Centre reconstitutes Inter-State Council; Modi to be chairman: Details here
What's the story
The central government has reconstituted the Inter-State Council (ISC) with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as its Chairman to promote and support cooperative federalism in the country.
The chief ministers of all states and six Union cabinet ministers will be members of the council.
Apart from them, 10 Union ministers will be permanent invitees to the Inter-State Council, as per a notification issued last week.
Context
Why does this story matter?
The ISC is a recommendatory body which looks into and discusses issues of common interest between the Union government and states or among states and makes recommendations for better coordination of policies and actions on such matters.
It also deliberates on other subjects of general interest to the states that may be referred by the chairman to the ISC.
Details
What are main tasks of the ISC?
The main duty of the ISC is to boost cooperative federalism in the country by strengthening the council and zonal councils by organizing frequent meetings.
It also enables consideration of the emerging and pending issues of the Centre-states and inter-state ties.
Another task of the ISC is to develop a sound system to monitor the implementation of recommendations put forward by the council.
Information
Who are the members of the council?
Union ministers who were recently made members of the council include Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nirmala Sitharaman, Narendra Singh Tomar, Virendra Kumar, Hardeep Singh Puri, Nitin Gadkari, and S Jaishankar.
Furthermore, Arjun Munda, Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan, Pralhad Joshi, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Kiren Rijiju, and Bhupender Yadav were also on the list.
Standing Committee
Centre also rejigs Standing Committee of the council
Meanwhile, the Home Affairs Ministry has also rejigged the composition of the Standing Committee of the ISC, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah as its chairman.
Other members of the standing committee include Union ministers Sitharaman, Tomar, Kumar, and Shekhawat.
Besides them, the chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh were also made members of this committee.
Tasks
What will the standing committee do?
The main task of the Standing Committee will be to hold continuous consultations and process matters for consideration by the council.
It will process all matters concerning the Centre-states relations before they are taken up by the ISC for consideration.
The Standing Committee may, if required, invite experts and prominent personalities in specific fields for their opinions, while also deliberating on related subjects.