Regional development and Federalism 

Regional development 

Regional development is the process of conducting and carrying out development tasks in various regions of the country separated on the basis of ecological and environmental aspects. It means bringing about economic and socio-cultural development in various regions within the country demartched ecologically or politically or any other basis. Regional development, therefore, allows the people living in that region to utilize means and resources ( both natural and human) for peace, progress and prosperity. The concept of regional development has acquired global acceptance because it leads to proportional development all around and removes regional imbalance at national and international level. Regional development tackles the problems with a focused approach for larger good of a country and the whole world. There are tricky and complex issues of climate change, social harmony, people's participation, women empowerment, industrialization, agricultural reforms and so on. These issues demand focus approach of management and conflict resolution. Regional development is the only answer to successfully handle such issues and problems. Proportional development in every region leads towards sustainable development with cautions us not to destroy or disturb the carrying capacity of the Earth. 

Regional development is interrelated with the social needs of a region. It is the responsibility of the Government not to neglect the region and alienate the people living there. Such kinds of neglect and alienation incite mistrust and breed dissatisfaction amongst the people of a region that may lead to chaos and disorder which fail the government of a country. Human society is always on move and plays fresh challenges and opportunities before the Government based on the latest inventions, discoveries and patterns of ideas and thoughts. With changing needs and times come the new technique and method of running organizations and institutions responsible for bringing positive change in the life of the people. Regional development in this context expands the base of production fo goods and services to meet the demands of people living in a region. 

Need and Importance of regional development 

The need and importance of regional development are as follows: 

1. For faster economic growth. 
2. To develop economy smoothly 
3. To minimize the effect of urban development in rural areas 
4. To overcome social evils. 
5. To maintain political stability 
6. To promote employment opportunities. 
7. To develop and conserve resources. 
8. To make the country strong and united. 

Why federalism in modern world although there is regional development? 

Nowadays, we can clearly observed that many country had carried out the concept of federalism over regional development. But, why it's needed ? The main reasons behind it were listed as follows; 

1. It is an old form of ruling the country and found to be less democratic. 
2. The way, federalism ensures balanced development it can't and is leading regional disparity. 
3. The reach of people in government is very far and they're not acknowledged in current country affairs. 
4. The politics was totally disrupt and unstable in this process comparative to federalism and provision of decentralization isn't implemented properly in many countries. 
5. At last, people's wish, and intimations are not addressed properly, and budgets and economy seems to be distributed unequally in all states. 

Federalism 

Looking after those major limitations, most of the countries had adopted federalism. Federalism is a political system in which a country is divided into two or more than two forms of government (states or provinces) with autonomous power. It is the decentralization of political powers and responsibilities to the level of different provinces which continue to be the part of country having central (federal) government at the top. United states of America (USA) and India are two largest democracies in the world that follow federalism. USA has 50 provinces whereas India has 29 provinces. Switzerland has 19 cantons and six semi-cantons. Federalism is a political decentralization and is possible only in democratic form of political governance. It is generally backed up by written constitution to ensured degree of autonomy in functioning of provincial governments under the overall supervision of central government. 

Advantages and disadvantages of federalism 

Advantages of federalism 

1. It helps in bringing regional, balanced and proportional development. 
2. It safeguards the individual ethnic identity and empowered them. 
3. Rise in economic activities and enhanced employment opportunities. 
4. Helps to bring unity in diversity. 
5. Increased public participation and transparency in government system. 
6. Reconciliation of local autonomy with national unity. 
7. Makes country sovereign and democratic. 
8. Accelerate development works utilizing the resources in optimum way. 

Disadvantages of federalism 

1. This form of government is very expensive. 
2. There is unhealthy competition in infrastructure development, use of natural resources, industrial development and in employment opportunities, It creates regional inequalities and widens the gap between the states. 
3. the method of distribution of power cannot be perfect in some cases. 
4. It promotes inefficiencies in the governing process. 
5. It forces local governments to compete with each other for resources. 
6. In some cases, diversity can occur also. 
7. It can create high level of uncertainity. 
8. High chance of fragmentation due to disagreement between two ethnic group.