Cooperative Federalism

Karnataka HC strikes down central rules on green energy open access

The Karnataka High Court has invalidated the Electricity (Promoting Renewable Energy Through Green Energy Open Access) Rules, 2022, formulated by the Central Government for the generation, purchase, and consumption of renewable energy. The Court ruled that the Centre lacked the authority under the Electricity Act, 2003, to frame such rules, as the Act specifically grants this power to the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC). Justice N S Sanjay Gowda noted that the Act was designed to ensure that regulatory powers, including tariff determination and open access provisions, are handled by independent bodies like the KERC, free from governmental interference. "The Parliament, through the Electricity Act, entrusted the Regulatory Commissions with the exclusive power to oversee open access. The Central Government cannot bypass this legislative mandate by framing its own rules," the Court stated. The Court also struck down the Karnataka Regulatory Commission (Terms and ...

Draft regulations on appointing V-Cs an assault on federalism: TN CM Stalin

The University Grants Commission's draft regulations 2025 granting Governors broader control over Vice Chancellor appointments and allowing non-academics to hold these posts were a direct assault on federalism and state rights, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin said on Tuesday. This 'authoritarian' move by the Union BJP government sought to centralise power and undermine democratically elected state governments, he commented on the draft UGC regulations, 2025, released by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in the national capital on January 6. The regulations prescribe minimum qualifications for appointments and promotion of teachers and academic staff in universities and colleges and measures for maintenance of standards in higher education. At the event, Pradhan said that these draft reforms and guidelines would infuse innovation, inclusivity, flexibility, and dynamism in every aspect of higher education, empower teachers and academic staff, strengthen academic ...

PM Narendra Modi calls for global financial model to support cooperatives

He further said India sees a huge role for cooperatives in its future growth and in the last 10 years the country has worked to transform the entire ecosystem related to cooperatives

Union-state power imbalance grows as regulatory bodies erode federalism

The exercise of legislative power by statutory regulatory authorities undermines federalism and needs to be corrected

India's federalism dilemma: Cooperative model or competitive reality?

Much as India desires the existence of cooperative federalism, what it often witnesses is competition

FM Sitharaman denies 'friction' in Centre-State ties over GST reform

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday denied any "friction" in the ties between the Centre and States over Goods and Services Tax and emphasised that the federal structure in this economic reform should be respected. Simplifying and easing compliance on the tax payers received top priority rather than raising revenue during all consultative meetings on the union Budget, she said. "Revenue is the last consideration with which every budget meeting happens. You may think that I am not telling the truth. The hard truth I would like to put before you. Yes, we like to raise revenue. During several consultations including those with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, revenue raising came last. But, simplifying, easing and compliance of taxpayers came first," Sitharaman said. Addressing a meeting on "The Finance Minister's Insight: Path Forward" held under the aegis of the Revenue Bar Association here, she said the average Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate decreased to 12.2 per .

GST's revenue performance: Centre's sacrifice for cooperative federalism

Over the past few years, most commentators have rightly emphasised the tensions in Centre-state fiscal relations, pointing especially to the Centre's repeated recourse to non-sharable cesses

States have full control over industrial alcohol regulation: UP govt to SC

States' power to legislate to regulate industrial alcohol is untrammeled and complete, the Supreme Court was told on Wednesday. Senior advocate Dinesh Dwivedi, appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government, told a nine-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud that "liquor" has always been in the legislative sphere of the States and the Centre does not have any jurisdiction with regard to industrial alcohol. Excise, liquor and spirit have always been part of State jurisdiction, including industrial alcohol, he said. "The Central government has not issued any order to regulate industrial alcohol as per Section 18G of the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951. Therefore, there cannot be a case of conflict or occupied field. The field is unoccupied and the States' power to legislate to regulate industrial alcohol is untrammeled and complete," Dwivedi told the bench. The bench, which also comprises Justices Hrishikesh Roy, Abhay S Oka, B V Nagarathna, J

Centre's financial restrictions threaten cooperative federalism: Kerala FM

Kerala Finance Minister K N Balagopal said that the financial disparities imposed by the BJP-led Union Government on Kerala go beyond politics, posing a significant challenge to cooperative federalism, and called on the Central government to ensure fair treatment for all states. "The BJP-led Union Government's financial discrimination against Kerala is not just a political slogan but a question of cooperative federalism, and it is the duty of the Central government to protect the interests of the states," the minister told PTI in an interview on Monday night. Balagopal, who has been challenging the BJP-led Centre for its alleged discrimination against Kerala on financial matters for quite some time, said that the issue has now been raised by other non-BJP ruled states, including Congress-ruled Karnataka, as the states are feeling strangled by the Centre. "It's more than a political issue. This is a question of cooperative federalism," Balagopal said, when asked whether the alleged .

Amit Shah to launch procurement portal for tur dal growing farmers

Cooperation Minister Amit Shah will on Thursday launch a tur dal procurement portal that will enable farmers to register themselves for selling the commodity and receive payments directly into their bank accounts. The multi-lingual portal will streamline the entire process for tur dal growers in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Karnataka and Jharkhand, simplifying the registration, procurement and payment processes. The portal will be launched at a national symposium on 'self-reliance in pulses' to be held here in the capital. Currently, the government procures various kinds of pulses including tur dal through agencies such as Nafed and NCCF for maintaining a buffer stock. "This farmer-centric initiative aims to empower tur dal producers with better prices through procurement, streamlined processes and direct bank transfers by NAFED and NCCF, thereby boosting domestic pulses production and reducing import dependence," an official statement said. Under this initiati

New National Cooperative Policy almost ready: Chairman Suresh Prabhu

The new National Cooperative Policy is almost ready, and a 47-member committee is in the process of submitting the draft to the central government, chairman of the panel and former Union minister Suresh Prabhu said. Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah had last year announced that a dedicated policy will soon be prepared to strengthen the cooperative movement in the country, and that Prabhu will head the national-level committee. The panel members include experts and representatives of the cooperative sector and officials of central ministries. "The policy document is almost ready and the submission process is underway. We can now look forward to the release of the policy and its implementation," Prabhu told PTI on the sidelines of an event organised by the Merchants' Chamber of Commerce & Industry here. The former commerce and industry minister said the policy has the potential to change the socio-economic dimension of India, substantially increasing the share of ...

Cooperative federalism being turned into joke: Kejriwal wrote to PM Modi

AAP supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, announced boycott of the Niti Aayog meeting over Centre's recent ordinance and charged that "cooperative federalism" in the country was being turned into a "joke". The chief minister of the AAP-ruled Punjab, Bhagawant Mann, has also declared to boycott the Niti Aayog meeting to be held on Saturday. The ordinance brought recently by the BJP-led central government has taken back elected Delhi government's executive control over bureaucracy that was earlier given to it by the Supreme Court through its verdict on May 11. Kejriwal, in his letter to Prime Minister Modi, also alleged that the non-BJP governments in the country were being toppled through the use of money or threat of central probe agencies like ED and CBI orchestrating defection of their MLAs, and questioned whether such action encouraged cooperative federalism in the country. The Niti Aayog meeting will take place on ...

DMK is playing petty politics, not following cooperative federalism: Nadda

BJP national chief J P Nadda on Friday mounted a scathing attack on the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu accusing it of indulging in petty politics, legitimising corruption and not working in the spirit of cooperative federalism. It was a sorry state of affairs that the leaders of this Dravidian party are playing the blame game whereas Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government and his BJP believed in development and upliftment of all sections of people, he claimed. The BJP chief lashed out at DMK's ally, the Congress, saying the party which has been representing Sivaganga Lok Sabha constituency (now represented by Karti P Chidambaram) for long, has done precious little for development. Addressing reporters here, Nadda said people from different political parties besides large number of women, youth and from other sections were joining the BJP in support of pro-development policies of the Prime Minister who has a special place in his heart for Tamil Nadu. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi belie

Healthy competition between states is the need of the hour: PM Modi

PM Modi said that while the Centre and the states may have different schemes, or a different style of working, dreams for a nation will still remain the same

Think tank established with mandate of cooperative federalism: NITI Aayog

NITI Aayog was responding to Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao's allegations of the Centre not treating states as equal partners in efforts to make India a developed country.

Aiming for cooperative federalism, govt created Centre-states mistrust

There is no love lost between the Centre and the states, particularly those ruled by the Opposition parties on various issues

Strong Centre-State ties vital for federal democracy, says Bommai

The Karnataka CM on Sunday stressed on strong Centre-State relations

Federalism and cooperatives

SC verdict has brought clarity in regulation of co-operatives

Challenged by regional rivals, Modi has to show he can make federalism work

Federalism is now the primary axis of Indian politics--and the location of the biggest crises of governance.

Political culture

A country as diverse as ours needs a political culture rooted in constitutional values and political discourse based on truth, respect, civility, and restraint