K. Santhanam
Topic: Framing the Indian Constitution · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 4 "Framing the Constitution"
Meaning
K. Santhanam was a member of the Constituent Assembly from Madras. He was one of the strongest defenders of the rights of the states. He argued that loading every power onto the Centre would not make it strong. It would only overburden it. He said the tax plan left almost everything except land revenue with the Centre, which would make the provinces poor. He even said a frankly unitary system would be better than a sham federation, meaning one that is federal only in name. He later chaired a government committee on preventing corruption (1962-64).
Example
In the Assembly, Santhanam said: "There is almost an obsession that by adding all kinds of powers to the Centre we can make it strong." He warned that within a few years the provinces would "revolt against the Centre".
Don't confuse with
- A. Ramaswamy Mudaliar: also questioned the strong-Centre side. But his point was about patriotism, not money or how well the government would work.
Related concepts
- Strong Centre debate
- N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar
- Balakrishna Sharma
- Provincial autonomy
- Union Powers Committee
- Union, State and Concurrent Lists
- Article 356
- Fiscal federalism
- A. Ramaswamy Mudaliar