Context: Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin wrote to PM asking that at least three meetings of the Inter-State Council should be held every year to “strengthen the spirit of cooperative federalism”.

Key Issue

• TN CM suggested that bills of national importance should be placed before the Council before being tabled in Parliament.
• He said this was because there is no “effective and interactive communication” between the states and the Centre on issues of common interest.

What is the Inter-State Council?

• The Inter-State Council is a mechanism that was constituted “to support Centre-State and Inter-State coordination and cooperation in India”.
• It was established under Article 263 of the Constitution, which states that the President may constitute such a body if a need is felt for it.
• The Council is basically meant to serve as a forum for discussions among various state governments.
• Its establishment
• In 1988, the Sarkaria Commission suggested the Council should exist as a permanent body, and in 1990 it came into existence through a Presidential Order.

Functions of the Inter-State Council

The main functions of the Council are:

• Inquiring into and advising on disputes between states
• Investigating and discussing subjects in which two states or states and the Union have a common interest
• Making recommendations for the better coordination of policy and action

Its composition

• The Prime Minister is the chairman of the Council, whose members include the Chief Ministers of all states and UTs with legislative assemblies, and Administrators of other UTs.
• Six Ministers of Cabinet rank in the Centre’s Council of Ministers, nominated by the Prime Minister, are also its members.
• Its procedure states that the council should meet at least three times a year.

Key issues raised by Tamil Nadu CM

• The leader has flagged the lack of regular meetings.
• The Council has met only once in the last six years — and that there has been no meeting since July 2016.
• Since its constitution in 1990, the body has met only 11 times,

Recent development: Reconstitution of the Council

• The CM appreciated the reconstitution of the Council, carried out last month.
• The body will now have 10 Union Ministers as permanent invitees, and the standing committee of the Council has been reconstituted with Home Minister Amit Shah as Chairman.
• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and the Chief Ministers of Maharashtra, UP, and Gujarat are some of the other standing committee members.

Why did TN raise this issue?

• Many CM frequently disagreed with the central government’s policies on matters of taxation, on the medical examination NEET, and often talked about the rights of states.
• What could be settled amicably among the executive branches is often taken to the doorsteps of the judicial branch.

Role of TN in the Council’s formation

• Tamil Nadu has long advocated the need for a Council.
• In 1969, late leader M Karunanidhi, spoke about setting up an expert committee to study Centre-state relations.
• Months later, his government appointed a committee headed by P V Rajamannar, a former Madras High Court Chief Justice, which submitted a report in 1971.
• It then recommended “the Inter-State Council should be constituted immediately”.