Federalism is a part of the ‘basic structure’ of the Indian Constitution, as held by the Supreme Court in the case of Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala. But what is the extent of the Centre’s responsibility towards upholding features of the basic structure. Indisputably, the Parliament cannot alter or efface features of the basic structure. But is the Centre’s responsibility towards the basic structure only of a negative nature, that is, the Centre must not act in contravention of the basic structure; or can it be said that the Centre also has a positive obligation to uphold tenets of the basic structure of the Constitution? Gary J. Jacobson argues in The Wheel of Law, that the union government has the power to take positive action to uphold the basic structure. In S.R. Bommai, Ramaswamy J. noted, “Secularism . . . is a part of the fundamental law and basic structure of the Indian political system to secure to all its people socio-economic needs essential for man’s excellence and his moral well-being, fulfilment of material prosperity and political justice.” Jacobson reads this as the government “being invited to act in furtherance of the basic features of the Constitution, not simply to refrain from acting in situations where fundamental rights have been threatened or violated.” We can, therefore, argue that the union government has the obligation to take positive action to uphold the basic features of the Constitution, one of which is federalism.