States need to be self-reliant and autonomous to elevate India, says MK Stalin

TN CM MK Stalin launches a dedicated web portal and a questionnaire for TN’s High Level Committee on Union-State relations

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Saturday urged all States in India to constitute High-Level Committees along the same lines as that of TN to ensure individual States autonomy and cooperative federalism.

The chief minister was speaking at the National Seminar on Union-State relations, a day-long event that saw participation from former and current Advocates and Justices of the High Court and Supreme Court to discuss topics such as cooperative federalism, territorial integrity of States, role of Governers and others. 

”In 1970, the Rajamannar Committee submitted its historic report to the Tamil Nadu government. Based on that report, the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly passed the State Autonomy Resolution later that year. Even today, the various recommendations in the Rajamannar Report remain commendable,” Stalin said. “We have also appointed a high-level committee headed by former Supreme Court Chief Justice Kurien Joseph, to study the events that have taken place against the federal government in the past 50 years and recommend amendments to the Constitution,” he added.

Tamil Nadu has achieved a growth rate of over 11 per cent after 14 years and generates the most revenue for the Centre in terms of direct taxes and GST, but it still receives insufficient financial grants from the Centre, Stalin said.

Justice Jasti Chelameswar, Former Judge, Supreme Court of India , in his keynote address on ‘Federalism and the principle of Subsidiarity’ said that the way the legislative division of powers are structured today “is the ultimate clinching proof “ that the country is hardly federal. After the Union List and State list of subjects, the system of having a Third (Concurrent) list is something peculiar to India and doesn’t exist in any other similar constitutional arrangement. 

Regarding the delimitation issue, he said that a way of dealing with the problem is to maybe think of a “proportional representation” system. “Maybe there is time for a second look at our first-past-the-post voting system,” he said. 

Welcoming the gathering, N. Muruganandam, the Chief Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu, said that while the constitution provides a federal design, in practice through legislations, judicial decisions, and fiscal instruments, “the fine balance has been continuously altered.” 

“The 42nd Constitutional Amendment in 1976 shifted five subjects, including education, from the State list to the concurrent list. Successive finance commissions have adopted varying yardsticks, resulting in significant reduction in financial transfer to many States including Tamil Nadu,” he said. 

Published on August 23, 2025