Source: http://www.portwings.in/editorial/states-centre-relationship-paramount-for-overall-growth/
During Lok Sabha elections, the then BJP’s Prime
Ministerial candidate and now the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi had
invoked Sardar Patel's legacy and emphasized that the destiny of the country
would have been different had Patel become the first Prime Minister of Union of
India.
Though there are still murmurs among the political class
in the country about the forceful union of small and Princely states to make
India a big country in Indian Ocean Region, Patel has weaved a garland of
different states.
The wise men who wrote our constitution designed it in
such a way that the state and Centre have to be on the same page, especially
over matters related to overall development which come under the Concurrent
List.
It is a federal structure, and nobody can get around it.
Thus, showing disrespect to democratically elected people can't be a way out.
So, the smooth relationship between Centre and states of
India is not only an important factor that could help to fix overall
development, but also pave way for further bonding.
The Financial relationship between the Centre and the
States is provided in the constitution. The constitution gives a detailed
scheme of distribution of financial resources between Union and the States. The
constitution makes a broad distinction between the power to levy a tax and the
power to appropriate the proceeds of a tax. Thus the legislature which levies a
tax is not necessarily the authority which retains the proceeds of a tax
levied.
The constitution grants the Union Parliament exclusive
power to levy taxes on several items. The state legislatures enjoy similar
power with regard to several other specified items. In general, the Union
Parliament levies taxes on items mentioned in the union list while the state
legislatures levy taxes on items mentioned in the state list.
The Finance Commission advises the President, what
percentage of the income tax should be retained by the centre, and what
principles should be adopted to distribute the divisible pool of the income tax
among the states. The commission also advises the President on the question of
grants-in-aid to be given to the states.
The scheme of division of financial resources adopted in
India is certainly very complicated. It also has the effect of making the
states financially dependent on the centre. Such a scheme is certainly
corrosive of autonomy of the states. States should be given more financial
autonomy than is given now to make their political autonomy real.
Though the recent meeting of States and Centre has agreed
in principle to hike the share of revenue for states, there are miles to go,
where the actual development could take place.
If the Centre does not wish to understand the importance
of state-centre relationship and continues with its big-brother attitude, then
Centre would not be in a position to execute any big ticket projects.
The telling example of lack of coordination between
states and centre is the announcement of smart cities, which has never moved
beyond the announcement stage. Without the state governments’ node, land
acquisition for smart cities cannot happen and as such, the project may not
take off even after few decades.
So, it is time for the Centre to move towards a better (not
bitter) relationship with states.
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