Describe the Centre-State relations in the Indian Federal system.

The federal structure is a design of government in which there is a division of power on a territorial basis between the Centre and States.

Relations between the Union and States can be studied under the following heads

a) Legislative Relations- The Constitution divides legislative authority between the Union and the States into three lists- the Union List, the State List and the Concurrent List. Parliament can make laws on subjects in the State list if two or more states make a joint request to it to do so. Thus, the Centre enjoys more extensive powers than the states.

b) Administrative relations- The Indian Constitution is based on the principle that the executive power is co-extensive with legislative power, which means that the Union executive/the state executive can deal with all matters on which Parliament/state legislature can legislate.

(c) Financial Relations – Both the Union government and the states have some independent sources of revenue which are provided by the Constitution. Parliament can levy taxes on the subjects included in the Union list, and similarly, the states can levy taxes on the subjects in the state list. Ordinarily, there are no taxes on the subjects in the Concurrent List.

(d) Finance Commission –One of the instruments which the Constitution has provided for the purpose of distributing financial resources between the Centre and the states is the Finance Commission. The Finance Commission according to Article 280 of the Constitution is constituted by the President once every five years and is a high- power body.