The Management of lockdown, crisis situation, in the country will shape balance of power between Centre and states. Justify (200 Words)
Refer - The Indian Express
Enrich the answer from other sources, if the question demands.
IAS Parliament 4 years
KEY POINTS
· The management of a sub-continental lockdown has brought into focus the role of state governments, their uneven capacities and capabilities and varying quality of provincial leadership — both political and bureaucratic.
· There is a growing body of opinion that in the post-COVID world most countries will see governments playing a larger role in shaping people’s lives and determining their livelihoods.
· The return of big government and the prospect of a potentially larger role for the state in the economy raises the question, certainly in India, of what it would mean for Centre-state relations, and for national and provincial politics.
· The central government’s role will no doubt be important in the handling of the economic and financial aftermath, in reviving inter-state movement of people and goods, in re-negotiating international economic treaties to make them relevant to the new situation and so on.
· However, the immediate challenge of public health and medical care, as well as the continued supply of necessities, will remain the responsibility of state governments.
· The manner in which the central and state governments resolve the problem of inadequate fiscal resources, given falling revenues due to the slowdown and rising claims on the public exchequer, will be a key issue in Centre-state relations.
· Given the constitutional division of responsibilities between the Centre and states, one issue that has fallen between two stools is the entire question of internal migration and the economic and social interests of domestic migrant labour.
· The management of the lockdown and its aftermath will determine the balance of power not just between Centre and the states, but between alternative political platforms.
· In the coming months, the focus of public policy will perforce shift to areas where state governments and provincial leaders will have to play a larger role. The only way in which the central government can re-assert its developmental role would be through massive public spending and investment.
