Inter-State Council

Also called: Article 263 · Topic: Federalism and Centre-State Relations · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

The Inter-State Council (ISC) is an advisory body that the President may set up under Article 263 when it serves the public interest. It was created by a Presidential Order of 28 May 1990, on the advice of the Sarkaria Commission [2]. The Prime Minister chairs it. Its members are the Chief Ministers of all states and of Union Territories (UTs) with legislatures, the Administrators of UTs without legislatures, and six Union Cabinet ministers.

It matters because it is the only forum, based on the Constitution, where the Prime Minister and all Chief Ministers sit together to settle Centre-state and inter-state problems by talking. This is the heart of cooperative federalism, where the Union and the states work together instead of fighting.

Explanation

What Article 263 allows

• Article 263 does not set up the Council by itself. It only lets the President create one "if it appears… that the public interests would be served."
• The President's order decides the Council's duties, its members and how it works.
• Article 263 lists three possible duties:
• (a) look into disputes between states and give advice on them;
• (b) study subjects that the Union and the states (or some states) have in common;
• (c) recommend better coordination of policy and action on those subjects.

How the Council is made up

• Chair: the Prime Minister.
• Members:
• Chief Ministers of all states;
• Chief Ministers of UTs that have their own legislative assemblies;
• Administrators of UTs that do not have assemblies;

• six Union Cabinet ministers, including the Home Minister, nominated by the PM.

• Standing Committee (from 1996):

• The Union Home Minister chairs it.
• It studies issues first and prepares them for the full Council.
• Example: it went through the Punchhi Commission report before the full Council saw it [1].

Nature and limits

• Only advisory. Its recommendations do not bind the Union or any state.
• Not a court. It cannot give a binding decision in a dispute.
• Not permanent by law. It exists because of a Presidential Order. It is neither a body that the Constitution itself sets up with a fixed form, nor a body created by an Act of Parliament (statutory).
• Meets rarely.
• It has met only 11 times.
• The 11th meeting, on 16 July 2016, came after a gap of about 10 years [3].
• The Prime Minister decides when it meets, so it is easy to leave unused.

In the Constitution and practice

• Where it sits: Article 263, in Part XI of the Constitution (relations between the Union and the states). It goes with the Seventh Schedule, which divides subjects between the Union and the states.
• Why it was set up:
• By the early 1980s, states were complaining about three things:
  • frequent use of Article 356 (President's rule, when the Union takes over a state government because its constitutional machinery has failed);
  • Governors acting as agents of the party ruling at the Centre;
  • Concurrent List laws made without asking the states.

• The Sarkaria Commission (set up in 1983 under Justice R.S. Sarkaria) recommended a permanent Inter-State Council under Article 263. It made 247 recommendations in all [2].

• Setting up: a Presidential Order (notification) dated 28 May 1990, with the PM as chair [2].

• Work on the Sarkaria report:

• By November 2001, the ISC had taken a view on 230 of the 247 recommendations [2]:

  • 108 implemented;
  • 87 being implemented;
  • 35 rejected.

• Work on the Punchhi report:

• The Punchhi Commission reported on 31 March 2010 with 273 recommendations in seven volumes [1].
• One of its recommendations was a more active Inter-State Council.

• The ISC Standing Committee studied the recommendations [1]:

  • 11th meeting (9 April 2017): the 67 recommendations of Vol. II;
  • 12th meeting (25 November 2017): the 118 recommendations of Vols. III, IV and V;
  • its views then went to the full Council for a decision.

• Last full meeting: 16 July 2016, the 11th meeting, after about 10 years [3].

Don't confuse with

• Zonal Councils: these are statutory bodies created under the States Reorganisation Act 1956 (ss. 15–22) in 1957. The Union Home Minister chairs them [4]. The ISC is set up under Article 263 by Presidential Order, and the Prime Minister chairs it.
• ISC Standing Committee: chaired by the Union Home Minister. It prepares matters for the Council. The Council itself is chaired by the PM.
• Inter-state water disputes (Article 262): under Article 262, Parliament can make a law for settling river-water disputes and can bar courts from hearing them. The ISC can only advise on disputes. It cannot decide them.
• North Eastern Council: a statutory regional planning body under the NEC Act 1971 [6]. It covers only the North-East. The ISC covers all states and UTs.

Prelims Hooks

• Article 263 → Inter-State Council. The President "may" set it up. It is not compulsory.
• Set up by a Presidential Order of 28 May 1990, on the Sarkaria Commission's advice [2]. It is not statutory, and its advice does not bind anyone.
• Chair trap: the ISC is chaired by the PM. The ISC Standing Committee (from 1996), all five Zonal Councils and the NEC (since 2018) are chaired by the Union Home Minister.
• Members include six Union Cabinet ministers nominated by the PM. CMs of UTs with assemblies are members. Administrators represent UTs without assemblies.
• 11 meetings in all. The last was on 16 July 2016, after a gap of about 10 years [3].
• The ISC had taken a view on 230 of Sarkaria's 247 recommendations by November 2001. The ISC Standing Committee studied Punchhi's 273 recommendations in 2017 [2][1].

Mains Points

• A forum that exists on paper but rarely meets:
• It has met only 11 times since 1990, and its advice does not bind anyone [3].
• So cooperative federalism depends on whether the Union wants to call the Council.

• By contrast, Zonal Councils met far more often after 2014 (55 meetings up to December 2023) [5].

• Reform proposals:

• Punchhi asked for a more active ISC.
• Other proposals to quote in an answer:
  • fixed annual meetings;
  • a permanent secretariat that can do research;
  • a duty to follow up on the Council's advice.

• These would turn the ISC from an occasional meeting into a real Centre-state negotiating body.

• Fix the practice, not the structure:

• Sarkaria wanted the existing system to work fairly through consultation, not through a weaker Centre.
• The ISC is the main tool for this. Its record on Sarkaria's report (108 implemented, 35 rejected by 2001) shows that Indian federalism is reformed more by talks and conventions than by amendments [2].

Related concepts

• Sarkaria Commission
• Punchhi Commission
• Zonal councils
• North Eastern Council

Read more

• Reviewing the relationship: Sarkaria, Punchhi and the coordination bodies