Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the “Centre and states should work together” to accelerate development across the country. The Prime Minister made this call to the top brass, including Chief Ministers, Lieutenant Governors of Union Territories and Union Ministers, at the 10th Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog. The meeting was held under the theme of 'developed states for a developed India’ as part of the ‘Viksit Bharat’ initiative. The rationale and practicality of the vision that the Union and the states should work together to achieve comprehensive development is undeniable. Therefore, the theme of the conference and the speech made by the Prime Minister in support of it correctly determine the direction of the country's progress. NITI Aayog CEO B V R Subramanian informed the council meeting that 17 states have already prepared their own development documents, and five of them have released them. The Prime Minister also put forward suggestions such as one international tourist destination in each state for the development of the country, changes that will make a difference in the lives of the common people, more opportunities for women in the employment sector, and policies and laws in accordance with these.
The principle that development is possible only when the Union and the states work together is one of the core principles of the federal constitution. It is one of the guiding concepts of NITI Aayog. When the Prime Minister emphasized that principle in the 10th Governing Body Meeting, the heads of some important states were not there to hear him. The unofficial explanation of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was that he was busy celebrating the fourth anniversary of his rule; he did not attend the last meeting either. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee returned from the last NITI Aayog meeting feeling humiliated. She did not turn up this time. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah also stayed away from this meeting. If we examine who created the recent rift in Union-state relations and how, we can see what needs to be done to strengthen the cooperative federalism that Modi is now reiterating. The Prime Minister could have tried to bridge the gap before Governing Body meeting this time. What did he do to win the confidence of the Chief Ministers of the states ruled by non-BJP parties? If he did nothing, then the grievance of the Chief Ministers who abstained is not out of place. What is the logic in talking about federal cooperation without regaining mutual trust?
The Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Telangana, who had skipped the last meeting, attended this time, intending to reiterate their legitimate demands. In short, the Prime Minister and the Union Government have a lot to do for the federal cooperation that he has pointed out as essential for the development of the country. The GST system that has eliminated the economic autonomy of the states, imbalances in tax sharing, centralization of power that has made the states subordinate to the Union government, clear political interests in exercising the power of distribution of funds under Article 282, neglect of the southern states in deciding various projects and budget allocations, and even in determining their names, the Union government's excessive dominance in the Finance Commission, NITI Aayog and GST Council, the Union government's unjust and unilateral interference even in concurrent list issues, and the use of Article 356 and the governor's post to hunt down state governments are all examples of Modi government's attempts to undermine federalism. The federal cooperation called for by the Prime Minister in the NITI Aayog meeting needless to say is necessary. For this, the first thing that needs to be done is to address these problems. It is not the responsibility of the states to do that.