Indian Constitution at Work
Chapter Seven
FEDERALISM
INTRODUCTION
Look at the political maps (on next two pages) of India 1947 and 2017. They
have changed dramatically over the years. Boundaries of States have changed,
names of States have changed, and the number of States has changed. When
India became independent, we had a number of provinces that the British
government had organised only for administrative convenience. Then a number
of princely states merged with the newly independent Indian union. These
were joined to the existing provinces. This is what you see in the first map.
Since then boundaries of States have been reorganised many times. During this
entire period, not only did boundaries of States change, but in some cases, even
their names changed according to the wishes of the people of those States. Thus,
Mysore changed to Karnataka and Madras became Tamil Nadu. The maps show
these large scale changes that have taken place in the span of over seventy years.
In a way, these maps also tell us the story of functioning of federalism in India.
After studying this chapter you will be able to understand the following:
± what is Federalism;
± the federal provisions in the Indian Constitution;
± the issues involved in the relations between the centre and the States; and
150 ± the special provisions for certain States having a distinct composition and
historical features.
2019-2020
,Chapter 7: Federalism
151
INDIA IN 1947
2019-2020
, Indian Constitution at Work
152
2019-2020
Chapter Seven
FEDERALISM
INTRODUCTION
Look at the political maps (on next two pages) of India 1947 and 2017. They
have changed dramatically over the years. Boundaries of States have changed,
names of States have changed, and the number of States has changed. When
India became independent, we had a number of provinces that the British
government had organised only for administrative convenience. Then a number
of princely states merged with the newly independent Indian union. These
were joined to the existing provinces. This is what you see in the first map.
Since then boundaries of States have been reorganised many times. During this
entire period, not only did boundaries of States change, but in some cases, even
their names changed according to the wishes of the people of those States. Thus,
Mysore changed to Karnataka and Madras became Tamil Nadu. The maps show
these large scale changes that have taken place in the span of over seventy years.
In a way, these maps also tell us the story of functioning of federalism in India.
After studying this chapter you will be able to understand the following:
± what is Federalism;
± the federal provisions in the Indian Constitution;
± the issues involved in the relations between the centre and the States; and
150 ± the special provisions for certain States having a distinct composition and
historical features.
2019-2020
,Chapter 7: Federalism
151
INDIA IN 1947
2019-2020
, Indian Constitution at Work
152
2019-2020
