Sarkaria Commission on Centre-State Relations

Sarkaria Commission recommendations shaped a large part of how India's Centre-state relations were reformed in the operational, non-structural sense during the late 1980s and after. Set up in 1983 under a retired Supreme Court judge, the Commission reviewed the working of Centre-state arrangements across the constitutional, administrative, legislative, and financial spheres and submitted a report with 247 recommendations in 1988.

Background and Composition

By the early 1980s, demands for greater state autonomy had already been voiced through bodies such as the Rajamannar Committee, the Anandpur Sahib Resolution, and the West Bengal Memorandum, all of which pressed for structural changes reducing the Centre's powers. Against this backdrop, the Central government set up a three-member Commission on Centre-state relations in 1983 under the chairmanship of R.S. Sarkaria, a retired judge of the Supreme Court. Its mandate was to examine and review the existing arrangements between the Union and the states across all spheres and to recommend appropriate changes. The Commission submitted its report in 1988.

The Commission's Overall Approach

Unlike some of the autonomy movements that preceded it, the Sarkaria Commission did not favour structural changes to the constitutional scheme. It considered the existing arrangements and institutions basically sound, and instead emphasised that reform should focus on the functional and operational aspects of how the Centre and states worked together. It described federalism as more a functional arrangement for cooperative action than a rigid institutional concept.

The Commission firmly rejected demands to curtail the Centre's powers, holding that a strong Centre was necessary to safeguard national unity and integrity against fissiparous tendencies. At the same time, it distinguished a strong Centre from an over-centralised one, famously observing that excessive centralisation leads to "blood pressure at the centre and anaemia at the periphery."

Key Recommendations

Of the Commission's 247 recommendations, the following are the most frequently cited:

The Commission also recommended that a state's governor be an eminent person from outside the state, without recent or active political links, to preserve the office's impartiality.

Implementation and Legacy

The Central government implemented 180 of the Commission's 247 recommendations. The most significant of these was the establishment of the Inter-State Council in 1990, exercising the power available under Article 263 of the Constitution, which the Commission had urged be used to create a permanent consultative body between the Union and the states.

The Sarkaria Commission's report remained the reference point for Centre-state relations for nearly two decades, until the government set up a Second Commission on Centre-State Relations — the Punchhi Commission — in 2007 under former Chief Justice of India Madan Mohan Punchhi. That Commission submitted a 1,456-page, seven-volume report in 2010, drawing on the Sarkaria Commission's findings as well as those of the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution and the Second Administrative Reforms Commission, while differing from Sarkaria's conclusions in several areas and centring its own approach on the idea of "cooperative federalism."

UPSC Relevance

Prelims

• Sarkaria Commission: constituted 1983, headed by R.S. Sarkaria, report submitted 1988, 247 recommendations, 180 implemented.
• Key implemented outcome: Inter-State Council set up in 1990 under Article 263.
• Do not confuse it with the Rajamannar Committee (1969, Tamil Nadu), the Anandpur Sahib Resolution (1973), the West Bengal Memorandum (1977), or the Punchhi Commission (2007–2010).

Mains

• Useful for GS2 answers on cooperative federalism, the functional versus structural approach to Centre-state reform, and the debate around Article 356's use.
• The "blood pressure at the centre and anaemia at the periphery" formulation is a good illustrative line for essays on over-centralisation.

FAQ

Q1. When was the Sarkaria Commission set up and when did it submit its report? It was constituted in 1983 and submitted its report in 1988.

Q2. Did the Sarkaria Commission recommend structural changes to the Constitution? No. It found the existing constitutional arrangements basically sound and instead recommended changes in the functional and operational aspects of Centre-state relations.

Q3. What was the Commission's most significant implemented recommendation? The establishment of the Inter-State Council in 1990 under Article 263 of the Constitution.

Q4. How many of the Commission's recommendations has the government implemented? 180 out of the 247 recommendations made by the Commission have been implemented.

Q5. What commission succeeded the Sarkaria Commission on this subject? The Punchhi Commission (Second Commission on Centre-State Relations), set up in 2007 under Madan Mohan Punchhi, which reported in 2010.

Quick Revision

• Sarkaria Commission: 1983 constitution, 1988 report, chaired by R.S. Sarkaria (retired SC judge).
• Approach: functional reform, not structural change; rejected curtailing Centre's powers.
• 247 recommendations made; 180 implemented; Inter-State Council (1990) is the flagship outcome.
• Recommended sparing use of Article 356, governor as a non-partisan outsider, and a stronger Inter-Governmental Council.
• Succeeded by the Punchhi Commission (2007-2010), which focused on "cooperative federalism."

Sources

• Ministry of Home Affairs — Inter-State Council Secretariat
• Constitution of India, Article 263 — legislative.gov.in

Further Reference

For deeper reading on this topic and the wider polity syllabus, these standard works are recommended:

• Indian Polity — a standard UPSC handbook.
• Introduction to the Constitution of India — authoritative constitutional-law treatment.
• The Constitution of India — Bare Act — the official text.