Notwithstanding the outright rejection by the Centre to the ‘autonomy’ resolution recently passed by the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, there is a need for a fresh look into the Centre-State relations and decentralisation of power.

The demand for a fresh look into the Centre-State relations has been raised earlier also. As a matter of fact, for long such demands were made by various states. Orissa strongman the late Biju Patnaik strongly opposed the formation of the Planning Commission on the plea that such a step would only create a strong Centre and weak states. The states would become more dependent on the Centre, he argued. In 1973, the Akali Dal passed the famous Anandpur Sahib resolution which restricts the Centre’s role to defence, foreign affairs, communication, railways and currency.

Taking a clue from the Anandpur Sahib resolution, Tamil Nadu became the first State in the country to pass a resolution in 1974, which advocated scrapping of Article 356 and the Governor’s post; transfer of all residual powers to the State except those relating to defence, foreign affairs, inter-State communications and currency.

In the ’80s, the demand for more power to the states gained momentum in the eastern and the North-Eastern part of the country. Jyoti Basu, soon after taking over the reins of West Bengal, started advocating that with the limited powers available to the states, no State Government in the country would be able to deliver the goods. To put pressure on the Centre over this issue, Mr. Basu organised a conclave of the non-Congress chief ministers in Calcutta. The conclave was attended by N. T. Rama Rao, Ramakrishana Hedge and Farooq Abdullah among others.

The rise of the Asom Gana Parishad in the aftermath of the famous Assam agitation further strengthen the hands of those who were in favour of more powers to the State. The AGP, in its Mongaldoi session in 1985 passed a resolution which demanded that apart from defence, communication, currency and external affairs, all other subjects should be handed over to the states. To look into the demands of the states, the Centre then constituted the Sarkaria Commission. It’s a pity that though the said commission had submitted its recommendations long ago, those are still waiting for implementation.

Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Mahanta supporting the autonomy resolution passed by the J & K Assembly has stated that the states should be given the freedom to decide their course of development in accordance with the needs and aspirations of the people. But Mr. Mahanta and his friends should keep it in their mind that if the power does not reach to the grassroot level, their own people one day will force them to decentralise the power in the same manner like the Assam Chief Minister and his friends are putting pressure on the Centre. Everyone should ensure that the flow of power should not stop at the State capital. It should reach to the people at the lowest level. The Centre is well within its right to say no to Farooq on autonomy. Not many would disagree with the Centre’s observation that the autonomy report sought to set the clock back by questioning the constitutionality of the steps taken since 1953 to integrate J & K with the rest of the country.