Stalin forms panel on Tamil Nadu's autonomy amid tension with Centre, governor

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin

Alleging that state's rights were gradually being snatched by the Centre, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Tuesday announced the constitution of a panel under a retired Supreme Court judge on state autonomy.

The high-level committee headed by former Supreme Court judge Kurian Joseph will examine in detail the relationship between the Union and state governments to ensure state autonomy. It will submit its interim report in January 2026. The final report with recommendations will be submitted in two years, Stalin told the state Assembly.

The panel will have former bureaucrat, Ashok Vardhan Shetty and former vice-chairman of the State Planning Commission M Naganathan as its members.

"The committee will study, as per the law, to transfer those subjects that went from the State List to the Concurrent List," the Chief Minister said and pointed out that the National Eligibility-cum- Entrance Test (NEET) was out of the purview of states.

An interim report is due by January 2026 with a final submission by 2028.

Stalin told the Assembly that the aim is to protect the rights of all states, including Tamil Nadu.

On April 4, Stalin informed the Tamil Nadu Legislative assembly that the resolution passed by the state seeking exemption from the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) had been rejected by the President. He strongly criticised the decision, calling it a "dark chapter in federalism."

Another contentious issue is the three-language formula in the National Education Policy (NEP), which Tamil Nadu claims amounts to the imposition of Hind

In its manifesto in the run-up to the 2021 assembly elections, autonomy for state governments was one of the major promises. The manifesto made the demand for state autonomy more specific - to bring education from the concurrent list to the state list.

The Supreme Court recently declared Tamil Nadu governor RN Ravi’s decision to withhold assent to 10 key bills as “illegal” and “arbitrary”.

"Governor must give assent to a bill when a bill is presented to him after re consultation in state assembly and he can only refuse assent when the bill is different. Action of governor to reserve the 10 bills for the president is illegal and arbitrary, and thus the action is set aside. All actions taken by governor thereto for the 10 bills are set aside. The 10 bills shall be deemed to be clear from the date it was re presented to the governor," the court said.

Governor RN Ravi recently targeted the MK Stalin-led DMK government over atrocities against Dalits. The remarks have drawn a sharp response from state minister Govi Chezhiaan, who has said the Governor's remarks were lies and that his home state, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh account for the majority of caste-based atrocities.

Addressing an event to mark the birth anniversary of the Constitution's architect and Dalit icon BR Ambedkar, Ravi said it was time to reflect on whether we have fulfilled Ambedkar's dreams. He said when he came to Tamil Nadu, he was pained by the plight of Dalits.