The Government of India(GoI) has reconstituted the Inter-State Council (ISC), an important body for enhancing Centre-State and interstate coordination, with Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi as its chairman.
- The council aims to strengthen cooperative federalism by fostering dialogue and cooperation between the GoI and the states.
- Previously, ISC was reconstituted in 2022.
About Inter-State Council (ISC):
i.The ISC is a key constitutional body (non-permanent) established under Article 263 of the Constitution of India.
- The council was officially formed in 1990 through a Presidential Order based on the recommendations of the Sarkaria Commission(1988).
ii.Key Functions:
The Inter-State Council mediates Centre-State and inter-state disputes, fosters collaborative policymaking on shared issues, and ensures uniform, effective policy implementation.
iii.Secretariat: The Inter-State Council Secretariat(ISCS) was set up in 1991 in New Delhi(Delhi). The Secretariat is headed by a Secretary to the GoI, assisted by two Advisers.
iv.Members of the Council:
Chairman: Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi.
Members: Chief Ministers (CMs) of all states, Union Territories (UTs) with legislative assemblies, Administrators of Union Territories (UTs) without legislative assemblies, Union Ministers from National Democratic Alliance (NDA) allies, such as Janata Dal (United), Janata Dal (Secular), Telugu Desam Party (TDP), and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), are also included.
9 Union Ministers:
- Rajnath Singh, Ministry of Defence (MoD),
- Amit Shah, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA),
- Jagat Prakash (J.P.) Nadda, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers (MoC&F),
- Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW),
- Nirmala Sitharaman, Ministry of Finance (MoF),
- Manohar Lal Khattar, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs of India (MoHUA),
- Rajiv Ranjan Singh (Lalan Singh, Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR),
- Virendra Kumar, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE) and
- Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu, Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA).
Permanent Invitees:The ISC has 13 permanent invitees, including Union Ministers:
- Nitin Gadkari, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH),
- Subrahmanyam (S.) Jaishankar, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA),
- H.D. Kumaraswamy, Ministry of Heavy Industries (MoHI),
- Piyush Goyal , Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoC&I),
- Dharmendra Pradhan, Ministry of Education (MoE),
- Jitan Ram Manjhi, Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MoMSME),
- Jual Oram, Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA),
- Ashwini Vaishnaw Ministry of Railways (MoR),
- Bhupender Yadav, Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoL&E),
- Kiren Rijiju ,Ministry of Earth Sciences(MoES),
- G. Kishan Reddy, Ministry of Culture (MoC),
- Chirag Paswan, Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) and
- C.R. Patil, Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS).
Standing Committee of the Inter-State Council (ISC):
The GoI also restructured the Standing Committee of the ISC and appointed Union Minister Amit Shah as its chairman.
- The committee is responsible for reviewing the implementation of ISC recommendations and addressing issues referred by the Chairman or the Council.
Note: It was constituted in 1996 for continuous consultation and processing of matters for the consideration of the Council.
Members:
The committee includes 12 other members:
i.Union Ministers (5)- Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Nirmala Sitharaman, Rajiv Ranjan Singh, Virendra Kumar, C.R. Patil.
ii.Chief Ministers (CMs) from 7 states:
- N. Chandrababu Naidu, CM of Andhra Pradesh(AP),
- Himanta Biswa Sarma , CM of Assam,
- Hemant Soren, CM of Jharkhand
- Eknath Shinde, CM of Maharashtra
- Mohan Charan Majhi, CM of Odisha
- Bhagwant Mann, CM of Punjab, and
- Yogi Adityanath, CM of Uttar Pradesh(UP).
