Understanding State Governance in India: Structure, Powers and Federal Relations

[music] Hello everyone. Welcome to week five of our course where we will be taking you

through the state legislature understanding state governance. What is the meaning of state governance in

India? In the Indian constitutional setup, state governance refers to how states, not the union, are governed

under the constitution of India. Now, India follows a federal system with a strong center where powers are divided

between the union and the states. If we see the constitutional basis, articles 152 to 237 of the constitution deal with

state governments. States are not sovereign. They derive their authority from the constitution.

Hence, governance is carried out in the name of the governor. But real power lies with the elected government. So,

let's look at the structure of the state government. First, the governor. Articles 153 to

162. He or she is appointed by the president of India is the constitutional or the

nominal head of the state and acts on the aid and advice of the council of ministers. The key powers of the

governor are to appoint the chief minister, summon and dissolve the state legislature. The governor gives ascent

to state bills. The governor can reserve certain bills for the president and has discretionary powers in specific

situations. For example, the hung assembly. The governor in fact is often described as the link between the union

and the states. Second is the council of ministers articles 163 to 164. It is headed by the chief minister and is the

real executive authority of the state collectively responsible to the state legislative assembly. The functions of

the council of ministers is to formulate and implement the state policies, run the administration, prepare the state

budget and advise the governor. The state legislature is dealt with in articles 168 to 212. There can be two

types of state legislatures. One unicameal which is the legislative assembly also known as the vidhan sabha

and the second is the bicameal the legislative assembly legislative council which is the vidhan parishad. The

legislative assembly is directly elected by the people. It controls the council of ministers and is the place where

money bills originate. The legislative council wherever it is present is a permanent body and has limited powers

compared to the assembly. Let's now look at the state judiciary which is dealt with in articles 214 to 231 and this is

headed by the high court. It is independent from the executive and the legislature. The state judiciary is what

ensures the rule of law, the protection of fundamental rights and the judicial review of state actions.

The distribution of powers in the Indian constitution lies in the seventh schedule which has therefore divided the

subjects into one the union list which covers items like defense, foreign affairs, currency. Number two, the state

list which has items like the police, public order, health, agriculture. And number three, the concurrent list which

looks at education, forests, criminal law. Now, in case of a conflict on the concurrent list, we must remember that

it's the union law which prevails. Now, let's see the federal features affecting state governance. There's a

strong center bias seen in article 356 which gives president's rule. There is the IAS IPS all India services. There

are emergency provisions and the fact that the governor is appointed by the center. Because of this India is often

called a quasi federal system. Now the role of panchiats and municipalities is laid down in the 73rd and 74th

constitutional amendments. They introduced local self-governance and laid down that the states are

responsible for organizing local bodies and evolving powers and funds. Challenges in state government can be

many like centerstate conflicts, role of the governor controversies, fiscal dependency on the center, law and

order pressures and implementation gaps in welfare schemes. But finally we can say that the significance of state

governance is that states directly affect citizens daily lives as it is the state which plays a key role in

development, law and order and social welfare. Hence effective governance strengthens Indian federalism.