The Impact of Centralised Welfare Schemes on State Autonomy in India

This systematic literature review investigates the impacts of centralized welfare schemes on state autonomy in India in its decentralizing system of governance. Based on the thematic review of the peer-reviewed articles performed using axial coding of the articles found by the ResearchGate and ScienceDirect databases, three prominent themes are observed, including the constitutional and institutional framework changes, financial consequences of certain changes on state autonomy, and effectiveness of the used delivery mechanisms in comparison. Although the schemes are cost-effective ways to improve administrative and national coverage, they also compromise the principles of cooperative federalism. The results indicate that there should be institutional innovations to strike the right balance between national conformity and state discretions in supplying welfare.