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Federalism, Nationalism
and Development: India and the Punjab Economy
In his latest offering, the author has tried to present an impartial version of the centre- state relations. He believes that the Indian political leadership at the time of Independence deliberately adopted a development strategy that had a strong centralist bias. They had witnessed the Partition of the country and seen the effect of contradictions when sub- nationalisms competed with religion and language. Explaining the Centre’s planning, while he points out the exigencies under which the present policy planners have to function, he also highlights the effect of petty real politics on the actual implementation of the plans. The states have always been complaining about their dilution of powers. Pritam Singh takes up their case and shows how the Centre has gradually, on some pretext or the other, shorn the states of their powers. For this, he decides to study Punjab, a sensitive though a significant state. A lot of thought would have gone into selecting a state to justify his viewpoint. His choice could not have been better because Punjab is economically and politically strategically placed and has been in the eye of the storm since its inception in 1966. He argues that it, along with Bengal, faced the brunt of Partition and also had to face militancy for nearly a decade. Moreover, President’s rule was applied on it on various occasions. Besides, it is home to the Sikhs who are a small but important minority in the country. The formation of Punjab in 1966 somewhat answered the demand of the Sikhs for a ‘homeland’, where they could be in a majority. The book unravels Punjab’s history, highlights the key turning points in the history of the Sikh religion and the demand of region-based nationalism. In the process, it offers a fresh insight into the administration of the state vis-`E0-vis the Centre. The writer traces this Centre-state relationship under different powers, starting from the Mughal monarchical state, pondering about the British Raj and then deliberating over the present Indian state. The conflict is about distribution of resources between the Centre and the states in a state characterised by the existence of multiple nationalities. "The conflict between Punjabi nationalism and Indian nationalism is, therefore, rooted in the ideology and the political economy of the role of the Indian centralist state in building Indian nationalism." In Punjab, these twin problems, along with Punjabi nationalism, continue to create baffling equations. The administration is under duress to fulfil the demands based on religion and language. The Centre-state relations are discussed under three key areas—state finances, agriculture and industry. He examines the various Articles of the Constitution and systematically interprets them to show the strong centralist bias ingrained in them. Besides dealing with Punjab, he also discusses the implications of a gradually strong Centre on states like Tamil Nadu, Haryana and Assam. In all these cases, he shows that the Centre has taken control of all the major sources of revenue. While the financial share of states is gradually dwindling, their expenditures have mounted disproportionately. This, he says, leads to indebtedness of states to the Centre. It is here that the Centre discriminates while allocating finances diverting funds to states where it would stand to advantage politically. The notes at the end of the book are very informative and shed light on works done by various authors. The facts are well supported by tables and a rich bibliography. This minute analysis of the triangular relationship between federalism, nationalism and development is an eye-opener, especially when it traces the planning of a country that is on its pivotal stage.
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INDIA is a rich
conglomeration of diverse nationalisms. This diversity appears to be to
be a unique potion for the Indian state that has led to problems of
various dimensions. The framers of the Constitution could probably
foresee the dilemma this would entail and thus, vehemently opposed the
idea of a purely federal form of government for India. Pritam Singh,
Senior Lecturer in Economics, Oxford Brookes University Business School,
UK, has written a compact but comprehensive book on federalism,
nationalism and the effect of the two on the development of the country
and its various units.