The Centre and the State governments should engage in greater cooperation so that differences on issues such as deployment of Central forces are resolved quickly, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said here on Saturday.
At the 12th Inter-State Council meeting he said a number of steps had been taken in recent years by the Centre to promote cooperative federalism.
Andhra Pradesh had opposed the recommendation made by the Puncchi Commission that Central forces could be deployed without the concurrence of the State government. It also suggested that the Centre should not charge any cost to the State government whenever Central forces are deployed at the request of the State government, a press statement issued by the State said.
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Mr. Singh said it is important for everyone to promote the spirit of cooperation with greater zeal and expressed satisfaction over the deliberations held in a “harmonious and congenial” atmosphere for arriving at consensus on complex issues.
He said the standing committee is being convened to lend speed to the process of harmonising Centre-State relations.
Mr. Singh said Volumes I & II of the Punchhi Commission’s report were discussed during the eleventh meeting of the standing committee in April this year and Volumes VI and VII would be discussed during the next meeting.
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The Commission was set up by the government under the chairmanship of Justice (Retd.) Madan Mohan Punchhi, former Chief Justice of India, in 2005 to look into Centre-State issues keeping in view the changes in the polity and economy of India since the Sarkaria Commission.
It submitted its report in 2010 containing 273 recommendations in 7 volumes.
The subjects discussed at the standing committee meeting included financial transfers from the Centre to the States, Goods and Services Tax, structure and devolution of functions to local bodies and district planning.
The standing committee considered 118 recommendations contained in Volumes III, IV and V and finalised its recommendations.
Those who attended the meeting included Union Ministers Arun Jaitley (Finance) and Thawar Chand Gehlot (Social Justice and Empowerment); Chief Ministers Raman Singh (Chhattisgarh), Naveen Patnaik (Odisha), Vasundhara Raje Scindia (Rajasthan) and Manik Sarkar (Tripura).