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Class 10 Federalism: cheat sheet
CBSE Social Science. What federalism is, how India divides powers between the Union and the States through three lists, language policy, and local government after 1992.
Key ideas
- In a federation power is divided between a central government and constituent units, each with its own powers over the same citizens.
- Federations are “coming together” (USA, Switzerland) or “holding together” (India, Spain, Belgium).
- The Constitution sets out the powers, basic provisions need both levels to agree before they change, and courts settle disputes.
- India’s Constitution has a Union List, a State List and a Concurrent List; residuary subjects, like computer software, go to the Union.
- If Union and State laws on a Concurrent subject clash, the Union law prevails.
- India has no national language: Hindi is the official language alongside 21 other Scheduled Languages, and it is not imposed on States.
- The 1992 amendment made local government a real third tier, with regular elections, reserved seats and State Election Commissions.
Remember
| Union List | defence, foreign affairs, banking |
| State List | police, agriculture, irrigation |
| Concurrent List | education, forests, marriage |
| Changing basic provisions | two-thirds of both Houses + at least half the State legislatures |
| Rural local bodies | gram panchayat (sarpanch) → panchayat samiti (block) → zilla parishad (district) |
| Women in local bodies | at least one-third of seats |
Watch out
- Putting police on the Union List: it is a State subject.
- Calling Hindi the national language: it is the official language.
- Mixing up the two kinds: India is a holding-together federation.
Worked example
(a) In Census 2011, Hindi was spoken by 43.63% and Tamil by 5.70%. What is the difference? (b) Out of 4,100,000 people, about how many speak Tamil? (c) Why does India have no national language?
Working: 43.63 − 5.70; 5.70% of 4,100,000
Answer: (a) 37.93 percentage points (b) about 233,700 (c) To respect its many languages; Hindi is official alongside 21 other Scheduled Languages, and no language is imposed.
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