No major headway in Centre-State relations

In respect of ties between the Centre and the States, things have not moved an inch. The recommendations of the Sarkaria Commission, submitted in 1988, have not been acted upon. Now, the recommendations of the Punchhi Commission are doing the rounds. It is high time that each political party pays serious attention to the issues that undermine the relations between the Centre and the States. They shall also support the Centre for amending the Constitution, wherever necessary. Both Commissions suggested ways effective functioning of the federal polity

The debate on the Centre-State relations has got suddenly heated up against the backdrop of the Union Home Minister organising the Thirteenth Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Inter State Council on May 25, 2018. The Centre needs to be commended for the initiative and the series of meetings of the Standing Committee being held in a row. The participation from the side of Union Ministers of the Central government and the Chief Ministers of the States is impressive.

What attracted the attention of the press and the public is that the Standing Committee is seized of the recommendations of the Justice M M Punchhi Commission. Going into the past, this was the Commission constituted by the UPA government in 2007, as a measure of honouring the commitments it made under the ‘Common Minimum Programme’ agreed upon with its allies. After a painstaking effort, the Commission submitted its voluminous report in seven parts with 273 recommendations. With the meeting that concluded on May 25, 2018, the Standing Committee finished its task of going through the entire report of the Punchhi Commission.

As it is known, the sweep of the matters covered by the Punchhi Commission is so wide and diverse.

They included economic, political, legal, social and environmental issues. The Commission intended to bring about a marked difference in the conduct of Centre-State relations. Some of the suggestions of the Commission are truly path-breaking, which are as follows: Fixing the qualifications for appointment of the Governor of a State; Setting limits to the authority of the Governor in exercising his discretionary power, subject to a set of guidelines and procedure; Appointment of the Governor of the State in consultation with the Chief Minister of the State, Vice President of India and the Speaker of the Lok Sabha; Appointment of the Chief Minister of the State and the order in which the Governor is to exercise his wisdom; The idea of localising the use of Emergency Provisions, instead of overthrowing the entire State government at the will and pleasure of the Governor; Right of the Governor to sanction prosecution of a Minister of the State, even against the government’s recommendation, if only he/she belie
ves that there is a prima facie; Mandatory consultation of the States, before making a legislation on the items included in the ‘Concurrent List’ using the residuary Powers granted to the Centre under Article 258 of the Constitution; Creation of an overriding structure to maintain Internal Security on the lines of USA’s Homeland Security Department and giving more teeth to the National Integration Council (NIA).

It is evident that the above recommendations of the Punchhi Commission have far-reaching implications. No government, since the appointment of Sarkaria Commission in 1983, had been courageous enough to take up the recommendations for implementation. One thing that is appreciative of the present government is that it dared hold the Eleventh Meeting (dated 16.7.2016) of the Inter State Council after a gap of a decade (since the Tenth Meeting was held on 9.12.2006).

Speaking of the truth, things have not moved an inch, except for prolonged deliberations. The recommendations of the Sarkaria Commission had also met the same fate. The Report was submitted by the Commission way back in January 1988. Immediately after the submission of the Report, the First Meeting of the Inter-State Council (ISC) was held on 10.10.1990 to deliberate upon the recommendations of the Sarkaria Commission. Since then the recommendations were the subject matter of the agenda at every meeting of the ISC, almost for over three decades. As things got stranded there, the recommendations of the Punchhi Commission are now doing rounds; primarily because they had been the Agenda for discussion of the Standing Committee of ISC for over a couple of years.

While the matter is always made live by every successive government, the solution appears to be elusive. Nothing has changed. The same drama is going on at the bungalows of Governors, and no specific procedure has been laid out for either appointment or use of their discretionary powers. The recent episodes in the States of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are a testimony of the never-changing situation. Even on the financial front, the relations between the Centre and the States are getting worse. There had been a hue and cry by the Southern States that they were extended a raw deal in setting the terms of reference of the Fifteenth Finance Commission (FFC), biased towards Northern States which had been failing on account of population control.

These and many other issues are hotting up the relations. It shall be fair to comment that the relations got jeopardised after the coalition governments set in at the Centre. Political parties Joining UPA or NDA are turning into warring groups. These developments only lead to ‘divisive politics,’ which is quite unhealthy for the democratic country like India. It is thus high time that each political party pays serious attention to the issues that undermine the relations between the Centre and States. It shall also be the duty of each party to fall in line in supporting the Centre for amending the Constitution, wherever necessary, since the recommendations of both the Sarkaria Commission and the Punchhi Commission call for meeting the same goal i.e., effective functioning of the federal polity.

(Writer is Former VC, ANU, and presently Director, SEA Group of Institutions, Bengaluru).

Prof K Viyyanna Rao