Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday, April 15, informed the State Assembly that a three member high-level committee headed by retired Supreme Court Judge Kurien Joseph has been constituted to study center-state relations.
Chief Minister Stalin had previously said that the state government would pass a resolution demanding autonomy. However, on Tuesday, Stalin announced the formation of the high-level committee and said that it would submit its interim report by the end of January 2026 and the full report would be submitted in two years.
The high-level committee will have former IAS officer Ashok Varadhan Shetty and former State Planning Commission chairman M Naganathan as members.
Speaking on the floor of the house, Stalin said that it was very important to constitute a high-level committee at a time when the rights of the state governments were being continuously taken away by the Union government.
“It has become very, very necessary to constitute a high-level committee to examine the concept of cooperative federalism, improve relations between the Union and the state governments, and examine and re-evaluate the provisions of the Constitution. The committee will recommend appropriate measures to the government,” he said.
The Chief Minister also highlighted that state governments have a huge responsibility to contribute to the nation's growth and the state governments were taking all the steps required in the fields of education, healthcare, rural development, urban development. But the powers required to implement the state government’s policies are being taken away from the states and are being concentrated with the Union government.
Citing the historic verdict secured by the government of Tamil Nadu against Governor RN Ravi, the Chief Minister said that the outcome in the Supreme Court has reinforced the concept of federalism and has showcased the historic struggle in protecting the rights of state governments.
The Supreme Court ruled on April 8 that Governor RN Ravi’s delay in assenting to ten re-enacted bills was “illegal and erroneous in law.” The SC said that the Governor must act on the advice of the State Cabinet. Stalin had hailed the judgment as a “victory for all states in India.”
Stalin also said that the formation of a high-level committee to improve relations between the Union and the State governments is not only to protect the interests of Tamil Nadu, but also to protect the rights of all the states on the basis of ‘unity in diversity.’
Calling Tamil Nadu as a state which is in the forefront in the struggle for State autonomy, MK Stalin said “We are not only insisting on the devolution of power and financial resources to the states in the interest of Tamil Nadu, we are also putting forward our arguments keeping in mind the interest of states from Gujarat to the North-East and Kashmir to Kerala,” Stalin said.
These developments come amid several resolutions that the Tamil Nadu government has recently passed in the Assembly criticising the Union government's policies. These include resolutions against the amended Waqf Act, a resolution demanding the retrieval of Katchatheevu island, and one demanding an exemption from NEET for Tamil Nadu. The President recently rejected Tamil Nadu’s request for an exemption for NEET, which Stalin called a “dark chapter in federalism.”