Shri Rajnath Singh chairs 11th Standing Committee meeting of Inter-State Council

Shri Rajnath Singh chairs 11th Standing Committee meeting of Inter-State Council 

Standing Committee examines in detail various recommendations of Punchhi Commission . The Union Home Minister, Shri Rajnath Singh chaired the 11th Standing Committee meeting of the Inter-

State Council here today. The Union Minister for Finance, Corporate Affairs and Defence, Shri Arun Jaitley, the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, Dr. Raman Singh, Chief Minister of Tripura, Shri Manik Sarkar, Chief Minister of Odisha, Shri Naveen Patnaik and Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath attended the meeting. The Ministers from states of Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan represented these states at the meeting. Senior officers from the Union Ministries and from the state Governments also assisted the members of the Standing Committee in the discussion along with the officers from the Inter-State Council Secretariat.

In his inaugural address, the Home Minister said that we share a common desire to take this nation forward and we are fully convinced that prosperity can come only when there is peace and stability. He further emphasized that India, is a nation characterized by unity in diversity, and hence it is important that trust and cordiality form the bedrock for Centre-State cooperation and we rise above narrow sectarian interests to focus on the larger picture of national development. Today’s meeting was in pursuance of the decisions of the Inter-State Council meeting held on July 16, 2016. 

The Punchhi Commission notified in 2005, submitted its report in 2010. The recommendations of the Punchhi Commission, which are contained in seven Volumes pertain to History of Centre-State Relations in India; Constitutional Governance and Management of Centre-State Relations; Centre-State Financial Relations and Planning; Local Self-Governments and Decentralized Governance; Internal Security, Criminal Justice and Centre State Co-operation; Environment, Natural Resources & Infrastructure; and Socio-Economic Development, Public Policy and Good Governance. The various Union Ministries and all the State Governments responded to the recommendations made in the report by providing detailed comments. The comments have been analysed in the Inter-State Council Secretariat. 

The Standing Committee examined in detail various recommendations of the Punchhi Commission contained in Volume II & III. The Volume II of the report is related to provisions of the Constitution that are concerned with important aspects of Constitutional governance such as role of Governors, deployment of Central forces, federal balance of power, ensuring better coordination between Centre and States and other important issues of Centre-State relations. The recommendations in Volume III of the Punchhi Commission report are related to Centre-State financial relations and cover the subjects of (a) fiscal transfers to states (b) Goods and Services Tax and (c) the Centre-State fiscal relations. The discussions centred around various aspects of Centre-State relations having implications for governance and flowing from Constitutional provisions. 

The remaining volumes of the Punchhi Commission recommendations will be taken up in subsequent meetings of the Standing Committee along with the implications of the recent developments in terms of the GST Act, the 14th Finance Commission Report and formation of NITI AAYOG, rationalisation of Centrally sponsored schemes etc. 

The recommendations of the Standing Committee finalized at this meeting will be placed before the Inter-State Council. 

 Punchhi Commission

In April 2007, a three member commission headed by the former chief justice of India M.M. Punchhi was set up by the UPA Government to take a fresh look at relative roles and responsibilities of various levels of government and their inter-relations. This commission had submitted its report in 2010 to then Home Minister P. Chidambaram.

recommendations of Punchhi Commission

Major Recommendations The Punchhi commission provided 312 recommendations in a seven volume report comprising: Evolution of Centre-state relations Constitutional scheme of relations, covering recommendations regarding Article 19, Article 355 and 356 and Article 263. Economic and financial relations and recommendations include upgrading of the planning model to remove regional imbalances. Recommendations regarding 73rd and 74th amendments and the Sixth Schedule. Internal security, covering issues like terror, Naxalism, insurgency and communal violence. Environment issues and resource-sharing, particularly of rivers and minerals Social development and good governance. This commission dealt at length with Emergency provisions under Article 355 and Article 356 and proposed safeguards to prevent their abuse to dismiss state governments. The commission has also studied set-ups like the National Investigation Agency, and recommended procedures to ensure smooth co-operation of the states in terror investigations entrusted to NIA. The committee report was in 7 Volumes as follows: Here are some major and notable recommendations of the MM Puncchi Commission Report. Concurrent List subjects There should be a mechanism whereby the centre consults states before introducing a bill on concurrent list items. This consultation mechanism should be through inter-state council. Centre should occupy only that much of subjects in concurrent list or any other overlapping jurisdiction which is absolutely needed to achieve uniformity of policy in national interest. On President’s Pocket Veto Once a bill is passed in legislative assembly and then reserved by the governor for president’s consideration, President applies pocket veto in several cases. No communication is given to the state which is baffling for states. Thus, there should be mechanism so that president communicates his decision in reasonable time {6 months). Treaty Making Power of Union There is a need of some kind of legislation to regulate the treaty making power of union executive with respect to treaties which have anything to do with the matters listed in state list. There should be greater involvement of states in such treaties. Appointment of Chief Ministers There should be clear guidelines for the appointment of chief ministers, so that there is sort of regulation on discretionary power of Governor. A pre-poll alliance should be treated as one political party, because that lays down the order of precedence that ought to be followed by the governor in case of a hung house as follows: The group with the largest pre-poll alliance commanding the largest number; The single largest party with support of others; The post-electoral coalition with all parties joining the government The post electoral alliance with some parties joining the government and remaining including Independents supporting from outside. Appointment of Governor The Punchhi commission recommended that the person who is slated to be a Governor should not have participated in active politics at even local level for at least a couple of years before his appointment. We note that Sarkaria Commission had also recommended that governor be an eminent person and not belong to the state where he is to be posted. State chief minister should have a say in the appointment of governor. Appointment of governor should be entrusted to a committee comprising the Prime Minister, Home Minister, Speaker of the Lok Sabha and chief minister of the concerned state. The Vice- President can also be involved in the process. Removal of Governor For office of Governor, the doctrine of pleasure should end and should be deleted from the constitution. Governor should not be removed at whim of central government. Instead, a resolution by state legislature should be there to remove Governor. The report supported the right of the Governor to give sanction for the prosecution of ministers against the advice of the state government.  There should be provisions for impeachment of the Governor by the state legislature along the same lines as that of President by President. (Goes against doctrine of pleasure) Governor as Chancellor of Universities The convention of making the Governors as chancellors of universities should be done away with. Article 355 and 356 Article 355 and 356 should be amended. Via these amendments, the Centre should be enabled to bring specific troubled areas under its rule for a limited period. This means that the commission recommended for “localising emergency provisions” under Articles 355 and 356, contending that localised areas — either a district or parts of a district — be brought under Governor’s rule instead of the whole state. The duration of such an emergency provision should however not be of duration of more than three months. National Integration Council For internal security, commission recommended creation of an overriding structure on the lines of the US Home­land Security department, giving more teeth to the National Integration Council. This council should meet at least once a year. In case of any communal incident, a delegation of five members of the Council, who would be eminent persons, should visit the affected area within two days. However, it rejected constitutional status to NIC. Communal Violence Bill The commission recommended that the Communal Violence Bill should be amended to allow deployment of Central forces without the state’s consent for a short period. The state consent should not become a hurdle in deployment of central forces in a communal conflagration. However, such deployment should only be for a week and post-facto consent should be taken from the state.

Basics of Inter State Council 

The Inter State Council is an Indian constitutional body set up on the basis of provisions in Article 263 of the Constitution of India. The body was formed by a Presidential Order dated 28 May 1990 on recommendation of Sarkaria Commission. The Council is formed to discussing or investigating policies, subjects of common interest, and disputes, among states.

Composition

The Inter State Council composes of the following members:

Prime Minister, Chairman.

Chief Ministers of states and union territories.

Administrators of union territories.

Six members of Cabinet rank.