ISSN (Print) - 0012-9976 | ISSN (Online) - 2349-8846

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COVID-19 to Lockdown (Mis)-management

The COVID-19 pandemic has turned out to be the biggest humanitarian disaster of the century. This crisis has been effectuated due to the authoritativeness of the state that has used its powers under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 and the hitherto Epidemic Disease Act, 1897 without paying heed to the decentralisation of powers, devolution of duties, and building community resilience.

Critical Importance of Cooperative Federalism

In addition to the three-pillar framework suggested by the Fifteenth Finance Commission, we suggest four constituents, namely the finance commission, NITI Aayog, goods and services tax, and de facto decentralisation, which will help strengthen the “cooperative” element—a key factor for Indian federation to work effectively. Further, the article focuses on finance commissions empowering the local governments and, in particular, assesses the Fifteenth Finance Commission’s thrust to empower the local bodies.

 

Technological Federalism

“Technological federalism” or the interface of the landscape of technological and data governance with the federal structure, as enshrined in the Constitution of India, needs to be ideally adjudicated upon. Till the time it happens, it needs to be theorised and understood in detail. The centralisation of data, digital architectures as well as decision-making will be inevitable in the absence of a new perspective.

 

Rethinking Indian Federalism

India is considered as a successful federation in resolving most of its ethno-regional and linguistic problems in favour of a relatively durable political order and stability through territorial as well as non-territorial recognition of identity. On the basis of a distinction between what has been termed “diversity claims” and “equality claims,” it is argued that India’s democratic success has remained a very poor match to its federal success. Democracy here has been pressed into the service of a kind of federalism that has privileged “diversity claims” over “equality claims.” Although India’s experiment with state creation within federalism remains ongoing, with Telangana being the latest one carved out of Andhra Pradesh in 2014, given the shifts in priorities since the onset of India’s reforms in 1991, political incentives for demanding more states do not appear to be as attractive as before. While equality claims played second fiddle to diversity claims, the scope of the former has become further restricted today.

 

Reorganisation of J&K and Anxiety in Jammu

The response of the people of the Jammu region to the abrupt changes made in Jammu and Kashmir, both related to revocation of the special constitutional status of the state and its reorganisation, is explored. Historically tracing the response of the region towards Article 370 and locating it in its relationship with Kashmir, the anxieties being felt in the region after the changes in August 2019 are discussed.

Symbiotic Federalism

The federal government should be the manifestation of the principle of fairness towards the states.

Policy Complementarities in Achieving Universal Immunisation Coverage in India

The role of two policy pillars in achieving immunisation coverage of essential vaccines in India is examined by assessing the funds disbursed by the centre to the state governments under the Universal Immunisation Programme and the available physical health infrastructure in the states. It is found that funds by themselves are ineffective in improving vaccination coverage but are effective in conjunction with the available infrastructure. This finding has important implications for achieving full immunisation coverage, which stems from the sharing of responsibilities between the central and state governments under India’s federalised system of government.

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