Division of Administrative Powers Between Centre and States in India

The powers related to administrative functions have been mainly provided in articles 256 to 263 of part XI of the constitution. Here is a brief idea of these articles first:

Article 256

As per article 256, States are expected to comply with the laws of parliament and not impede the exercise of the executive powers of the union. In this regard the union government can issue necessary directives to the states.

Article 257

The constitution goes one step ahead and makes some specific provisions, which give a clear supremacy to centre over states. This article calls upon every state to not to impede or prejudice the executive power of the Union in the state. This power includes:

• Power of giving instructions to states for construction and maintenance of means of communication of national and military importance including national highways, national waterways; power of giving instruction to state to take measures for protection of Railways. In this context, whatever are expenditures of state for carrying out these instructions are to be incurred / reimbursed by the centre.
• If any Union agency is finding it difficult to function within the state, the Union Executive is empowered to issue directions to state to remove those difficulties.

Articles 258 & 259

• To make the Union power work in state, as per this Article 258 and 259, the president can entrust to officers of the states to do certain functions of the union. If the officers of state are asked to do certain functions of the union, the extra costs have to be met by the union government.
• The members of the all-India services who occupy key positions in the state administration  and give the centre indirect  control over the states. Governor of a State may, with the consent of the Government of India, entrust either conditionally or unconditionally to that Government or to its officers functions in relation to any matter to which the executive power of the State extends.

Article 260

This article provides for government of India to perform legislative and judicial functions in foreign territories. It says that Government of India may undertake any executive legislative or judicial functions in a foreign territory on the basis of an agreement with the Government of that territory. The provisions of such agreement are governed by the laws relating to the exercise of foreign jurisdiction and as such they will not come within the scope of the provisions dealing with the normal administrative relationship between the state and the Union.

The necessity of this provision is obvious in the context of the territories belonging to foreign powers with the geographical boundaries of the Indian Union.

Article 261

Article 261 says that full faith and credit shall be given throughout the territory of India to public acts, records and judicial proceedings of the Union and of every State

Article 262

Article 262 provides constitutional provisions regarding riparian states and disputes related to inter-state rivers and sharing of their water. Though water is a state subject, yet, aware of the unending Inter-state disputes, the framers of the constitution of India placed this subject under the exclusive powers of the parliament.

As per this article the parliament by law can provide for the adjudication of the any dispute or complaint with respect to the use, distribution or control of the waters of any interstate river or river valley.  Parliament may also provide that neither the Supreme Court nor the any other court shall exercise any jurisdiction in respect of the dispute. Thus, all disputes between states  regarding the use, distribution or control of water  are decided by the centre.

Article 263

As per this article, President can by order establish a council to inquire into and advising upon disputes to states if at any time it appears to the President that public interests would be served by the establishment of such council. This article led to setting up of the inter-state council.

Responsibilities / obligations of states towards centre

Constitution has put important restrictions on states to give ample scope to the centre for exercising its executive authority. Firstly, via articles 255 & 256, the executive power of state has to be exercised in such a way that it ensures compliance with the laws of parliament and it does not impede or prejudice the exercise of centre’s power in state. Secondly, constitution has given some coercive powers to centre via 365 for effective implementation of article 255 & 256. This article says that if a state has failed to comply with, or to give effect to, any directions given in the exercise of the executive power of the Union under any of the provisions of this Constitution, it shall be lawful for the President to hold that a situation has arisen in which the Government of the State cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. This implies that president’s rule can be imposed in the state using article 356. This is a very important extension to emergency powers of President and one of his discretionary powers.

Responsibility / obligations of Centre towards States

Article 355 puts the onus on the centre to protect states against any external aggression and the internal disturbance. It says that it shall be the duty of the Union to protect every State against any external aggression and the internal disturbance and to ensure that the Government of every State is carried on in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution. Over the period, this article has gained a different texture, which we would discuss in analysis part of this section.

Distribution of executive powers

Constitution has divided the executive powers between the centre and states on lines of legislative powers. The executive power of centre extends to the whole of India as follows:

• To the matters related to Union List
• To the exercise of rights, authority and jurisdiction conferred on it by any treaty or agreement.

In the same way, the executive power of a state extends to its territory in respect of matters related to State List. On concurrent list matters, the executive power rests with the states except when a Constitutional provision or a parliamentary law specifically confers it on the Centre.

Mutual delegation of administrative functions

Though there is a rigid division of legislative powers, such rigidity cannot be practical in case of the executive sphere because it would then cause conflicts more frequently. Towards this end, the constitution provides inter-government delegation of executive powers via two methods as follows:

Delegation by agreement

With the consent of the state government, the President can entrust that state government any of the executive function of the centre. Similarly, with the consent of the Central Government, governor of the state can entrust any of the executive function of a state to centre. This mutual delegation of administrative function is available to both centre and states; and can be either conditional or unconditional.

Delegation by law

We note here that the constitution provides entrustment of executive function of centre to state without even consent of that state but then this delegation comes from parliament {by law} and not president. This implies that a law made by the Parliament on Union List subject can confer powers and impose duties on a state, or authorise the conferring of powers and imposition of duties by the Centre upon a state (irrespective of the consent of the state concerned). This power of delegation by law is not available to state.

Other Measures in Constitution for Cooperation between Centre and States

Following are other measures are specifically there for better coordination between centre and states:

• The Parliament can appoint an appropriate authority to carry out the purposes of the constitutional provisions relating to the interstate freedom of trade, commerce and intercourse. However, no such authority has been appointed so far.
• Constitution provides the states the right of forming their own civil services, but then there is an All-India service, recruited on an all-India basis with common qualifications, with uniform scale of pay and members of which alone could be appointed to those strategic posts throughout the Union.
• Chairman and members of a state public service commission, though appointed by the governor of the state, can be removed only by the President.
• The Parliament can establish a Joint State Public Service Commission for two or more states on the request of the state legislatures concerned. Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) can also serve the needs of a state on the request of the state governor and with the approval of the President.
• The governor of a state is appointed by the president. He holds office during the pleasure of the President. In addition to the Constitutional head of the state, the governor acts as an agent of the Centre in the state. He submits periodical reports to the Centre about the administrative affairs of the state.
• The state election commissioner, though appointed by the governor of the state, can be removed only by the President.

Extra-Constitutional Devices for Centre-State Cooperation

Apart from constitutional measures, following are some of the extra-constitutional devices for centre-state cooperation.

• A number of advisory bodies such as Planning Commission {now replaced by NITI Aayog}, National Integration Council, Zonal Councils, North-Eastern Council, University Grants Commission, recently created GST council etc.
• Several conferences take place frequently such as Governor’s conference {presided by President}, Chief Ministers’ conference {presided by PM}, Chief Secretaries’ conference {presided by Cabinet Secretary} etc.

Conclusion

Adjustment of the administrative functions between the Union and the States is one of the most difficult problems in a federal system. The framers of the Indian Constitution had included detailed provisions so that the clashes between the states and Union are avoided as far as possible. However, in the administrative field akin to the legislative field, the union government occupies a superior position, as its executive authority extends over a larger number of subjects.