Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday accused the Centre of trespassing into the rightful domains of the States and attempting to prevent them from carrying out their responsibilities.
Mr. Vijayan was speaking after releasing India’s Federal Setup: A Journey through Seven Decades, a book written by R. Mohan, Honorary fellow, Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation (GIFT). The federal structure of the country is facing serious challenges today. There are instances where laws passed by the State legislatures cannot be put into operation as the final assent is withheld. Deliberate attempts are being made by the Centre to block them, he alleged.
Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal, who presided, said federalism in India was seeing an unhealthy shift from cooperative federalism to a centralised system. Central policies have shrunk the fiscal space of the State. Almost 65% of tax revenues go to the Centre, while the States meet 64% of their expenditures on their own. Mr. Balagopal said the disparity in incomes of the States was widening. The fiscal space of Kerala has further shrunk with the Centre imposing curbs on the open market borrowing limit, he added.
Shashi Tharoor, MP, emphasised the need to ensure that the southern States that have implemented population control measures more effectively than their northern counterparts do not face unfair treatment in the 2026 delimitation. He asked whether the federal structure of the country can be reimagined in such a way as to empower States using a formula ‘‘that does not disenfranchise and disempower them in the brute demographic calculation.’‘
Former Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac, senior economist M.A. Oommen, senior journalist John Mary and GIFT director K.J. Joseph also spoke.
