CHENNAI: The three-member high-level committee constituted by the state government in April 2025 to examine union-state relations and recommend measures to secure the autonomy of states will submit its report in two parts instead of the original plan of submitting an interim and final report.
The committee, with retired Supreme Court judge Justice Kurian Joseph as its chairperson, was expected to submit an interim report by this month as per the original Terms of Reference (ToR) issued by the government.
However, there were delays due to the volume of work involved, sources said.
Highly placed sources privy to the developments told TNIE that the committee has now opted for a two-part format, with the first part likely to be submitted to the Tamil Nadu government before the 2026 Assembly elections, while the second part will be presented within the stipulated two-year time frame, which will end by April 2027.
‘Panel looking at laws that diluted states’ powers’
According to a source privy to the panel’s deliberations, the first part of the report is expected to focus on immediate concerns affecting the states’ autonomy, including the discretionary powers exercised by governors and measures to address the same. The second part will deal with broader structural and constitutional issues.
“The committee is also examining the impact of certain constitutional amendments and central legislations which have diluted the powers of elected state governments. These include provisions related to the role of governors, and the centre’s intervention in implementing the schemes that are against the state’s policies like the National Education Policy,” the source told TNIE.
A senior state government official said the decision to submit the report in two parts was taken to ensure that the key recommendations relevant to the present administrative constraints in union-state relations are brought to the public domain in a comprehensive manner without waiting for the completion of the entire exercise.
“The exercise is so vast that the committee is tasked up re-reading the entire constituent Assembly debates and some of them are being translated to place it before the union government as well as the people of the state to add context for the constitutional amendments the committee is likely to recommend,” the senior official told TNIE on condition of anonymity.
The three-member committee, headed by Justice Kurian Joseph, was formed by Chief Minister M K Stalin and comprises former vice-chancellor of Indian Maritime University K Ashok Vardhan Shetty and former vice chairman of State Planning Commission Professor M Naganathan as its members.
The ToR includes examining the provisions of the Constitution, existing laws, policies and other arrangements that have a bearing on union-state relations, suggest measures to restore subjects that were transferred to Concurrent List back to State List, and measures to secure utmost autonomy to the states in the realms of executive, legislative, and judicial branches without prejudice to the unity and integrity of the country.