Scrapping Kurian panel a blow to federal ideals: Stalin

CHENNAI: DMK president MK Stalin on Monday expressed concern over the discontinuation of the High-Level Committee on Union-State Relations, which was scheduled to submit the second part of its report by May 2027

He said the report would have been a landmark document, similar to the Rajamannar Committee report, which examined the question of state autonomy. He added that the comprehensive report would have triggered wider debates on federalism.

Stalin said that although the government could dissolve the committee through a Government Order, it could not erase the ideas, questions and knowledge-sharing initiatives that had emerged from its deliberations.

"The TVK-led government has lost an opportunity to strengthen constitutional federalism by discontinuing the committee. The present government may realise its mistake sooner or later, " Stalin said.

Stalin said the government's justification that the committee's functions were equivalent to those of the Tamil Nadu State Law Commission was not convincing. He claimed that most of the work on the second part of the report was already complete and that discontinuing the committee wasted the work undertaken, along with the knowledge, expertise, and experience of its members.

He also expressed anguish and disappointment over the decision, sharing the committee members' concerns.