National Development Council

• The National Development Council (NDC) or the Rashtriya Vikas Parishad is the apex body for decision making and deliberations on development matters in India, presided over by the Prime Minister.

Five Year Plans of India

The economy of India is based in part on planning through its five-year plans, which are developed, executed and monitored by the Planning Commission. Prior to the fourth plan, the allocation of state resources was based on schematic patterns rather than a transparent and objective mechanism, which led to the adoption of the Gadgil formula in 1969. Revised versions of the formula have been used since then to determine the allocation of central assistance for state plans.

Planning Commission

• The Planning Commission is an institution in the Government of India, which formulates India's Five-Year Plans, among other functions.
• The composition of the Commission has undergone a lot of change since its inception. With the Prime Minister as the ex-officio Chairman, the committee has a nominated Deputy Chairman, who is given the rank of a full Cabinet Minister.
• Cabinet Ministers with certain important portfolios act as part-time members of the Commission, while the full-time members are experts of various fields like Economics, Industry, Science and General Administration.

Chairman’s of Finance Commission

Finance Commission	Constituted	Chairman	Operational Duration
First	1951	K.C Niyogy	1952-57
Second	1956	K.Santhanam	1957-62

Finance Commission

The Finance Commission constituted by the President pursuant to clause (1) of article 280 of the Constitution.

It was formed to define the financial relations between the centre and the state. The Finance Commission Act of 1951 states the terms of qualification, appointment and disqualification, the term, eligibility and powers of the Finance Commission. As per the Constitution, the commission is appointed every five years and consists of a chairman and four other members.

Inter-State Council

The Inter-State Council is a recommendatory body of the Government of India set up under Article 263 of Indian constitution, with duties to investigate and discuss the subjects of common interest between the Union and State(s) or among the States, making recommendations particularly for better coordination of policy and action on these subjects and deliberating upon such other matters of general interest to the States which may be referred to it by its Chairman. The Council also deliberates upon such other matters of general interest to the States as may be referred by the Chairman to the Council.

Jurisdiction and Seats of High Courts

Name	Estd. In the Year	Territorial Jurisdiction	Seat
Allahabad	1866	Uttar Pradesh	Allahabad (Bench at Lucknow)

The High Court

• Presently there are 21 High Courts in India. Consists of Chief Justice & other such judges as appointed by the President.
• The Constitution, unlike in the case of the Supreme Court, does not fix any maximum number of judges for a High Court. A judge of a High Court can be transferred to another High Court without his consent by the President.
• The Chief Justice of India is also consulted. The opinion provided by him shall have primacy and is binding on the President.

List of Chief Justice of Supreme Court

Name	Tenure
	From	To
Hiralal J. Kania	26.01.1950	26.11.1951
M. Patanjali Shastri	07.11.1951	03.01.1954
Mehar Chand Mahajan	04.11.1954	22.12.1954

Public Interest Litigation (PIL)

• Any member of the public can now initiate a proceeding on behalf of the aggrieved person ( esp. if the person is too poor or unable to move the court on his or her own ) in either the High Court or the Supreme Court for enforcement of constitutional rights.

Supreme Court of India

• The Supreme Court of India stands at the apex of the judicial system of India.
• It consists of Chief Justice & 30 other judges.

Municipalities

• The Part IX A of the Constitution of India gives a constitutional foundation to the local self government units in urban area.
• Most provisions for municipalities are similar to those written in Part IX, i.e. Structure, Reservation of Seats, Functions, Sources of Information etc.

Panchayati Raj

Ensures the direct participation of people at the grass root level.

In 1956, the National Development Council appointed a committee under Balwant Rai Mehta, which submitted its report in 1957 in which it recommended :

• A 3 – tier structure consisting of Zila Parishad at the District Level, Panchayat Samiti at the Block Level and Gram Panchayat at the Village Level.
• Genuine transfer of power & responsibility to these institutions.
• Adequate resources to them.
• All social & economic development programs channelized through these.

Special Position of Jammu & Kashmir

Under Part XXI of the Constitution of India, which deals with “Temporary, Transitional and Special provisions”, the State of Jammu and Kashmir has been accorded special status under Article 370. Even though included in 1st Schedule as 15th state, all the provisions of the Constitution which are applicable to other states are not applicable to J&K. For example, till 1965, J&K had a Sadr-e-Riyasat for Governor and Prime Minister in place of Chief Minister.

Ordinance Making Power of the Governor: (Article 213)

The law making power in state is vested in the state assembly. But there may be situations when state assembly is not in session and it is necessary to make laws for the state. In these circumstances Article 213 of the constitution provides that Governor of the state can promulgate ordinance. The following are the major provisions:

If at any time, when the legislative assembly of the state is not in session, or where there is a legislative council in the state, when both houses of legislature are not in session and the Governor satisfies that it is necessary to make law then he can promulgate ordinances.

The Veto Power of the Governor of State

When a bill is brought before the Governor of a State after its approval by the House of the Legislature, the Governor can-

• Agree with the will and it becomes a law.
• Withhold the bill.
• Withhold a bill and return with a message.
• Reserve a bill for the consideration by the President.

Comparison of Legislative Procedures between Bi-cameral State Legislature and the Parliament

• Related money bills, the position are the same.
• On other bills council can interpose a delay of 3 months period. In case of disagreement, the bill is second send to the legislative council and this time council has no power to withhold the bill for more than a month.

The Advocate General

• In India, an Advocate General is a legal adviser to a state government. The post is created by the Constitution of India and corresponds to that of Attorney General of India at the federal or central or union government level.

The Discretionary Functions of the Governor of State

Under special circumstance the Governor may act without the advice of the Council of Ministers. In other words, such powers of the Governor are exercised in his/her own discretion. They are:

A situation may arise when in the opinion of the Governor there is the breakdown of
the constitutional machinery in the State. In such a case, the Governor may report the
situation to the President for imposition of the President’s Rule in that State. As the
Governor exercises this power on his/her own, it is called the discretionary power of
the Governor. In case the Governor’s report is accepted by the President, and he/she
proclaims emergency under Article 356, the State Council of Ministers is removed,
and the State Legislative Assembly is either dissolved or put under suspension. During such emergency, the Governor rules on behalf of the President.

State Legislature in India

The State Legislature can be: Unicameral i.e One House or Bicameral i.e Two House

Following States has Bicameral Status :
Seven Indian States, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar, Jammu-Kashmir, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, have bicameral Legislatures, these are called legislative councils (Vidhan Parishad)