Abstract
This paper focuses on the constitutional design of India and to discuss the process of negotiated autonomies in regions with historical, cultural, and political identities in India. To demonstrate the role that asymmetry played as a state-making mechanism, conflict management, and safeguarding vulnerable populations, the paper uses a comparative analysis of Article 370 and the Fifth and Sixth Schedules. It follows the shift of the former accommodative model of federalism to a more integrationist one, particularly following the 2019 reorganization of Jammu & Kashmir. The paper suggests that asymmetrical federalism is still at the heart of the pluralistic government in India, despite a profound change in its outlines by examining constitutional debate, judicial developments, and the ethnographic circumstances of Scheduled Areas.
References
1. Constituent Assembly of India. (1988). Debates of the Constituent Assembly of India (Vols. 7, 9, 11). Lok Sabha Secretariat.
2. India. (1950). The Constitution of India (Arts. 1--4, 244, 246--263, 370, 371 A--H, Fifth & Sixth Schedules). Government of India.
3. India. (1954). The Constitution (Application to Jammu & Kashmir) Order, 1954, C.O. 20. Government of India.
4. India. (2010). Report of the Commission on Centre--State Relations (Punchhi Commission). Government of India.
5. India. (1988). Report of the Commission on Centre--State Relations (Sarkaria Commission). Government of India.
6. India. (1956). States Reorganisation Act, 1956. Government of India.
7. India. (1955). Report of the States Reorganisation Commission, 1955. Government of India.
8. Austin, G. (1966). The Indian Constitution: Cornerstone of a Nation. Clarendon Press.
9. Austin, G. (1999). Working a Democratic Constitution: The Indian Experience. Oxford University Press.
10. Arora, B. (2020). Indian Federalism and Multilevel Governance. Routledge.
11. Baruah, S. (2015). India Against Itself: Assam and the Politics of Nationality. University of Pennsylvania Press.
12. Noorani, A. G. (2011). Article 370: A Constitutional History of Jammu & Kashmir. Oxford University Press.
13. Singh, M. P., & Saxena, R. (Eds.). (2017). Federalising Indian Polity. Oxford University Press.
14. Saxena, R. (Ed.). (2011). Varieties of Federal Governance: Major Contemporary Models. Cambridge University Press / Foundation Books.
15. Tillin, L. (2013). Remapping India: New States and Their Political Origins. Hurst Publishers.
16. 2023 Supreme Court Review: Federalism. Accessed November 9, 2025, from https://www.scobserver.in/journal/2023-supreme-court-review-federalism/
17. Punchhi Commission Report - ilearnCANA. Accessed November 9, 2025, from https://ilearncana.com/details/Punchhi-Commission-report/4153
18. 1983 The Commission on Centre--State Relations (R.S. Sarkaria). Accessed November 9, 2025, from https://cbc.gov.in/cbcdev/pi-1983/pi-1983-story.html

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2026 South India Journal of Social Sciences

