Reviving the true spirit of federalism in India: Need for greater decentralisation of power and financial empowerment of states to tackle Covid-19 While States in India have taken a leading role in managing Covid-19 pandemic, federal restrictions prove to be stumbling blocks. Central government should see this pandemic as an opportunity to reaffirm federal spirit through creation of a greater “fiscal space” for states and by reducing their borrowing costs. The experience from the last one month in the way states are handling the pandemic clearly indicates that they are truly “ laboratories of democracy ” as paraphrased by former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis. However, the constitutionally defined federalism in India is “quasi federal” in nature with a strong unitary bias. T he distribution of executive and legislative powers between Centre and States clearly indicates existence of “asymmetry” in the way Indian federalism works. The actions of the central g...
A blog about challenges and opportunities in Indian economy