Enlivening federal spirit

Indian federalism came out of the shell of intra-Congress political management in 1967, when non-Congress governments were formed in nine states. They were coalitions of disparate parties and were by nature unstable. But federal spirit spread in the Indian polity.  Unequal fiscal relations, role of the Governor, intrusions into the domain of Law and Order by Central forces were some of the many issues that became subjects of a serious political and economic debate.  A decade back,in 1957-59, Kerala had the experience of an elected government, led by the undivided Communist Patty, being  dismissed by invoking Article 356 of the Constitution.  In the early 1970s, Indira  Gandhi gained absolute control of the Congress party after the 1969 split, and the Congress came back to power 18 states. Consequent to this, the process of centralisation gathered momentum and culminated in the Emergency and the subsequent debacle. But in this era too, the demand for restructuring the Centre-State relations continued when Tamil Nadu and Punjab, through Rajamannar Committee report and Anandapur Sahib Resolution, respectively,  demanded maximum autonomy for states.

Next serious demand was made in 1977 by the Left Front government of West Bengal. But none of these could persuade the Centre to take any step. When these isolated moves failed to get any response, joint efforts were initiated in early 1980s. All southern states, except Kerala, had non-Congress governments with charismatic Chief Ministers like N.T. Rama Rao, M.G. Ramachandran and Ramakrishna Hegde. They initiated the conclave of politics and this was followed by more conclaves after Centre exceeded its powers to bring down NTR and Farooq Abdullah governments in Andhra Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. This time Centre was forced to respond and appointed Sarkaria Commission on Centre State relations. The commission made many far reaching suggestions. The results of the conclaves of the 1980s were substantial. The course of the Indian polity changed for the next two-and-a-half decades  during which there was no single party domination at the Centre. The fiscal relations also changed with all Central taxes becoming shareable with states instead of only income tax and central excise. Constitution was amended for this (80th amendment).

Paradoxically, centralising tendencies like uniform tax rates also  came into being during this period. At present,  the Terms of Reference (TOR) of the 15th Finance Commission has prompted another conclave of finance ministers of Southern States in Thiruvananthapuram on April 10. The TOR has mandated the Commission to use 2011 population as the basis, while making its recommendations instead of hitherto used 1971 population. With this southern states stand to lose along with Punjab, Odisha and West Bengal. There are several other items in TOR, including the requirement to review devolution of grants to the states, which are of serious concern to the states. This conclave can lead the way for meaningful suggestions so that fiscal and  co-operative federalism are not made empty rhetoric devoid of content.  A balanced Centre State relations is a pre-requisite for co- operative federalism.  Ideas to enliven the spirit of federalism and stronger national unity need to emerge. For this, such conclaves offer a  meaningful incubation space. 

(The writer is an expert on polity)