M K Stalin constitutes a committee to review Centre-State relations

Mangalore Today News Network

Chennai, april 15, 2025: Firing yet another salvo against the BJP-led Union Government, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Tuesday constituted a high-level committee, chaired by former Supreme Court judge Justice Kurian Joseph, to review Centre-State relations and recommend measures to strengthen India’s federal structure.

Stalin said the committee, including former Tamil Nadu-cadre IAS officer K Ashok Vardhan Shetty and former Madras University professor Dr M Naganathan, will submit an interim report in January 2026 and a final report within two years.

When Stalin made the announcement, members from the AIADMK staged a walkout, while BJP members stayed in the House and objected to the announcement when members were given a chance to speak.

The move comes 51 years after Stalin’s father, M Karunanidhi, moved a resolution in 1974 on state autonomy.

The Chief Minister said it has become imperative to take a re-look into Centre-State relationship at a time when the Union Government was only interested in snatching every power from state governments.

He cited the introduction of NEET and imposition of Hindi on students from Tamil Nadu through the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 as examples of how the Union Government was centralising powers by dictating to states on subjects like health and education.

“Only the mother knows what the baby needs. We can’t allow someone from Delhi to dictate what our baby needs,” Stalin told the Assembly.

He added that the committee will review constitutional provisions, existing laws, and government orders related to Union-State relations, besides examining how adding many subjects to Concurrent List has snatched rights from the state governments.

He also accused the Centre of trying to punish Southern states that have performed well in population control by reducing their political representation through the Delimitation process.

“This committee will not just benefit Tamil Nadu but states like Kerala, Karnataka, and Telangana. This will also resonate across the length and breadth of Tamil Nadu,” he said.

The announcement comes close on the heels of a heated exchange between the BJP and DMK dispensations over a host of issues.