Centre–State Relations in India: An Appraisal During Covid-19 Period
| Published date | 01 December 2024 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/00195561241248317 |
| Author | Rajbir Singh,Sandeep Dhilon |
| Date | 01 December 2024 |
Centre–State Relations
in India: An Appraisal
During Covid-19
Period
Rajbir Singh1 and Sandeep Dhilon2
Abstract
The framers of the Indian Constitution have tried to establish a federal system in
which there is less of contradictions and more of coordination between the Union
and the states. Accordingly, there is a clear division of powers between the States
and the Centre in the Constitution. This arrangement has been in operation for
more than seventy years. The changing sociopolitical and economic conditions
have affected these relations at different phases including the Covid-19 pandemic
crisis. The Indian federal structure was put to test during this period. However,
during this pandemic period, both conflict and coordination in the Indian federal
system have been noticed. In the initial phase of the pandemic, there was a clear
conflict between the Centre and the states as the states were almost ignored in
policy decisions and their implementation. Unilateral and all-of-a-sudden nation-
wide lockdown was imposed by the Centre during the first wave of the pandemic,
but later on, a more reciprocal relationship evolved regarding the supply of essen-
tial medical inputs, advisories, medicines and medical equipments, issues related to
migrant workers, etc. The Supreme Court of India had to intervene with stringent
observations to regulate these relations for an effective and efficient disposal of
various services to counter the pandemic outbreak. Therefore, during the pan-
demic, in spite of conflicts and challenges, cooperation by and large, prevailed in the
Indian federation. The present research article evaluates the nature of the Indian
federation, Centre–State relationships, particularly to deal with problems like that
of the Covid-19 pandemic along with appropriate remedial measures.
Keywords
Centre–state relations, federal structure, Covid-19 pandemic, coordination,
conflicts
Article
Indian Journal of Public
Administration
70(4) 704–714, 2024
© 2024 IIPA
Article reuse guidelines:
in.sagepub.com/journals-permissions-india
DOI: 10.1177/00195561241248317
journals.sagepub.com/home/ipa
1 Department of Public Administration, Chaudhary Devi Lal University, Sirsa, Haryana, India
2 Department of Political Science, Central University of Haryana, India
Corresponding author:
Rajbir Singh, Department of Public Administration, Chaudhary Devi Lal University, Sirsa, Haryana
125055, India.
E-mail:rajbirdalal@cuh.ac.in
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