Ex-bureaucrats urge Tamil Nadu to restore high-level committee on Union-state relations

A group of former bureaucrats on Saturday urged the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam-led Tamil Nadu government to restore the high-level committee on Union–state relations that was constituted under the previous Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam administration.

The three-member committee, which was disbanded on November 6, had been set up in April 2025 to review the constitutional and legal provisions relating to the relationship between the Union government and the states.

The decision had been announced by former Chief Minister MK Stalin amid strained ties between Tamil Nadu and the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition government at the Centre on several matters, including the delimitation of Lok Sabha seats, the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test and the National Education Policy.

The mandate of the committee, headed by former Supreme Court judge Kurian Joseph, included the review of Constitutional provisions, laws and policies on Centre-state relations and recommending ways to restore subjects moved from the State List of the Constitution to the Concurrent List.

In February, the committee submitted its first report to Stalin, who was voted out of power in the Assembly election results declared on May 4.

TVK had emerged as the single largest party in the state and formed the government in alliance with the Congress, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, the Indian Union Muslim League, and outside support from...

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