Federal Bureau of Consternation

Federalism, like all other -isms, has a nice, theoretical ring to it. In the world of the practice, however, it can throw the proverbial pigeon unproverbially among the cats. The tussle over who gets to control – ‘be responsible over’ is the politer term – administrative outfits in a state, especially if it happens to be the capital of the federal republic, can be keen. It can be watching two siblings fighting over who gets to play with the toy. Except, in this case, the toy is something important like policing or healthcare or education. What follows is temper tantrums and court cases.

Back-and-forthing between the Centre and a state, as the term ‘back and forth’ suggests, works both ways. One minute, the Centre is trying to take control of everything under the sun, and the next minute, the states are asserting their sovereignty – sorry, we mean constitutional remit, and saying, ‘No way, Bhosle!’ And, if things in a department go southwards, it is always the ‘other’ one’s fault. In this game of passing the buck (read: blame), it’s states, especially double entendres like the National Capital Region, that ends up the right royal losers. So, let’s all take a moment to appreciate the comedy that is federalism. Because if we can’t laugh at ourselves – both Centre and state – then what’s the point of all this fighting in the first place?