Question

Consider the following four 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 have exclusive jurisdiction on their respective subjects.
C. Sri Lanka is a federation because the country is divided into provinces.
D. India is no longer a federation because some powers of the States have 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

Answer 1

Hint: The creation of states on the basis of language was the first step towards democratic politics. Many old states resolved to lead to the formation of many new ones.

Complete answer:
The democratic politics ensured the concept of federalism, respect for diversity, and desire for living together. The concept behind the formation of states on the basis of language was that the people who speak the same language will live in the same state. The second step taken towards the formation of federalism was that Hindi was identified as the official language. Apart from Hindi, 21 more languages are scheduled in the Indian Constitution.

Center-state relations were also reconstructed to strengthen federalism in India. Before 1990, only a single party was ruling India but after 1990, a phrase of coalition government began and no single party succeeded in getting a majority. Hence, they made an alliance with the local or regional parties to form the government at the center. This practice of a new culture of power-sharing strengthened the base of federalism in India. Though the Constitution of India has distributed the power of union and state government separately the union government still has influence over the state in many ways. In the past time, the central government has misused its power to control the state. This undermined the spirit of federalism and of democracy too. The judiciary has also played a major role in improving and securing the power of autonomy of a state.

Thus, option (C) is correct.

Note: Federalism is a mixed government that combines a general government with a regional government. U. S. A., India, Brazil, Mexico, Russia, Germany are some examples of federal countries.