Stalin's independent thought

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has resigned from the post amid a tussle with the Governor. Stalin has proposed to make the state autonomous. The chief minister also set up a three-member committee, headed by former Supreme Court judge Kurian Joseph, to recommend autonomy, which will submit an interim report to the state government early next year and set a deadline of 2028 to submit the final report. While presenting the proposal, the Chief Minister has opened a tremendous front by attacking the central government. Attacking NEET, he said that the central government is bent on spoiling the future of the students of Tamil Nadu. Linguistic freedom of one's life is very important. The central government wants to impose Hindi on the people of Tamil Nadu through the three-language policy in the new education policy. He alleged that the Centre has withheld funds worth Rs 2,500 crore to Tamil Nadu for refusing to implement the new education policy. Assembly elections are due in Tamil Nadu early next year. The state has forged an electoral alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition AIADMK for the polls. In such a situation, the DMK Chief Minister has confronted the Center on every issue. Earlier, Stalin had termed the Waqf Bill as a direct attack on the religious and property rights of the Muslim community.

Stalin had also slammed the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) as discriminatory against Muslims and Sri Lankan Tamil refugees. He has repeatedly accused the Centre of financially weakening non-BJP ruled states. He had raised the demand for GST compensation and more share for non-BJP ruled states in central schemes. States like Kerala and Karnataka echoed his chorus. Autonomy means an individual or group having enough power and freedom to manage over its own affairs. Some states in India have demanded autonomy several times. The autonomy of the States has been a very complex issue. There are also sharp differences about this. The biggest challenge to autonomy is that it can lead to a conflict of power and a conflict of power for the states with the central government. In the past, we have seen that Farooq Abdullah's government in Jammu and Kashmir had passed a resolution granting autonomy to the state, which was a naked document of sedition. However, many politicians are in favour of states having more freedom in policy-making according to their specific circumstances. This can lead to better governance and development in line with regional needs. A large section is against giving too much power to the States. His vision is that the Centre should be strong. If the center is weak, then its consequences can be the opposite.

Several attempts have been made in the past to redefine the relationship between the Union and the states. In 1969, the Tamil Nadu government set up a one-member Justice P.V. Rajamanar Committee to suggest amendments to the Constitution to make the states autonomous. In its report submitted in 1971, the Committee recommended that the Central Government should make laws affecting the States only with the consent of the Inter-State Council. It also suggested abolition of all-India services like IAS, IPS and IFS. The Sarkaria Commission, appointed in 1983, made several recommendations for decentralisation of power. On appointment of State Governors, the Commission recommended that the Prime Minister should consult the Vice-President of India and the Speaker of Lok Sabha. In the year 2000, the Central Government appointed a National Commission under the chairmanship of Justice M.N. Venkatachaliah to review the working of the Constitution. The Commission recommended the constitution of a statutory body called the Inter-State Trade and Commerce Commission for consultation on matters between the States and the Union. It also suggested that the governors of states should be appointed only by a committee, which includes, among others, the chief minister of the state concerned. The UPA government had set up the MN Punchhi Commission in 2007 to study the roles and responsibilities of various branches of the Union and state governments. The Commission had recommended that the Governors should be appointed from a panel prepared by the state legislature concerned. The Commission emphasized that Governors should not be made Vice-Chancellors of universities.

The Constitution of independent India provides for the distribution of legislative powers between the Union and the States. In which the law has been divided under the Union List, the State List or the Concurrent List, but many times there has been a conflict between the Centre and the States on the issue of the Concurrent List. There is no doubt that Stalin has played electoral stakes by raising emotive issues. A balanced approach to the issue of autonomy is necessary so that federalism is not hampered.