Role of Sarkaria Commission in Centre-State Relations

Abstract

The radical suggestion deleting several articles goes a long way to change the basic nature and structure of the Indian Constitution. But the demand for restructuring Centre-state relations continued unabated by Non-Congress states like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal, Kerala, Assam, Tripura, Tamil Nadu and Jammu & Kashmir. This forced Government of India to set up a commission under the chairmanship of Justice R.S. Sarkaria to go into the question and recommend appropriate changes within the constitutional framework in August 1983. The Commission took four years to complete its deliberations and submitted its report on October 27, 1987. The Commission made a total of 247 recommendations of which 24 were rejected, 10 were not considered wholly relevant and 36 accepted with modifications. One hundred and nineteen recommendations are reported to have won the government’s full acceptance. The present research paper highlights some main recommendations of Sarkaria Commission.