Explain how the Constitution of India protects the rights of the Central Government and the States.
There was a vigorous debate in the Constituent Assembly on the topic of rights of the Central Government and the states. Jawaharlal Nehru was in favour of a strong Centre. He wrote a letter to the president of the Constituent Assembly in which he pointed out that a weak Centre would be dangerous for country because it would not be capable of coordinating important matters of common concern and of effectively speaking for the whole country in the international sphere. In the draft of Constitution, all the subjects are divided into three lists – Central list, State list and Concurrent list. Subjects in the first list were to be under the jurisdiction of the Central Government. The second list of subjects was vested with the States. Centre and the States both shared the responsibility of the third list. But more subjects were kept under the Central control. Under Article 356, the Centre was given the power to take over a State administration on the recommendation of the Governor.K. Santhanam from Madras strongly favoured the rights of the states. He felt that a reallocation of powers of the states as well as of the Centre is necessary. If the Centre was given more responsibility then it could not function in an effective manner. Some of its functions must be transferred to states then only the Centre could become more strong. In the State List, many subjects are given on which state governments can make laws. Moreover to bring about a change in the State List, the assent of Rajya Sabha or the Upper House of the Parliament is required. In this way, the rights of the states are also protected by the Constitution of India.
