible to the people who have elected them. We shall
discuss this function in greater detail later in this chapter.
Financial Function: Government is about
spending a lot of money on various matters. Where does this money
come from? Every government raises resources through taxation.
However, in a democracy, legislature controls taxation and the way in
which money is used by the government. If the Government of India
proposes to introduce any new tax, it has to get the approval of the
Lok Sabha. The Financial powers of the Parliament, involve grant of
resources to the government to implement its programmes. The
government has to give an account to the Legislature about the money
it has spent and resources that it wishes to raise. The legislature
also ensures that the government does not misspend or overspend. This
is done through the budget and annual financial statements.
Representation: Parliament represents the divergent views of members from different regional, social, economic, religious groups of different parts of the country.
Debating Function: The Parliament is the
highest forum of debate in the country. There is no limitation on its
power of discussion. Members are free to speak on any matter without
fear. This makes it possible for the Parliament to analyse any or
every issue that faces the nation. These discussions constitute the
heart of democratic decision making.
Constituent Function: The Parliament has
the power of discussing and enacting changes to the Constitution. The
constituent powers of both the houses are similar. All constitutional
amendments have to be approved by a special majority of both Houses.
Electoral functions: The Parliament also
performs some electoral functions. It elects the President and Vice
President of India.
Judicial functions: The judicial functions
of the Parliament include considering the proposals for removal of
President, Vice-President and Judges of High Courts and Supreme
Court.
The basic function of any legislature is to make
laws for its people. A definite procedure is followed in the
process of making law. A rough diagram from NCERT textbook is
reporduced below.
A bill is a draft of the proposed law. There can be different types of bills. When a non-minister proposes a bill, it is called private member’s Bill. A bill proposed by a minister is described as Government Bill. Even before a bill is introduced in the Parliament there may be a lot of debate on the need for introducing such a bill. A political party may pressurise the government to initiate a bill in order to fulfil its election promises or to improve its chances of winning forthcoming elections. Interest groups, media and citizens’ forums may also persuade the government for a particular legislation. Law making is thus not merely a legal procedure but also a political course of action. The preparation of a bill itself involves many considerations such as resources required to implement the law, the support or opposition that the bill is likely to produce, the impact that the law may have on the electoral prospect of the ruling party etc. In the era of coalition politics especially, a bill proposed by the government has to be acceptable to all the partners of the coalition. Such practical considerations can hardly be ignored. The Cabinet considers all these before arriving at a decision to enact a law.
Once the Cabinet
approves the policy behind the legislation, the task of drafting the
legislation begins. The draft of any bill is prepared by the
concerned ministry. For instance a bill raising the marriageable age
of girls from 18 to 21 will be prepared by the law ministry. The
ministry of women and child welfare may also be involved in it.
Within the Parliament, a bill may be introduced in the Lok Sabha or
Rajya Sabha by a member of the House (but often a minister
responsible for the subject introduces the bill). A money bill can be
introduced only in Lok Sabha. Once passed there, it is sent to the
Rajya Sabha.
A large part of the
discussion on the bills takes place in the committees. The
recommendation of the committee is then sent to the House. That is
why committees are referred to as miniature legislatures. This is the
second stage in the law making process. In the third and final stage,
the bill is voted upon. If a non-money bill is passed by one House,
it is sent to the other House where it goes through exactly the same
procedure. A bill has to be passed by both Houses for enactment. If
there is disagreement between the two Houses on the proposed bill,
attempt is made to resolve it through Joint Session of Parliament. In
the few instances when joint sessions of the parliament were called
to resolve a deadlock, the decision has always gone in favour of the
Lok Sabha. If it is a money bill, the Rajya Sabha can either approve
the bill or suggest changes but cannot reject it. If it takes no
action within 14 days the bill is deemed to have been passed.
Amendments to the bill, suggested by Rajya Sabha, may or may not be
accepted by the Lok Sabha.
For information on parliament
committees please refer to
[[2]]
For
more information on law making procedures please refer to
[[3]]
7 Executive
The word executive means a body of persons that looks after the implementation of rules and regulations in actual practice. In the case of government also, one body may take policy decisions and decide about rules and regulations, while the other one would be in charge of implementing those rules. The organ of government that primarily looks after the function of implementation and administration is called the executive. What are the principal functions of the executive? Executive is the branch of government responsible for the implementation of laws and policies adopted by the legislature. The executive is often involved in framing of policy. The official designations of the executive vary from country to country. Some countries have presidents, while others have chancellors. The executive branch is not just about presidents, prime ministers and ministers. It also extends to the administrative machinery (civil servants). While the heads of government and their ministers, saddled with the overall responsibility of government policy, are together known as the political executive, those responsible for day to day administration are called the permanent executive.
When
the Constitution of India was written, India already had some
experience of running the parliamentary system under the Acts of 1919
and 1935. This experience had shown that in the parliamentary system,
the executive can be effectively controlled by the representatives of
the people. The makers of the Indian Constitution wanted to ensure
that the government would be sensitive to public expectations and
would be responsible and accountable. The other alternative to the
parliamentary executive was the presidential form of government. But
the presidential executive puts much emphasis on the president as the
chief executive and as source of all executive power. There is always
the danger of personality cult in presidential executive. The makers
of the Indian Constitution wanted a government that would have a
strong executive branch, but at the same time, enough safeguards
should be there to check against the personality cult. In the
parliamentary form there are many mechanisms that ensure that the
executive will be answerable to and controlled by the legislature or
people’s representatives. So the Constitution adopted the
parliamentary system of executive for the governments both at the
national and State levels.
According
to this system, there is a President who is the formal Head of the
state of India and the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers,
which run the government at the national level. At the State level,
the executive comprises the Governor and the Chief Minister and
Council of Ministers. The Constitution of India vests the executive
power of the Union formally in the President. In reality, the
President exercises these powers through the Council of Ministers
headed by the Prime Minister. The President is elected for a period
of five years. But there is no direct election by the people for the
office of President. The President is elected indirectly. This means
that the president is elected not by the ordinary citizens but by the
elected MLAs and MPs. This election takes place in accordance with
the principle of proportional representation with single transferable
vote. The President can be removed from office only by Parliament by
following the procedure for impeachment. The only ground for
impeachment is violation of the Constitution.
For
more information on the President and Vice-President of India, please
refer [[4]]
and [[5]]
For
information on the Council of Minister, please refer [[6]]
7.1 Prime minister
No discussion of government or politics in India, would normally take place without mentioning one office: the Prime Minister of India. We have already seen earlier that the President exercises his powers only on the advice of the Council of Ministers. The Council of Ministers is headed by the Prime Minister. Therefore, as head of the Council of Ministers, the Prime Minister becomes the most important functionary of the government in our country.
In the parliamentary form of executive, it is
essential that the Prime Minister has the support of the majority in
the Lok Sabha. This support by the majority also makes the Prime
Minister very powerful. The moment this support of the majority is
lost, the Prime Minister loses the office. For many years after
independence, the Congress party had the majority in the Lok Sabha
and its leader
would become the Prime Minister. Since 1989, there
have been many occasions when no party had majority in the Lok Sabha.
Various political parties have come together and formed a coalition
that has majority in the House. In such situations, a leader who is
acceptable to most partners of the coalition becomes the Prime
Minister. Formally, a leader who has the support of the majority is
appointed by the President as Prime Minister. The Prime Minister then
decides who will be the ministers in the Council of Ministers. The
Prime Minister allocates ranks and portfolios to the ministers.
Depending upon the seniority and political importance, the ministers
are given the ranks of cabinet minister, minister of State or deputy
minister. In the same manner, Chief Ministers of the States choose
ministers from their own party or coalition. The Prime Minister and
all the ministers have to be members of the Parliament. If someone
becomes a minister or Prime Minister without being an MP, such a
person has to get elected to the Parliament within six months.
The Prime Minister occupies a unique position of
power and prestige. His powers and functions are:
- He prepares the list of the council of ministers. The president cannot drop any name from this list;
- The Prime Minister distributes the work to the different ministers;
- He can dismiss an erring minister;
- He presides over the meetings of the Cabinet;
- He supervises and co-ordinates the working of various departments;
- He is the main spokesman of the ministry;
- He is a link between the council of ministers and the President.
- He advises the President on the issue of making appointments;
- He advises the President to dissolve the Lok Sabha; and
- He plays a leading role in making all policy statements as also the preparation of the annual budget.
8 Judiciary
For a basic introduction to the judiciary, please refer [[7]]. For information on different kind of courts (subordinate courts, consumer courts and revenue courts), please refer [[8]], [[9]],
[[10]]
The
work that the judiciary does can be divided into the following:
Dispute
Resolution: The judicial system provides a mechanism for
resolving disputes between citizens, between citizens and the
government, between two state governments and between the centre and
state governments.
Judicial
Review: As the final interpreter of the Constitution, the
judiciary also has the power to strike down particular laws passed by
the Parliament if it believes that these are a violation of the basic
structure of the Constitution. This is called judicial review.
Upholding
the Law and Enforcing Fundamental Rights: Every citizen of India
can approach the Supreme Court or the High Court if they believe that
their Fundamental Rights have been violated.
Structure
of the Judiciary reproduced from NCERT textbook
The Judiciary needs to be independent from the Legislation and the Executive. These other organs of the government must not restrain the functioning of the judiciary in such a way that it is unable to do justice. Judges must be able to perform their functions without fear or favour. Independence of the judiciary does not imply arbitrariness or absence of accountability. Judiciary is a part of the democratic political structure of the country. It is therefore accountable to the Constitution, to the democratic traditions and to the people of the country.
In
principle, all citizens of India can access the courts in this
country. This implies that every citizen has a right to justice
through the courts. As you read earlier, the courts play a very
significant role in protecting our Fundamental Rights. If any citizen
believes that their rights are being violated, then they can approach
the court for justice to be done. While the courts are available for
all, in reality access to courts has always been difficult for a vast
majority of the poor in India. Legal procedures involve a lot of
money and paperwork as well as take up a lot of time. For a poor
person who cannot read and whose family depends on a daily wage, the
idea of going to court to get justice often seems remote.
In
response to this, the Supreme Court in the early 1980s devised a
mechanism of Public Interest Litigation or PIL to increase access
to justice. It allowed any individual or organisation to file a PIL
in the High Court or the Supreme Court on behalf of those whose
rights were being violated. The legal process was greatly
simplified and even a letter or telegram addressed to the Supreme
Court or the High Court could be treated as a PIL. In the early
years, PIL was used to secure justice on a large number of issues
such as rescuing bonded labourers from inhuman work conditions; and
securing the release of prisoners in Bihar who had been kept in
jail even after their punishment term was complete.
For the common person, access to courts is access to justice. The courts exercise a crucial role in interpreting the Fundamental Rights of citizens and as you saw in the above case, the courts interpreted Article 21 of the Constitution on the Right to Life to include the Right to Food. They, therefore, ordered the State to take certain steps to provide food for all including the mid-day meal scheme. However, there are also court judgments that people believe work against the best interests of the common person. For example, activists who work on issues concerning the right to shelter and housing for the poor believe that the recent judgments on evictions are a far cry from earlier judgments. While recent judgments tend to view the slum dweller as an encroacher in the city, earlier judgments (like the 1985 Olga Tellis vs Bombay Municipal Corporation) had tried to protect the livelihoods of slum dwellers. Another issue that affects the common person’s access to justice is the inordinately long number of years that courts take to hear a case. The phrase ‘justice delayed is justice denied’ is often used to characterise this extended time period that courts take.
8.1 Lokpal
The Lokpal will be a three-member body with a chairperson who is or was a chief justice or Supreme Court judge, and two members who are or have been high courts judges or chief justices.
Implementation of the Lokpal bill will hopefully
reduce corruption in India. The basic idea of the Lokpal is
borrowed from the office of the ombudsman in other countries. It
provides for filing complaints of corruption against the prime
minister , other ministers and members of parliament with the
ombudsman. Anyone, except for a public servant , can file a
complaint and the Lokpal has to complete the inquiry within six
months.
For 42 years, governments have tried to put in
place the law.
The bill was for the first time presented during
the fourth Lok Sabha in 1968, and was passed there in 1969. However,
the Lok Sabha was dissolved , resulting in the first death of the
bill.
It was revived in
1971, 1977, 1985, 1989, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2005 and 2008.
9 Structure of Central Administration
To get more information on the structure of central administration, please refer to the following links
9.1 Prime Minister's Office (India)
The Prime Minister's Office known as PMO consists of the immediate staff of the Prime Minister of India, as well as multiple levels of support staff reporting to the Prime Minister. The PMO is headed by the Principal Secretary, currently TKA Nair. The office is part of the Government of India located in the South Block of the Secretariat Building
Function
- The PMO provides secretarial assistance to the Prime Minister. The PMO includes the anti-corruption unit and the public wing dealing with grievances.
- The office houses the Prime Minister and few selected officers of Indian Civil Service who work with him to manage and coordinate government and his office. The Prime Minister through his office coordinates with all ministers in the central union cabinet, minister of independent charges and governors and ministers of state government. Location
- The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in South Block, overlooking the grandeur of Rashtrapati Bhawan.[[[1]]] It is sandwiched between the cabinet secretariat on one side and the ministries of external affairs and defence on the other. The 20-room PMO is equipped to provide both infrastructural and manpower support to the nation's chief executive. Hi-tech accessories and sophisticated communication devices were installed to monitor domestic and international developments.
For more information on the different Commissions, please refer to the following links
- [[14]]
- [[15]]
- [[16]]
- [[17]]
- [[18]]
- [[19]]
- [[20]]
- [[21]]
- [[22]]
- [[23]]
- [[24]]
- [[25]]
- [[26]]
- [[27]]
- [[28]]
- [[29]]
- [[30]]
- [[31]]
Centre State Relations
Restructuring the Centre-State relations is a in which federalism has been strengthened in practice. How the constitutional arrangements for sharing power work in reality depends to a large extent on how the ruling parties and leaders
follow
these arrangements. For a long time, the same party ruled both at the
Centre and in most of the States. This meant that the State
governments did not exercise their rights as autonomous federal
units. As and when the ruling party at the State level was different,
the parties that ruled at the Centre tried to undermine the power of
the States. In those days, the Central Government would often misuse
the Constitution
to
dismiss the State governments that were controlled by rival parties.
This undermined the spirit of federalism. All this changed
significantly after 1990. This period saw the rise of regional
political parties in many States of the country. This was also the
beginning of the era of Coalition Governments at the Centre. Since no
single party got a clear majority in the Lok Sabha, the major
national parties had to enter into an alliance with many parties
including several regional parties to form a government at the
Centre. This led to a new culture of power sharing and respect for
the autonomy of State Governments. This trend was supported by a
major judgement of the Supreme Court that made it difficult for the
Central Government to dismiss state governments in an arbitrary
manner. Thus, federal power sharing is more effective today than it
was in the early years after the Constitution came into force.
The Concurrent List
consists of 47 subjects of common interest to both the Union and the
States. Both the Parliament and the State Legislatures can make laws
on the subjects included in this list. But in case of a conflict
between the Union and the State law relating to the same subject, the
Union law prevails over the State law. Power to legislate on all
subjects not included in any of the three lists vests with the
Parliament. Under certain circumstances, the Parliament can legislate
on the subjects mentioned in the State List.
The Union Government
can issue directions to the States to ensure compliance with the laws
of the Parliament for construction and maintenance of means of
communications, declared to be of national and military importance,
and also on the measures for the protection of Railways. In addition
to all this, the Parliament can alone adjudicate on inter-state river
disputes. Also, a provision has been made for constituting an Inter-
State Council to advise the president on inter-state disputes. Even
the State governments may delegate some of its administrative
functions relating to the State subjects, to Union Government for a
specified period.
The
Constitution of India has certain special provisions to ensure
uniformity of the administrative system. These include the creation
of All India Services such as IAS and IPS and placing members of
these services in key administrative positions in the states. The
presence of All India Service Officers further paves way for the
Central Government to exercise its authority and control over the
states. The members of these services are recruited by the Centre but
are appointed in the States. No disciplinary action can be taken
against them by the State Governments without the permission of the
Centre. The Constitution also makes provision for the creation of new
All India Service by the Parliament on the recommendation of the
Rajya Sabha. The President also puts the entire control of
the state
administrative machinery under the control of the Union.
You would also recall
that the Union executive is empowered to give such directions to a
state as it may appear necessary for the purpose to the Union
Government. The Union Government has wide powers to issue directions
based on the subjective view of the Union and may, therefore,
interfere with the state autonomy in the field of administration.
Ordinarily, the central police force and Army are posted to the
states at the request of the State Government. However, there have
been occasions when the CRPF of BSF have been deployed in states much
against the state wishes of the State Government. Thus, the center
plays a very important role in the administrative sphere of activity
concerning the States.
Financial
Relations
The distribution of
financial resources is especially critical in determining the nature
of the State’s relationship with the Centre. Both the Union and the
State have been provided with independent sources of revenue by the
Constitution. The Parliament can levy taxes on the subjects included
in the Union List. The States can levy taxes on the subjects in the
State List. By and large taxes that have an inter-state base are
levied by the Centre and those with a local base by the State.
The Union List consists
of items of taxation which fall under the following categories:
- Taxes levied by the Union but collected and appropriated by the State such as stamp duties and duties of excise on medicinal and toilet preparations etc.
- Taxes levied and collected by the Union but assigned to the States viz. railways, sea or air etc.
- Taxes levied and collected by the Central and may be distributed between the Central and the states if the Parliament by law so provides, such as union excise duties, excise on toilet preparations etc.
- Taxes levied and collected and retained by the Centre such as customs, surcharge on income tax etc.
- Taxes levied and collected by the Centre and distributed between the union and the states such as taxes other than agriculture etc.
It is clear that in the financial sphere too the Centre is better equipped. The Centre can exercise control over the state finances and grants-in-aid both general and special to meet the expenditure on developmental schemes. During financial emergency, the President has the power to suspend the provisions regarding division of taxes between the Centre and the State. He can also impose other restrictions on the expenses of the State. State plans are framed within the priorities of the central plan and they are executed with the approval of the Planning Commission. Further, the States have to carry out the centre- sponsored schemes for which the Centre gives grants and the conditions under which these are to be made. The Planning Commission has created an over-centralized planning system. No initiative is left to the states and the centrally formulated schemes have been inappropriately and unimaginatively imposed upon them.
10 Activities
10.1 Activity 1 Understanding 246th article of indian constitutuon
10.1.1 Objective
Understands that the indian constitution has distributed the powers between union and state governments.
Material
The text of the 246th
Amendment which is reproduced below
“246. Subject matter
of laws made by Parliament and by the Legislatures of States
- Notwithstanding anything in clauses ( 2 ) and ( 3 ), Parliament has exclusive power to make laws with respect to any of the matters enumerated in List I in the Seventh Schedule (in this Constitution referred to as the Union List)
- Notwithstanding anything in clause ( 3 ), Parliament, and, subject to clause ( 1 ), the Legislature of any State also, have power to make laws with respect to any of the matters enumerated in List III in the Seventh Schedule (in this Constitution referred to as the Concurrent List)
- Parliament has power to make laws with respect to any matter for any part of the territory of India not included (in a State) notwithstanding that such matter is a matter enumerated in the State List”
Sourced from [[32]]
10.1.2 Procedure:
General Instructions
- Arrange the classroom in a proper way.
- Prepare the mike and sound system well.
- Prepare the stage in a good direction and hight that all students be able to watch and listen to the lecturer.
Specific Instructions
- Tell the students to keep silence while lecturing .
- Tell the students to make notes
- Make a list of doubts if any, arised while lecturing.
Steps to do Activity
- The guest gives a lecture on the given topic.
- Students listen to lecturer and make some list doubts
- After lecture is finished, students would be allowed to ask their doubts which arised during lecturing.
What did the child learn
- Pupil will come to know that manner in which powers are separated and executed in indian constitution .
- Understands how the powers are distributed between union and state government.
10.2 Activity 2 (Mock Parliament)
Objective
To get knowledge of law making procedure in india.
Material
Video of loksabha
channel http://wwitv.com/tv_channels/b3881.htm
Chairs and tables in
sufficient numbers.
10.2.1 Procedure:
General Instructions
Arrange students in
different groups as representives of different parties
Name the students to
act in different role like speaker, prime minister,opposition leader,
members, marshals etc.
Specific
Instructions
- Tell the students to behave in a good manner during session.
- Instruct the students to address only to the speaker during their speach
- Lay out the rules for speaking and the etiquette that ought to be followed in a parliament.
Steps to do Activity
- Showing the video of loksabha channel
- Discuss the roles played by the loksabha membership
- Also have a dicussion on the way debates take place
- One group of students (the opposition) take up an issue and ask questions on it.
- The Ruling party responds to this.
What did the child learn
- Students should understand the way in which democracy is practised in the parliament
- They should understand the law making procedure.
10.3 Activity 3 Collection of national level news paper cuttings
10.3.1 Objective
Understand the powers of the executive in the indian administration .
Material
Scissors, folders,
files, news papers containing interviews of prime minister,
president, ministers etc.
10.3.2 Procedure:
General and Specific Instructions
- Arrange groups of two students .
- Teach the students to behave politely with the librarian and people who have news papers.
- Give a knowledge of using scissors and preparation of album.
Steps to be done
- Send the students to visit libraries, different homes
- Ask the librarians and people to provide them newspapers
- Cutting the articles and interviews about PM,President, Ministers,
- Preparation of albums of newspaper cuttings.
- Presentation by the students in classroom.
- Discussion.
What did the child learn
- Pupils will get knowledge about functions and powers of executive.
- Understands the importance of the executive in the administration of the government.
10.4 Activity 4 School cabinet.
10.4.1 Objective
Create political awareness among the students .
Material
Papers, pen, drawing
sheets, colour pens, meeting hall,
10.4.2 Procedure:
General and Specific Instructions
- Prepare a parliament of the students earlier by election .
- Give instructions to students to act as members of parliament.
- Arrange meeting hall.
- Give a dialogue slip to the students.
- Let the students to know the port-folio of the ministers.
Steps of the Activity
- Elect a student member of school parliament as prime minister.
- Allow the prime minister to choose different ministers for his cabinet.
- Distribute the portfolio among the ministers.
- Arrange a cabinet meeting .discussion.
- Register discussion in a book.
- Make a chart of school cabinet showing the names of different ministers and hang it in the school.
What did the child learn
- Students will come to know the process of cabinet meeting .
- Students understands the functions of executive(cabinet)
- Students understands the paliamentary system.
10.5 Activity 5 Visiting a district court and watching the process of court.
Objective
Knowing the process of courts.
Material
Paper and pen
10.5.1 Procedure
General Instructions
- Divide the students in groups
- Get the permission and appointment from court authority.
Specific Instructions
- Tell the students to keep silence in court hall.
- Ask the students to make notes while they watching argument
Steps to do Activity
- Visit the selected court in time .
- Make notes while the proceedings are taking place
- Discuss this later in the classroom and talk about the children's experience.
What did the child learn
Understand
the procedures of the court. Experience of court process.
10.6 Activity 6 Seminar by an experienced advocate.
Objective
Creating awareness about laws.
Material
paper, pen, mike,stage
etc.
10.6.1 Procedure:
General and Specific Instructions
- Arrange the seminar hall in a proper manner.
- Tell the students to make points during seminar.
- Keep good sound system in seminar hall.
Steps to do Activity
- Seminar by the advocate.
- Discussion after seminar.
- Students to clarify their doubts
What did the child learn
- Pupil will come to know about indian laws .
- Get knowledge of the independence of judiciary.
10.7 Activity 7 A visit to a government office.
Objective
Get knowledge about bureaucracy
Material
paper, pen, recoder,
video camera
Procedure:
General and
Specific Instructions
- Take the permission of the concerned officer
- Arrange groups of students.
- Instruct the students to be disciplined during the visit
Steps to do Activity
- Visit the office in time.
- Meet the officers and workers in the office
- Ask some questions about their work and hierarchy sytem of administration.
- Meet the people who visit the office and get details how their work is going on in that office .
- Get details about worker and people relationship
- Have a discussion in the classroom about the visit.
What did the child learn
- Children learn about the hierarchy in the administration.
- Children should understand the relationship between administration and people.
10.8 Activity 8 A study on Pondicherry and Lakshadweep
Objective
Identification of difference in administration between two union territories
Material
India map with union
territories. Also use
[[33]]
and [[34]]
10.8.1 Procedure:
General and Specific Instructions
Tell the students to
note the points while explanation.
Steps
to do Activity
- Mark the union territories in indian map.
- Mark pondicherry and lakshadweep in special colour.
- Explain the common features of administration in territories.
- Describe the features of administration in pondicherry and lakshadweep.
- Allow the students to discuss about difference between these two union territories.
- Ask the evaluation questions.
What did the child learn
Understand the
administration of union territories in India.
10.9 Activity 9 Data analysis
Objective
Study of the grant given to Karnataka Government by Central Government during 2005 to 2010.
Material
Data released by the
government.
10.9.1 Procedure:
General and Specific Instructions
- Tell the students to take notes .
- Ask the students to list their doubts.
Steps to do Activity
- Explain the importance of difference taxes collected by central and state governments.
- Exibit the data
- Discussion on data
- Clear the students doubts.
What did the child learn
Pupil will come to know
that union government has major sources of taxes
Evaluation
- How many subjects are under the union government?
- List the subjects which are under the union government.
- How is parliament constituted?
- Explain the functions of the parliament.
- What are the functions of executive
- What features do you find to show the relations between legislature and executive?
- Have a discussion around, ' judges in india can give judgement without any commitments of the political system. How?'
- Write about how you feel advocates try and give justice for their clients
- Why is the bureaucracy necessary in administration?