Interim report of high-level panel on Union-State relations tabled in T.N. Assembly

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Wednesday (February 18, 2026) tabled in the Assembly Part I of the report of the High-Level Committee on Union-State Relations, underscoring the DMK’s longstanding advocacy of State autonomy and federalism.

“Today is the day we take the initiative to amend the Constitution to ensure that State governments are vested with all necessary powers,” the Chief Minister said.

“Federalism, in its true spirit, is not a concession to the States but a safeguard for the nation; not an obstacle to unity but its guarantee; not a device of convenience but a principle of constitutional dignity. It must be real both in letter and in lived practice,” Mr. Stalin said in his foreword.

“I hope that Part I of the report will engage legislators, jurists, administrators, scholars, and citizens alike. If it stimulates informed debate, restores balance to the Union-State relationship, and helps fashion a constitutional climate in which the Union is strong because the States are strong, then it will have served its purpose,” he added.

The committee is chaired by Justice Kurian Joseph, with K. Ashok Vardhan Shetty and Naganathan as members.