Tamil Nadu chief minister and DMK president MK Stalin on Tuesday announced a high-level committee headed by a retired Supreme Court judge to protect the rights of states, a move that comes shortly after the state won a legal battle in the Supreme Court over the powers of the Governor to stall state business (the court effectively ruled that there were none).
The committee will be headed by former Supreme Court judge justice Kurian Joseph to “protect the legitimate rights of the states” as provided in the Constitution and strengthen relationship between the Union and state governments, according to Stalin.
The other two committee members are Ashok Vardhan Shetty, a retired IAS officer and former vice-chancellor of the Indian Maritime University, and M Naganathan, former vice-chairman of the Tamil Nadu State Planning Commission.
While announcing the composition of the committee, Stalin spoke of Tamil Nadu’s opposition to the national medical entrance exam NEET and the National Education Policy (NEP) which mandates a three-language formula.
“We have lost many students due to NEET exam,” Stalin said, referring to instances of students from the state dying by suicide after failing to clear NEET. “We have continuously opposed NEET exam. In the name of the three-language policy, the Union government is trying to impose Hindi in Tamil Nadu. Since we have denied NEP, ₹2,500 crore to the state has not been released by the Union government.”
The Tamil Nadu government and the Union education ministry have sparred for months over the release of central funds under the Samgra Siksha Abhighyan (SSA) that has been withheld.
Stalin added that the committee would study, as per law, how subjects that went from the state list to the concurrent list could be transferred back. He specifically demanded that education be moved back to the states list.
State, central and concurrent lists are defined in the seventh schedule of the Constitution and some subjects such as education, which were originally part of the state list, were transferred to the concurrent list (meaning both the state and the Centre can make laws on these) in 1976.
Stalin demanded that education should solely be a state subject, asking for the reversal of the 42nd Constitutional Amendment which allowed for its move to the concurrent list.
“The committee will examine host of issues and how states’ autonomy has been curbed,” Stalin said in the state assembly. “It will also see how to strengthen the relationship between state and Union government .”
“We are not stressing for devolution of power and funds merely considering Tamil Nadu’s welfare, but are keeping in mind the interests of the people of the vast expanse of the country stretching from Gujarat to the northeastern parts; from Kashmir to Kerala,” he said.
The motive behind setting up the said panel is to protect the rights of all Indian states that work on the basis of “unity in diversity”, Stalin added.
The committee has been asked to submit an interim report to the state government in January 2026, which is a few months before Tamil Nadu faces its assembly elections. The report is expected to be completed in 2028.
The opposition staged a walk-out from the assembly and accused the chief minister of indulging in doublespeak. “They were silent when education was transferred to the concurrent list from the state list despite being in power, and now they are raising their voice,” said AIADMK MLA RB Udaykumar.
Following the Supreme Court ruling that criticised Tamil Nadu governor RN Ravi for stalling the passage of state laws by sitting on bills sent to him, and deciding to refer them to the President after they were resent to him –– it also gave a timeline for the Governor as well as the President to deal with such bills passed by states sent or referred to them –– the Tamil Nadu government notified 10 pending bills as laws.
BJP leader K Annamalai criticised Stalin for bringing up the matter almost 50 years after subjects such as education and administration of justice were transferred from the state list to the concurrent list in 1976. “DMK, despite holding significant cabinet positions in the central government over the last four decades, did not move a needle and speaks of state rights only when in opposition,” Annamalai said.
The party’s state unit chief Nainar Nagendran termed Stalin’s decision “a separatist act”. “The chief minister’s announcement is a separatist act because they want all powers to themselves,” he told reporters outside the assembly. “The BJP is not for it.”