Article 355 places a twin duty on the Union — protect States from external aggression and internal disturbance, and keep their governance constitutional.
At a glance
Article 355 places a duty on the Union to protect every State from external aggression and internal disturbance, and to ensure constitutional governance.
Article 355 states a duty, not a standalone power — it does not itself authorise the Centre to dismiss a State government.
It supplies the constitutional rationale the Union invokes when acting under Article 356 (President's Rule).
Union duty to protect states is the obligation Article 355 of the Constitution places on the Central government — to protect every State against external aggression and internal disturbance, and to ensure that each State's government functions in accordance with the Constitution. It is a short article, but it sits at a pivotal point in the Constitution's emergency architecture, right between the revenue-related Article 354 and the President's Rule provision in Article 356.
What Article 355 Says
Article 355 provides: "It shall be the duty of the Union to protect every State against external aggression and internal disturbance and to ensure that the Government of every State is carried on in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution." The text imposes this as a duty, not a discretionary power — the Union is constitutionally bound to act.
The Twin Obligations
Article 355 actually bundles two distinct duties on the Union:
- Protection from external aggression and internal disturbance — a security obligation, covering threats from outside India's borders as well as internal unrest within a State.
- Ensuring constitutional governance in every State — a supervisory obligation, requiring the Union to see that a State's government is carried on according to the Constitution's provisions, not merely that it exists.
These two strands are not identical. The first is about physical and internal security; the second is about the constitutional propriety of how a State is actually governed. Both, taken together, give the Union standing to act when a State's normal constitutional functioning breaks down.
Why the Provision Exists
India's constitutional design places defence, and much of internal security coordination, in the Union's domain rather than leaving States to arrange their own protection. Because States do not maintain independent armed forces or an independent external-security apparatus, the Constitution correspondingly places a duty on the Union to protect them. Article 355 is the textual source of that duty — it is the price of the security arrangement States accepted when the Constitution vested defence and related powers with the Centre.
Article 355 as the Foundation for Article 356
Article 355 does not itself authorise the Union to take over a State's administration. That power comes from Article 356 (failure of constitutional machinery in a State) and, separately, Article 365 (failure to comply with Union directions). But Article 355 is widely read as the constitutional basis — the duty whose discharge Article 356 operationalises. The Constitution's own internal structure reflects this sequencing: Part XVIII (Emergency Provisions) runs from Article 352 (Proclamation of Emergency) through Article 354 (revenue distribution during Emergency), Article 355 (Union's duty to protect States) and directly into Article 356 (President's Rule), before moving to Articles 358-360 on suspension of rights and financial emergency.
Emergency Provisions: Where Article 355 Fits
| Article | Subject |
|---|---|
| 352 | Proclamation of (National) Emergency |
| 353 | Effect of Proclamation of Emergency |
| 354 | Application of revenue-distribution provisions during Emergency |
| 355 | Duty of the Union to protect States against external aggression and internal disturbance |
| 356 | Provisions in case of failure of constitutional machinery in States (President's Rule) |
| 357 | Exercise of legislative powers under a Proclamation issued under Article 356 |
| 358 | Suspension of Article 19 during emergencies |
| 359 | Suspension of enforcement of Part III rights during emergencies |
| 360 | Provisions as to Financial Emergency |
A Constituent Assembly Concern
During the Constituent Assembly Debates, members reflected on how the new Union would hold together a country freshly reorganised after Partition and the integration of princely states. Rev. Nichols Roy, speaking on 19 November 1949, argued that the Constitution unified India despite these upheavals, pointing to protections such as the Sixth Schedule for the hill peoples of Assam. He also flagged a structural risk relevant to Article 355's underlying logic: sharp financial disparities between the Centre and the States, he warned, could threaten the economic stability — even the economic collapse — of financially weaker provinces if the Union did not stand behind them. This concern underlines why the framers saw the Union's protective duty toward States as running beyond just physical security, into the State's basic capacity to function.
Not a Power in Itself
A common misreading treats Article 355 as if it directly empowers the Centre to dismiss a State government. It does not. Article 355 states a duty; the machinery for discharging that duty — including the extraordinary step of President's Rule — is supplied elsewhere, principally by Article 356 and Article 365. Article 355 is best understood as the constitutional justification the Union invokes when it acts under those later provisions, not as an independent source of power.
UPSC Relevance
Prelims
- Article 355 imposes a duty (not merely a power) on the Union — to protect States and ensure constitutional governance.
- It is positioned in Part XVIII, between Article 354 (revenue during Emergency) and Article 356 (President's Rule).
Mains
- Discuss how Article 355 provides the constitutional rationale for the Union's power to invoke President's Rule under Article 356.
- Examine whether Article 355 is a source of power or merely a statement of duty, and its implications for Centre-State relations.
FAQ
Q1. What duty does Article 355 place on the Union? To protect every State against external aggression and internal disturbance, and to ensure that each State's government is carried on in accordance with the Constitution.
Q2. Does Article 355 allow the Centre to dismiss a State government directly? No. Article 355 states a duty; the actual power to act — including imposing President's Rule — comes from Article 356 and Article 365, not from Article 355 itself.
Q3. Where is Article 355 located in the Constitution's structure? In Part XVIII (Emergency Provisions), between Article 354 (revenue distribution during Emergency) and Article 356 (failure of constitutional machinery in States).
Q4. Why does the Constitution place a protective duty on the Union rather than leaving States to protect themselves? Because defence and much of internal security are constitutionally vested in the Union rather than in the States, which do not maintain independent armed forces — the corresponding duty to protect States logically falls on the Union.
Q5. How is Article 355 connected to Article 356? Article 355 is widely treated as the underlying constitutional duty that Article 356 operationalises — when the Union cannot otherwise ensure a State is governed according to the Constitution, Article 356 supplies the mechanism (President's Rule) to discharge that duty.
Quick Revision
- Article 355 — twin duty: protect States from external aggression/internal disturbance; ensure constitutional governance.
- It is a duty, not by itself a power to act against a State government.
- Positioned in Part XVIII between Article 354 (revenue) and Article 356 (President's Rule).
- Article 356 and Article 365 supply the actual machinery for discharging the Article 355 duty.
Sources
Further Reference
For deeper reading on this topic and the wider polity syllabus, these standard works are recommended:
- M. Laxmikanth, Indian Polity (McGraw Hill) — the standard UPSC handbook.
- D.D. Basu, Introduction to the Constitution of India (LexisNexis) — authoritative constitutional-law treatment.
- The Constitution of India — Bare Act — the official text.
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Constitutional provisions
Modifies revenue-distribution provisions during a Proclamation of Emergency — immediately precedes Article 355.
Duty of the Union to protect every State against external aggression and internal disturbance, and to ensure constitutional governance.
Provisions in case of failure of constitutional machinery in States (President's Rule) — the mechanism through which Article 355's duty is typically discharged.
Failure of a State to comply with Union directions may be treated as failure of constitutional machinery.