Inter-state council meet: Need to rise above sectarian interests, says Rajnath Singh

New Delhi: Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said all stakeholders should rise above sectarian interests to focus on the larger picture of national development.

Rajnath Singh made the observation while chairing the 11th Standing Committee meeting of the Inter-State Council here. 

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath attended the meeting. 

Besides, ministers from Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan represented their states at the meeting. 

The Home Minister said all the stakeholders share a common desire to take the nation forward and prosperity can come only when there is peace and stability, a release said.

He said India is a nation characterised by unity in diversity, and hence it is important that trust and cordiality form the bedrock for centre-state cooperation. 

The Standing Committee examined various recommendations of the Punchhi Commission contained in Volume 2 and 3, the release said. 

The Punchhi Commission was notified in 2005, and it submitted its report in 2010. It made recommendations which are contained in seven volumes 

The Volume 2 of the report is related to provisions of the constitution that are concerned with important aspects of Constitutional governance such as role of Governors, deployment of central forces, federal balance of power, ensuring better coordination between central government and states and other important issues of centre-state relations. 

The recommendations in Volume 3 of the Punchhi Commission report are related to centre-state financial relations and cover the subjects of fiscal transfers to states, Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Centre-state fiscal relations. 

"The discussions centred around various aspects of Centre-state relations having implications for governance and flowing from Constitutional provisions. The recommendations of the Standing Committee finalised at this meeting will be placed before the Inter-State Council," the release said.

It said that the remaining volumes of the Punchhi Commission recommendations would be taken up in subsequent meetings of the Standing Committee along with the implications of the recent developments in terms of the GST Act, the 14th Finance Commission Report and formation of NITI AAYOG and rationalisation of Centrally sponsored schemes. 

The recommendations of Punchhi Commission pertain to history of centre-state relations in India; constitutional governance and management of centre-state relations; centre-state financial relations; local self-governments and decentralised governance; internal security, criminal justice and centre-state co-operation; environment, natural resources and infrastructure; and socio-economic development, public policy and good governance.