Indian Constitution exhibits centralising tendencies to maintain unity and integrity of the nation. Elucidate in the perspective of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, the Disaster Management Act, 2005 and recently passed Farm Acts.

The Indian Constitution provides for division of powers among the Centre and the states. However, there are certain provisions that exhibit the centralising tendencies. Hence, Sir Ivor Jennings has called a quasi - federal constitution with unitary bias.

Epidemic Disease Act:

• This Act empowers the state governments to prescribe regulations regarding any person or group of people to contain the spread of COVID-19. On the contrary, the Centre applied and relied more on the Disaster Management Act 2005.

• All the states and union territories of India are advised to invoke the provisions of Section 2 of the Epidemic Disease Act 1897. The section includes special measures to be taken by the Centre to prescribe regulations as to dangerous epidemic disease.

Disaster Management Act:

• The act allows the centre to issue guidelines, directions or order to the state for mitigating the effect of disaster. However, Public health and sanitation is under the State list.

• Section 72 of the Disaster management act provides that the provisions of the act will have an overriding effect on all the other laws.

Farm Acts:

• While agriculture is in the state list under the Constitution, Entry 33 of the Concurrent List provides Centre and the states powers to control production, supply and distribution of products of any industry, including agriculture. Given that many state governments are opposed to the Central laws. The centre passed Farm acts under entry 33 of the concurrent list. However, it exhibits centralising tendencies like: Farmer’s Produce Trade and commerce bill- The bill empowers the central government to

issue orders to the states. Matters of Trade and agriculture, and agriculture and marketing is in

entry 14 and 28 of the state list.

The Rajya Sabha could’ve passed a special resolution as per Article 249 which would’ve made way for the central government to legislate on issues that fall under the State list because Article 249 gives the Parliament power to legislate on a matter in the State List in the national interest. 

Article 252 allows the Parliament to frame laws for two or more states who pass a resolution requesting it to legislate on that specific State subject.

These Centralising provisions in the constitution help in maintaining the unity and integrity of the nation. For ex.- the states in India do not have the right to secede from the Union, this helps in keeping Indian structure intact. Similar cases can be seen in recent times with the use of “The Disaster Management Act, 2005” where the Centre used its residuary powers to effectively manage and control the crisis caused in the country due to COVID19 pandemic.