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Federalism

Overview

In the previous chapter, we noted that vertical division of power amongdifferent levels of governments is one of the major forms of powersharing in modern democracies. In this chapter, we focus on this formof power sharing. It is most commonly referred to as federalism. Webegin by describing federalism in general terms. The rest of the chaptertries to understand the theory and practice of federalism in India. Adiscussion of the federal constitutional provisions is followed by ananalysis of the policies and politics that has strengthened federalism inpractice. Towards the end of the chapter, we turn to the localgovernment, a new and third tier of Indian federalism.

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What is federalism?Let us get back to the contrast betweenBelgium and Sri Lanka that we saw inthe last chapter. You would recall thatone of the key changes made in theConstitution of Belgium was to reducethe power of the Central Governmentand to give these powers to the regionalgovernments. Regional governmentsexisted in Belgium even earlier. Theyhad their roles and powers. But all thesepowers were given to thesegovernments and could be withdrawnby the Central Government. Thechange that took place in 1993 was thatthe regional governments were givenconstitutional powers that were nolonger dependent on the centralgovernment. Thus, Belgium shiftedfrom a unitary to a federal form ofgovernment. Sri Lanka continues to be,

for all practical purposes, a unitarysystem where the national governmenthas all the powers. Tamil leaders wantSri Lanka to become a federal system.

Federalism is a system ofgovernment in which the power isdivided between a central authority andvarious constituent units of thecountry. Usually, a federation has twolevels of government. One is thegovernment for the entire country thatis usually responsible for a few subjectsof common national interest. Theothers are governments at the level ofprovinces or states that look aftermuch of the day-to-day administeringof their state. Both these levels ofgovernments enjoy their powerindependent of the other.

I am confused.What do we callthe Indiangovernment? Isit Union, Federalor Central?

Though only 25 of the world’s 192 countries have federal political systems, their citizens make up 40 per cent ofthe world’s population. Most of the large countries of the world are federations. Can you notice an exception to thisrule in this map?

Source: Montreal and Kingston, Handbook of Federal Countries: 2002, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2002.

Federalpolitical systems

Canada

United Statesof America

Mexico

PACIFIC OCEAN

MicronesiaArgentina

Venezuela

ATLANTICOCEANBrazil

St. Kittsand Nevis

BelgiumSwitzerlandSpain

Nigeria

EthiopiaComoros

Bosnia andHerzegovina

Austria

Pakistan

Russia

India

Malaysia

Australia

INDIANOCEAN

South Africa

PACIFIC OCEANUnitedArabEmirates

Germany

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Jurisdiction: The areaover which someonehas legal authority. Thearea may be defined interms of geographicalboundaries or in termsof certain kinds ofsubjects.

7 The federal system thus has dualobjectives: to safeguard and promoteunity of the country, while at the sametime accommodate regional diversity.Therefore, two aspects are crucial forthe institutions and practice offederalism. Governments at differentlevels should agree to some rules ofpower sharing. They should also trustthat each would abide by its part ofthe agreement. An ideal federal systemhas both aspects : mutual trust andagreement to live together.

The exact balance of powerbetween the central and the stategovernment varies from one federationto another. This balance dependsmainly on the historical context in whichthe federation was formed. There aretwo kinds of routes through whichfederations have been formed. The firstroute involves independent Statescoming together on their own to forma bigger unit, so that by poolingsovereignity and retaining identity theycan increase their security. This type of‘coming together’ federations includethe USA, Switzerland and Australia. Inthis first category of federations, all theconstituent States usually have equalpower and are strong vis-à-vis thefederal government.

The second route is where a largecountry decides to divide its powerbetween the constituent States and thenational government. India, Spain andBelgium are examples of this kind of‘holding together’ federations. Inthis second category, the centralgovernment tends to be more powerfulvis-à-vis the States. Very often differentconstituent units of the federation haveunequal powers. Some units aregranted special powers.

If federalismworks only in bigcountries, whydid Belgiumadopt it?

In this sense, federations arecontrasted with unitary governments.Under the unitary system, either thereis only one level of government or thesub-units are subordinate to the centralgovernment. The central governmentcan pass on orders to the provincial orthe local government. But in a federalsystem, the central government cannotorder the state government to dosomething. State government haspowers of its own for which it is notanswerable to the central government.Both these governments are separatelyanswerable to the people.

Let us look at some of the keyfeatures of federalism :1 There are two or more levels (or

tiers) of government.2 Different tiers of government

govern the same citizens, but each tierhas its own JURISDICTION in specificmatters of legislation, taxation andadministration.3 The jurisdictions of the respective

levels or tiers of government arespecified in the constitution. So theexistence and authority of each tier ofgovernment is constitutionallyguaranteed.4 The fundamental provisions of

the constitution cannot be unilaterallychanged by one level of government.Such changes require the consent ofboth the levels of government.5 Courts have the power to interpret

the constitution and the powers ofdifferent levels of government. Thehighest court acts as an umpire ifdisputes arise between different levelsof government in the exercise of theirrespective powers.

6 Sources of revenue for each levelof government are clearly specified toensure its financial autonomy.

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Isn’t thatstrange? Did ourconstitutionmakers not knowaboutfederalism? Ordid they wish toavoid talkingabout it?

Some Nepalese citizens were discussing the proposals on the adoptionof federalism in their new constitution. This is what some of them said:

Khag Raj: I don’t like federalism. It would lead to reservation of seats fordifferent caste groups as in India.Sarita: Ours in not a very big country. We don’t need federalism.Babu Lal: I am hopeful that the Terai areas will get more autonomy if they gettheir own state government.Ram Ganesh: I like federalism because it will mean that powers that were earlierenjoyed by the king will now be exercised by our elected representatives.

If you were participating in this conversation what would be your response to eachof these? Which of these reflect a wrong understanding of what federalism is?What makes India a federal country?

We have earlier seen how smallcountries like Belgium and Sri Lankaface so many problems of managingdiversity. What about a vast country likeIndia, with so many languages, religionsand regions? What are the powersharing arrangements in our country?

Let us begin with the Constitution.India had emerged as an independentnation after a painful and bloodypartition. Soon after Independence,several princely states became a part ofthe country. The Constitution declaredIndia as a Union of States. Although itdid not use the word federation, theIndian Union is based on the principlesof federalism.

Let us go back to the seven featuresof federalism mentioned above. We cansee that all these features apply to theprovisions of the Indian Constitution.The Constitution originally providedfor a two-tier system of government,the Union Government or what we callthe Central Government, representing

the Union of India and the Stategovernments. Later, a third tier offederalism was added in the form ofPanchayats and Municipalities. As inany federation, these different tiersenjoy separate jurisdiction. TheConstitution clearly provided a three-fold distribution of legislative powersbetween the Union Government andthe State Governments. Thus, itcontains three lists:

Union List includes subjects ofnational importance such as defenceof the country, foreign affairs, banking,communications and currency. Theyare included in this list because we needa uniform policy on these mattersthroughout the country. The UnionGovernment alone can make lawsrelating to the subjects mentioned inthe Union List.

State List contains subjects ofState and local importance such aspolice, trade, commerce, agricultureand irrigation. The State Governments

What makes India a federal country?

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alone can make laws relating to thesubjects mentioned in the State List.

Concurrent List includes subjectsof common interest to both the UnionGovernment as well as the StateGovernments, such as education, forest,trade unions, marriage, adoption andsuccession. Both the Union as well asthe State Governments can make lawson the subjects mentioned in this list.If their laws conflict with each other,the law made by the UnionGovernment will prevail.

What about subjects that do notfall in any of the three lists? Or subjectslike computer software that came upafter the constitution was made?According to our constitution, theUnion Government has the power tolegislate on these ‘residuary’ subjects.

We noted above that mostfederations that are formed by ‘holdingtogether’ do not give equal power toits constituent units. Thus, all States inthe Indian Union do not have identicalpowers. Some States enjoy a specialstatus. Jammu and Kashmir has its ownConstitution. Many provisions of theIndian Constitution are not applicableto this State without the approval ofthe State Assembly. Indians who arenot permanent residents of this Statecannot buy land or house here. Similarspecial provisions exist for some otherStates of India as well.

If agriculture andcommerce arestate subjects,why do we haveministers ofagriculture andcommerce in theUnion cabinet?

Listen to one national and one regional news bulletin broadcast by All IndiaRadio daily for one week. Make a list of news items related to government policies or

decisions by classifying these into the following categories:News items that relate only to the Central Government,News items that relate only to your or any other State Government,News items about the relationship between the Central and State Governments.

There are some units of the IndianUnion which enjoy very little power.These are areas which are too small tobecome an independent State butwhich could not be merged with anyof the existing States. These areas, likeChandigarh, or Lakshadweep or thecapital city of Delhi, are called UnionTerritories. These territories do nothave the powers of a State. The CentralGovernment has special powers inrunning these areas.

This sharing of power between theUnion Government and the Stategovernments is basic to the structureof the Constitution. It is not easy tomake changes to this power sharingarrangement. The Parliament cannoton its own change this arrangement.Any change to it has to be first passedby both the Houses of Parliament withat least two-thirds majority. Then it hasto be ratified by the legislatures of atleast half of the total States.

The judiciary plays an importantrole in overseeing the implementationof constitutional provisions andprocedures. In case of any dispute aboutthe division of powers, the High Courtsand the Supreme Court make a decision.The Union and State governmentshave the power to raise resources bylevying taxes in order to carry on thegovernment and the responsibilitiesassigned to each of them.

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Pokharan, the place where India conducted its nuclear tests, liesin Rajasthan. Suppose the Government of Rajasthan was opposed to

the Central Government’s nuclear policy, could it prevent the Government ofIndia from conducting the nuclear tests?Suppose the Government of Sikkim plans to introduce new textbooks in its schools.But the Union Government does not like the style and content of the newtextbooks. In that case, does the state government need to take permission fromthe Union Government before these textbooks can be launched?Suppose the Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Orissa havedifferent policies on how their state police should respond to the naxalites. Can thePrime Minister of India intervene and pass an order that all the Chief Ministers willhave to obey?

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Constitutional provisions are necessaryfor the success of federalism but theseare not sufficient. If the federalexperiment has succeeded in India, itis not merely because of the clearly laidout constitutional provisions. The realsuccess of federalism in India can beattributed to the nature of democraticpolitics in our country. This ensuredthat the spirit of federalism, respectfor diversity and desire for livingtogether became a shared ideal in ourcountry. Let us look at some of themajor ways in which this happened.

Linguistic StatesThe creation of Linguistic States wasthe first and a major test for democraticpolitics in our country. If you look at

the political map of India when itbegan its journey as a democracy in1947 and that of 2006, you will besurprised by the extent of the changes.Many old States have vanished andmany new States have been created.Areas, boundaries and names of theStates have been changed.

In 1947, the boundaries of severalold States of India were changed inorder to create new States. This wasdone to ensure that people who spokethe same language lived in the sameState. Some States were created not onthe basis of language but to recognisedifferences based on culture, ethnicityor geography. These include States likeNagaland, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand.

Has your village or townremained under the same Statesince Independence? If not,what was the name of theearlier State?Can you identify three Statenames in 1947 that havechanged later?Identify any three States whichhave been carved out of abigger State.

How is federalism practiced?

2006

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When the demand for theformation of States on the basis oflanguage was raised, some nationalleaders feared that it would lead to thedisintegration of the country. TheCentral Government resisted linguisticStates for some time. But theexperience has shown that theformation of linguistic States hasactually made the country, more united.It has also made administration easier.

Language policyA second test for Indian federation isthe language policy. Our Constitutiondid not give the status of nationallanguage to any one language. Hindi wasidentified as the official language. ButHindi is the mother tongue of onlyabout 40 per cent of Indians. Therefore,there were many safeguards to protectother languages. Besides Hindi, there are21 other languages recognised asScheduled Languages by theConstitution. A candidate in anexamination conducted for the CentralGovernment positions may opt to takethe examination in any of theselanguages. States too have their ownofficial languages. Much of thegovernment work takes place in theofficial language of the concerned State.

Unlike Sri Lanka, the leaders of ourcountry adopted a very cautiousattitude in spreading the use of Hindi.According to the Constitution, the useof English for official purposes was tostop in 1965. However, many non-Hindi speaking States demanded thatthe use of English continue. In TamilNadu, this movement took a violentform. The Central Governmentresponded by agreeing to continue theuse of English along with Hindi forofficial purposes. Many critics thinkthat this solution favoured the English-speaking elite. Promotion of Hindi

continues to be the official policy ofthe Government of India. Promotiondoes not mean that the CentralGovernment can impose Hindi onStates where people speak a differentlanguage. The flexibility shown byIndian political leaders helped ourcountry avoid the kind of situation thatSri Lanka finds itself in.

Centre-State relationsRestructuring the Centre-Staterelations is one more way in whichfederalism has been strengthened inpractice. How the constitutionalarrangements for sharing power workin reality depends to a large extent onhow the ruling parties and leadersfollow these arrangements. For a longtime, the same party ruled both at theCentre and in most of the States. Thismeant that the State governments didnot exercise their rights as autonomousfederal units. As and when the rulingparty at the State level was different,the parties that ruled at the Centre triedto undermine the power of the States.In those days, the Central Governmentwould often misuse the Constitutionto dismiss the State governments thatwere controlled by rival parties. Thisundermined the spirit of federalism.

All this changed significantlyafter 1990. This period saw the riseof regional political parties in manyStates of the country. This was alsothe beginning of the era ofCOALITION GOVERNMENTS at theCentre. Since no single party got aclear majority in the Lok Sabha, themajor national parties had to enterinto an alliance with many partiesincluding several regional parties toform a government at the Centre.This led to a new culture of powersharing and respect for the autonomyof State Governments. This trend was

Coalition government:A government formedby the coming togetherof at least two politicalparties. Usually partnersin a coalition form apolitical alliance andadopt a commonprogramme.

Why Hindi?Why notBangla orTelugu?

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Here are two cartoons showing the relationship between Centre and States. Should theState go to the Centre with a begging bowl? How can the leader of a coalition keep thepartners of government satisfied?

Are yousuggesting thatregionalism isgood for ourdemocracy? Areyou serious?

The States Plead for More Powers

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Perils of Running a Coalition Government

supported by a major judgement ofthe Supreme Court that made itdifficult for the Central Governmentto dismiss state governments in an

arbitrary manner. Thus, federalpower sharing is more effective todaythan it was in the early years afterthe Constitution came into force.

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Linguistic diversity of IndiaLinguistic diversity of IndiaLinguistic diversity of IndiaLinguistic diversity of IndiaLinguistic diversity of India

How many languages do we havein India? The answer depends onhow one counts it. The latestinformation that we have is fromthe Census of India held in 1991.This census recorded more than1500 distinct languages whichpeople mentioned as their mothertongues. These languages weregrouped together under somemajor languages. For examplelanguages like Bhojpuri, Magadhi,Bundelkhandi, Chhattisgarhi,Rajasthani, Bhili and many otherswere grouped together under‘Hindi’. Even after this grouping,the Census found 114 majorlanguages. Of these 22 languagesare now included in the EighthSchedule of the Indian Constitutionand are therefore called ‘ScheduledLanguages’. Others are called ‘non-Scheduled Languages’. In terms oflanguages, India is perhaps themost diverse country in the world.

A look at the enclosed tablemakes it clear that no onelanguage is the mother tongue ofthe majority of our population. Thelargest language, Hindi, is themother tongue of only about 40per cent Indians. If we add to thatall those who knew Hindi as theirsecond or third language, the totalnumber was still less than 50 percent in 1991. As for English, only0.02 per cent Indians recorded it astheir mother tongue. Another 11per cent knew it as a second orthird language.

Read this table carefully, butyou do not need to memorise it.Just do the following:

Make a bar or pie chart onthe basis of this information.

Prepare a map of linguisticdiversity of India by shading theregion where each of theselanguages is spoken on the mapof India.

Find out about threelanguages that are spoken inIndia but are not included in thistable.

Scheduled Languages of IndiaLanguage Proportion of

speakers (%)Assamese 1.6Bangla 8.3Bodo 0.1Dogri 0.2Gujarati 4.9Hindi 40.2Kannada 3.9Kashmiri 0.5Konkani 0.2Maithili 0.9Malayalam 3.6Manipuri 0.2Marathi 7.5Nepali 0.3Oriya 3.4Punjabi 2.8Sanskrit 0.01Santhali 0.6Sindhi 0.3Tamil 6.3Telugu 7.9Urdu 5.2Note: The first column in this table lists all the languagescurrently included in the Eighth Schedule of the IndianConstitution. The second column gives the proportion of thespeakers of each of these languages as per cent of the totalpopulation of India. These figures are based on the Census ofIndia, 1991. The figures for Kashmiri and Dogri are based onestimates, as the Census was not conducted in Jammu andKashmir in 1991.

+

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Read the following excerpts from an article by noted historian,Ramachandra Guha, that appeared in the Times of India on November 1,2006:

Take the example of your own state or any other state that was affected bylinguistic reorganisation. Write a short note for or against the argument given bythe author here on the basis of that example.

‘ ‘

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We noted above that federalgovernments have two or more tiersof governments. We have so fardiscussed the two-tiers of governmentin our country. But a vast country likeIndia cannot be run only through thesetwo-tiers. States in India are as large asindependent countries of Europe. Interms of population, Uttar Pradesh isbigger than Russia, Maharashtra isabout as big as Germany. Many ofthese States are internally very diverse.There is thus a need for power sharingwithin these States. Federal powersharing in India needs another tier ofgovernment, below that of the Stategovernments. This is the rationale fordecentralisation of power. Thus,resulted a third-tier of government,called local government.

When power is taken away fromCentral and State governments and givento local government, it is calleddecentralisation. The basic idea behinddecentralisation is that there are a largenumber of problems and issues whichare best settled at the local level. Peoplehave better knowledge of problems intheir localities. They also have better ideason where to spend money and how tomanage things more efficiently. Besides,at the local level it is possible for thepeople to directly participate in decisionmaking. This helps to inculcate a habitof democratic participation. Localgovernment is the best way to realise oneimportant principle of democracy,namely local self-government.

The need for decentralisation wasrecognised in our Constitution. Sincethen, there have been several attemptsto decentralise power to the level ofvillages and towns. Panchayats in

So, we are like athree-tier coachin a train! Ialways prefer thelower berth!

villages and municipalities in urbanareas were set up in all the States. Butthese were directly under the controlof state governments. Elections tothese local governments were not heldregularly. Local governments did nothave any powers or resources of theirown. Thus, there was very littledecentralisation in effective terms.

A major step towards decentra-lisation was taken in 1992. TheConstitution was amended to make thethird-tier of democracy more powerfuland effective.

Now it is constitutionallymandatory to hold regular elections tolocal government bodies.

Seats are reserved in the electedbodies and the executive heads ofthese institutions for the ScheduledCastes, Scheduled Tribes and OtherBackward Classes.

At least one-third of all positionsare reserved for women.

An independent institution calledthe State Election Commission hasbeen created in each State to conductpanchayat and municipal elections.

The State governments are requiredto share some powers and revenue withlocal government bodies. The nature ofsharing varies from State to State.

Rural local government ispopularly known by the namepanchayati raj. Each village, or a groupof villages in some States, has a grampanchayat. This is a council consistingof several ward members, often calledpanch, and a president or sarpanch.They are directly elected by all theadult population living in that ward

Decentralisation in India

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or village. It is the decision-makingbody for the entire village. Thepanchayat works under the overallsupervision of the gram sabha. All thevoters in the village are its members.It has to meet at least twice or thricein a year to approve the annual budgetof the gram panchayat and to reviewthe performance of the grampanchayat.

The local government structuregoes right up to the district level. Afew gram panchayats are groupedtogether to form what is usually calleda panchayat samiti or block or mandal.The members of this representativebody are elected by all the panchyatmembers in that area. All the panchayatsamitis or mandals in a district together

constitute the zilla (district) parishad.Most members of the zilla parishad areelected. Members of the Lok Sabhaand MLAs of that district and someother officials of other district levelbodies are also its members. Zillaparishad chairperson is the politicalhead of the zilla parishad.

Similarly, local government bodiesexist for urban areas as well.Municipalities are set up in towns. Bigcities are constituted into municipalcorporations. Both municipalities andmunicipal corporations are controlledby elected bodies consisting of people’srepresentatives. Municipal chairpersonis the political head of the municipality.In a municipal corporation such anofficer is called the mayor.

Prime Minister runsthe country. ChiefMinister runs thestate. Logically,then, thechairperson of ZillaParishad shouldrun the district.Why does the D.M.or Collectoradminister thedistrict?

What do these newspaper clippings have to say about efforts of decentralisation in India?

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This new system of localgovernment is the largest experimentin democracy conducted anywhere inthe world. There are now about 36 lakhelected representatives in thepanchayats and municipalities etc., allover the country. This number is biggerthan the population of many countriesin the world. Constitutional status forlocal government has helped to deependemocracy in our country. It has also

increased women’s representation andvoice in our democracy. At the sametime, there are many difficulties. Whileelections are held regularly andenthusiastically, gram sabhas are notheld regularly. Most state governmentshave not transferred significant powersto the local governments. Nor havethey given adequate resources. We arethus still a long way from realising theideal of self-government.

Find out about the local government in the village or town you live in.

If you live in a village, find out the names of the following: your panch or wardmember, your sarpanch, your panchayat samiti, the chairperson of your zillaparishad. Also find out when did the last meeting of the gram sabha take place andhow many people took part in that.

If you live in urban areas, find out the name of your municipal councillor, and themunicipal chairperson or mayor. Also find out about the budget of your municipalcorporation, municipality and the major items on which money was spent.

+ An experiment in Brazil

A city called Porto Alegre in Brazil has carried out an extraordinary experimentin combining decentralisation with participative democracy. The city has set up aparallel organisation operating alongside the municipal council, enabling localinhabitants to take real decisions for their city. The nearly 13 lakh people in thiscity get to participate in making the budget for their own city. The city is dividedinto many sectors or what we call wards. Each sector has a meeting, like that ofthe gram sabha, in which anyone living in that area can participate. There aresome meetings to discuss issues that affect the entire city. Any citizen of the citycan participate in those meetings. The budget of the city is discussed in thesemeetings. The proposals are put to the municipality that takes a final decisionabout it.

About 20,000 people participate in this decision making exercise every year.This method has ensured that the money cannot be spent only for the benefit ofthe colonies where rich people live. Buses now run to the poor colonies andbuilders cannot evict slum-dwellers without resettling them.

In our own country, a similar experiment has taken place in some areas inKerala. Ordinary people have participated in making a plan for the developmentof their locality.

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Exer

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1. Locate the following States on a blank outline political map of India:Manipur, Sikkim, Chhattisgarh and Goa.

2. Identify and shade three federal countries (other than India) on ablank outline political map of the world.

3. Point out one feature in the practice of federalism in India that issimilar to and one feature that is different from that of Belgium.

4. What is the main difference between a federal form of governmentand a unitary one? Explain with an example.

5. State any two differences between the local government before andafter the Constitutional amendment in 1992.

6. Fill in the blanks:

Since the United States is a ___________________ type offederation, all the constituent States have equal powers and Statesare ______________vis-à-vis the federal government. But India is a_____________________ type of federation and some States havemore power than others. In India, the ____________ governmenthas more powers.

7. Here are three reactions to the language policy followed in India.Give an argument and an example to support any of these positions.

Sangeeta: The policy of accommodation have strengthenednational unity.Arman: Language based States has divided us by makingeveryone conscious of their language.Harish: This policy has only helped to consolidate thedominance of English over all other languages.

8. The distinguishing feature of a federal government is:(a) National government gives some powers to the provincial

government.(b) Power is distributed among the legislature, executive and

judiciary.(c) Elected officials exercise supreme power in the government.(d) Governmental power is divided between different levels of

government.

9. A few subjects in various Lists of the Indian Constitution are givenhere. Group them under the Union, State and Concurrent Lists asprovided in the table below.

A. Defence; B. Police; C. Agriculture; D. Education;E. Banking; F. Forests; G. Communications; H. Trade; I. Marriages

Union ListState ListConcurrent List

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1 2 3 4(a) D A B C(b) B C D A(c) A C D B(d) C D A B

(a) State government State List(b) Central government Union List(c) Central and State governments Concurrent List(d) Local governments Residuary powers

Exer

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s10. Examine the following pairs that give the level of government in

India and the powers of the government at that level to make lawson the subjects mentioned against each. Which of the following pairsis not correctly matched?

11. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer usingthe codes given below the lists:

List I List II1. Union of India A. Prime Minister2. State B. Sarpanch3. Municipal Corporation C. Governor4. Gram Panchayat D. Mayor

12. Consider the following two statements.A. In a federation the powers of the federal and provincial

governments are clearly demarcated.B. India is a federation because the powers of the Union and State

Governments are specified in the Constitution and they haveexclusive jurisdiction on their respective subjects.

C. Sri Lanka is a federation because the country is divided intoprovinces.

D. India is no longer a federation because some powers of the Stateshave been devolved to the local government bodies.

Which of the statements given above are correct?(a) A, B and C (b) A, C and D (c) A and B only (d) B and C only