The Inter-State Council of India Explained

The Inter-State Council is a constitutional forum meant to bring the Union Government and the state governments together to discuss matters of common concern. Provided for in Article 263 of the Constitution, it is chaired by the Prime Minister and includes Chief Ministers of states, among others. Its purpose is to promote coordination and consultation in a federal system where the Centre and the states share powers, resources and responsibilities, and where disagreements are bound to arise.

India is described in the Constitution as a Union of States, with a strong tilt towards the Centre but with clear zones of state autonomy. Such a design needs institutions where both levels can talk. The Inter-State Council was created in 1990 to be one such institution, following the recommendation of the Sarkaria Commission on Centre-State relations. This explainer describes its constitutional basis, composition, functions, working, the Standing Committee, the related zonal councils, and its place in India’s idea of cooperative federalism.

Quick Facts

Federalism and the Need for Coordination

India’s Constitution distributes legislative power between the Union and the states through three lists in the Seventh Schedule: the Union List, the State List and the Concurrent List. It also divides financial resources, administrative duties and responsibilities. Even with this clear distribution, many issues cannot be neatly separated. Water flowing through several states, law and order problems that cross borders, power grids, transport networks, public health and economic policy all demand joint effort.

Scholars often describe the Indian system as quasi-federal or as a federation with a strong centre. In such a structure, friction between the Centre and the states, or among states, is natural. The Constitution therefore contains several mechanisms for settling or avoiding disputes. Some are judicial, like the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court under Article 131. Some are administrative or political, like the Inter-State Council, the zonal councils and the Finance Commission.

Mechanisms for Centre-State and inter-state relations

• Article 131: the Supreme Court has original jurisdiction in disputes between the Centre and states or among states.
• Article 262: Parliament may provide for adjudication of inter-state river water disputes.
• Article 263: provision for an Inter-State Council to coordinate and advise.
• Article 280: the Finance Commission recommends the sharing of tax revenues.
• Article 307: Parliament may appoint an authority to carry out the purposes of the articles on inter-state trade and commerce.

Article 263: The Constitutional Provision

Article 263 is found in Part XI of the Constitution, in the chapter on administrative relations between the Union and the states. It states that if at any time it appears to the President that the public interests would be served by the establishment of a council charged with specified duties, the President may by order establish such a council. The President may also define the nature of the duties to be performed by it and its organisation and procedure.

The article indicates three kinds of duties which may be assigned to such a council. These are inquiring into and advising upon disputes which may have arisen between states; investigating and discussing subjects in which some or all of the states, or the Union and one or more of the states, have a common interest; and making recommendations upon any such subject, particularly recommendations for the better coordination of policy and action on it.

Features worth noting

• The Council is not mandatory; the President sets it up when public interest requires.
• Its duties are defined by the Presidential order, which means they can be changed without a constitutional amendment.
• It is advisory in character; its recommendations are not legally binding on the Union or the states.
• The President acts on the advice of the Union Council of Ministers in making such an order.

Earlier Councils Under Article 263

The Inter-State Council of 1990 was not the first body to be created under Article 263. Earlier, several councils were set up for particular sectors, using the same constitutional power. These were often subject-specific and brought together the Union minister concerned with the state ministers dealing with the subject.

Examples include the Central Council of Health, established in 1952, and the Central Council of Local Self-Government, set up in 1954. Other councils were formed for areas such as transport and Indian systems of medicine. They served as consultation forums, discussed policy and made recommendations, but they were limited in scope as each concerned a single subject.

The Inter-State Council was designed differently. It was intended to be a general body, open to all issues of Centre-state and inter-state concern, with the Prime Minister as chair. That generality is one of the reasons it attracted attention when it was proposed.

The Sarkaria Commission and the 1990 Order

By the 1970s and 1980s, demands for greater state autonomy had grown. Documents such as the Rajamannar Committee report in Tamil Nadu, the West Bengal government’s memorandum on Centre-state relations and the Anandpur Sahib resolution reflected different regional concerns. In response, the Union Government appointed a Commission on Centre-State Relations in 1983 under Justice R. S. Sarkaria, a retired judge of the Supreme Court.

The Commission submitted its report in 1988 with many recommendations about the legislative, administrative and financial relations between the Union and the states, the role of the Governor and the use of Article 356. A key recommendation was that a permanent Inter-State Council should be established under Article 263 as an independent national forum for consultation. The Commission suggested that it be called the Inter-Governmental Council. It also recommended that the Council should be headed by the Prime Minister and should meet regularly.

The 1990 establishment

• Based on the recommendation, the President issued an order on 28 May 1990 setting up the Inter-State Council.
• The order defined its duties and composition.
• The Council was to meet at least three times in a year, a norm that has not been followed in practice.
• A separate Secretariat was set up in 1991 to assist it.

Composition of the Inter-State Council

The membership of the Council reflects the idea of bringing together the executive heads of the Union and of the states. The Prime Minister is the Chairperson. The other members are as follows.

• Chief Ministers of all the states.
• Chief Ministers of Union Territories having a Legislative Assembly.
• Administrators of Union Territories not having a Legislative Assembly.
• Governors of states under President’s Rule.
• Six Union Cabinet Ministers, including the Home Minister, to be nominated by the Prime Minister.

Besides these, the Prime Minister may nominate up to four Union Ministers of Cabinet rank or Ministers of State as permanent invitees. The Council’s secretariat is headed by a Secretary to the Government of India and operates under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The seniority of the membership means that discussions at the Council have the potential for high-level policy consensus.

Functions and Powers

The duties assigned to the Council by the 1990 order follow the three limbs of Article 263. It is meant to investigate and discuss subjects in which some or all of the states, or the Union and one or more of the states, have a common interest. It is meant to make recommendations on such subjects for the better coordination of policy and action. And it is meant to deliberate upon such other matters of general interest as may be referred to it by the Chairman.

Notably, the 1990 order did not give the Council the task of inquiring into and advising upon disputes between states, although Article 263 allows this. Disputes are therefore left to other mechanisms such as tribunals and the courts, while the Council concentrates on consultation and coordination.

Subjects often taken up

• Relations between the Union and the states in legislative and administrative fields.
• Implementation of recommendations of the Sarkaria Commission and later Commissions.
• Internal security, disaster management and law and order coordination.
• Education, health, infrastructure and social sector policy.
• Financial matters and issues of fiscal federalism.

The Council’s recommendations are not binding. Their influence depends on the political weight of the members and on the willingness of governments to follow them.

The Standing Committee

Because the full Council is a large body and cannot be convened often, a Standing Committee was constituted in 1996 to carry out continuous consultation and to process matters for the Council. The Standing Committee is chaired by the Union Home Minister and consists of five Union Cabinet Ministers and nine Chief Ministers, whose membership is decided by the Prime Minister as Chairperson of the Council.

The purpose of the Standing Committee is to consider matters referred to it by the Council, to look into issues of Centre-state concern, and to make recommendations to the Council. It meets more often than the full body and can prepare the ground for Council decisions. Matters are first examined at the officer level by the Secretariat, then at the Standing Committee, and finally by the full Council.

Zonal Councils

Alongside the Inter-State Council, India has a set of regional forums known as zonal councils. These were created by the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, not by the Constitution. The Act divided the country into five zones, each with a council: the Northern, Central, Eastern, Western and Southern Zonal Councils. The North Eastern Council was set up separately by the North Eastern Council Act, 1971, to cover the north-eastern states.

Each zonal council is chaired by the Union Home Minister. The Chief Ministers of the states in the zone act as Vice-Chairman by rotation, usually for a term of one year. Other members include two ministers from each state and Administrators of Union Territories in the zone. The zonal councils are advisory bodies that discuss matters of common interest such as economic and social planning, border disputes, inter-state transport, linguistic minorities and the implementation of major projects.

Why zonal councils matter

• They allow neighbouring states to resolve issues without involving the full national forum.
• They encourage regional development and cooperation, and the sharing of best practices.
• They were conceived to reduce regional tensions in the years after states were reorganised on linguistic lines.
• Since 2011, the Inter-State Council Secretariat has also served as the Secretariat for the zonal councils.

Working of the Council and Evaluation

In practice, the Inter-State Council has met much less frequently than the stipulated three times a year. Its meetings have been few and spread over decades. Observers regard this as one of its main limitations. Without regular sessions, consultation tends to be sporadic and the Council cannot build a continuous practice of cooperation.

Several reform commissions have commented on the Council. The Commission on Centre-State Relations headed by Justice M. M. Punchhi, which submitted its report in 2010, recommended that the Council be activated and that it meet regularly. Another suggestion has been to give the Council a more active role in disputes and to give it stronger resources. The Council’s recommendations are not binding, and that limits its effectiveness when political interests diverge.

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strength: it brings the Prime Minister and Chief Ministers into a single constitutional framework.
• Strength: its flexible structure allows the President to shape it according to needs.
• Weakness: infrequent meetings and no binding force.
• Weakness: its place is overshadowed by other forums such as the NITI Aayog Governing Council and the GST Council.

Inter-State Council and Cooperative Federalism

The concept of cooperative federalism holds that the Union and states should work in partnership instead of in competition. The Inter-State Council is a core institution for this idea. It offers a place where Chief Ministers can raise concerns before the Prime Minister and where the Centre can explain its policies and seek consensus.

In recent decades, other bodies have complemented the Council. The Finance Commission handles fiscal transfers. The GST Council, created under Article 279A, provides a dedicated forum where the Centre and states jointly decide on the Goods and Services Tax. The NITI Aayog, which replaced the Planning Commission in 2015, has a Governing Council of Chief Ministers. These institutions show the growth of cooperative frameworks, but the Inter-State Council remains the general constitutional forum envisaged for the whole range of Centre-state matters.

Conclusion

The Inter-State Council illustrates the Constitution’s effort to build mechanisms of dialogue into a federal order. Born from the Sarkaria Commission’s recommendation and set up on 28 May 1990, it brings the Prime Minister, Chief Ministers and senior Union Ministers into one forum, backed by a Standing Committee and a Secretariat. Its influence has been limited by irregular meetings and the lack of binding authority, but its constitutional presence reminds governments that federal harmony depends on continuing consultation. A more regular and active Council could further strengthen cooperative federalism in India.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Inter-State Council?

The Inter-State Council is a body established under Article 263 of the Constitution to coordinate policy and action between the Union and the states. It is chaired by the Prime Minister and acts as a forum for consultation on matters of common interest.

When was the Inter-State Council established and why?

It was established on 28 May 1990 by a Presidential Order. The Sarkaria Commission on Centre-State Relations had recommended a permanent Inter-State Council under Article 263 to improve consultation between the Centre and the states.

Who are the members of the Inter-State Council?

The Prime Minister is the Chairperson. Members include the Chief Ministers of all states, Chief Ministers of Union Territories with legislatures, administrators of other Union Territories, Governors of states under President’s Rule, and six Union Cabinet Ministers nominated by the Prime Minister.

What does the Standing Committee of the Inter-State Council do?

The Standing Committee was formed in 1996 to ensure continuous consultation and to process matters for the Council. It is chaired by the Union Home Minister and includes five Union Cabinet Ministers and nine Chief Ministers.

How are zonal councils different from the Inter-State Council?

Zonal councils are regional advisory bodies set up by the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, to bring neighbouring states together under the chairmanship of the Union Home Minister. The Inter-State Council is a national forum under Article 263 chaired by the Prime Minister.

Are the recommendations of the Inter-State Council binding?

No. The Council is an advisory and recommendatory body. Its recommendations carry political and moral weight, but neither the Union nor the states are legally bound to follow them.