Never in the recent past has the threat to federalism been as serious as it is now. The BJP-led NDA government at the Centre has been systematically undermining the spirit of federalism by usurping the rights of the states and taking unilateral and arbitrary decisions. On every issue with federal ramifications, it has been arbitrary and insensitive while pushing its agenda, instead of taking the consensus route and trying to get the states on board. The latest provocation comes from a rather innocuous source: amendments to the rules pertaining to the deputation of IAS officers to the Centre.
The proposed changes are designed to allow the Centre to exercise greater control over the civil servants. According to the proposed amendment, an officer whom the union government wishes to put on deputation would “stand relieved” from his or her respective cadre within a stipulated time, irrespective of that state government’s consent. The new rules will also make it mandatory for the states to provide a specific number of IAS officers to the Centre on deputation every year and, in the case of a disagreement between the Centre and a state, the matter would be decided by the Centre ‘within a specified time’. Such an approach makes a mockery of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s much-hyped invocation of the ‘Team India’ spirit to describe the nature of governance. Understandably, many states are opposed to the new rules. Modi himself was once the CM of Gujarat and during his tenure as CM had advocated for greater power to the states. Now as PM of India, he is doing just the opposite and trying to weaken the states.