The Inter-State Council under Article 263 is an under-used instrument of cooperative federalism. Comment.
Subtopic: Polity · Federalism & Inter-State Coordination
How to structure your answer
Introduction: Article 263 empowers the President to constitute an Inter-State Council to inquire and advise on inter-state disputes and matters of common interest; the Sarkaria Commission's recommendation led to its constitution on 28 May 1990.
Body: Three dimensions — (i) composition — Prime Minister as Chair, Chief Ministers of all States and UTs with legislature, Administrators of others, and six Union Cabinet Ministers; (ii) under-use — the Council has met only twelve times since 1990, with long gaps such as 2006 to 2016; (iii) overlap with NITI Aayog's Governing Council and the GST Council under Article 279A has crowded its space.
Way forward / Conclusion: Statutory meeting calendar of two sessions a year, public minutes, and a Standing Committee under Justice M.M. Punchhi's 2010 model would revive cooperative federalism.
Written within the word limit
132 words · target 150 words · 9 min
Introduction: Article 263 empowers the President to constitute an Inter-State Council to inquire into and advise on inter-state disputes and matters of common interest; it was set up on 28 May 1990 on the Sarkaria Commission's recommendation.
Body: Three dimensions show the under-use. First, composition — the Prime Minister as Chair, all Chief Ministers, UT Administrators and six Union Cabinet Ministers, with a Standing Committee headed by the Union Home Minister. Second, under-use — the Council has met only twelve times since 1990, with long gaps such as 2006 to 2016. Third, overlap — the NITI Aayog Governing Council and the GST Council under Article 279A have crowded its space, while Zonal Councils under the States Reorganisation Act 1956 run in parallel.
Conclusion: A statutory two-session-a-year calendar, public minutes and a Standing Committee on the Punchhi Commission 2010 model would revive cooperative federalism.
What an examiner expects to see
- Article 263 — Inter-State Council
- Constituted on 28 May 1990 on Sarkaria Commission recommendation
- Twelve meetings between 1990 and 2024
- Standing Committee of Inter-State Council headed by Union Home Minister
- Punchhi Commission Report 2010 on Centre-State Relations
- GST Council under Article 279A added in 2016
- Zonal Councils under States Reorganisation Act 1956 as parallel federal forums
Concrete cases, schemes and judgments
- Inter-State Council 11th meeting on 16 July 2016
- GST Council Article 279A institutional model
- NITI Aayog Governing Council meetings 2015 onwards
- Sarkaria Commission Report 1988
- Punchhi Commission Report 2010