Rajamannar Committee on Centre-State Relations

News: Tamil Nadu Government has formed a three-member high-level committee to review Centre-State relations, echoing Rajamannar committee of past. Rajamannar Committee on Centre-State Relations.

About Rajamannar Committee on Centre-State Relations

• It was formed by Tamil Nadu government in 1969 and it gave its Report in 1971.
• It was the first state-level initiative to review Centre-State relations.
• Members: It was headed by V. Rajamannar (former Chief Justice of the Madras High Court) and A. Lakshmanaswami Mudaliar and P. Chandra Reddy were the members.

Recommendations

• It criticised the growing centralisation of power that undermined state autonomy.
• Augmenting financial resources of States:
  • The committee recommended that the base of devolution of revenue to the States be widened.
  • It suggested that a number of subjects —stock exchanges, futures markets, and regulation and development of oil fields — be transferred from the Union/Concurrent List to the State List.
  • The committee criticised the Planning Commission, created by an executive order of the Centre and sole decider of grants to be given to States.
• Repeal Article 356: The committee recommended that Article 356—the provision that allows the Centre to impose President’s Rule in a state—be repealed entirely.
• Dispute resolution mechanism: It recommended that a strong Inter-State Council be set up under Article 263 to resolve differences in a spirit of dialogue.
• Re-distribution of items in Lists: The committee suggested the formation of a committee for redistribution of entries in the Union and Concurrent Lists of the Constitution.
  • Among the subjects identified by the committee for the transfer were trade unions, industrial and labour disputes, shipping and navigation on inland waterways, factories, electricity, newspapers, and books and printing processes.
• Abolition of All-India Services: The committee recommended the abolition of All-India Services (IAS, IPS, and IFS) to reduce the Central Government’s control over State administration.