In Focus by The Hindu The Tamil Nadu way: How to reverse India's creeping centralisation
Mar 31, 2026
Ashok Vardhan Shetty, former IAS and member of the Kurian Joseph committee on Union–State relations, explains why states should reclaim powers. He discusses the philosophical and empirical case for decentralization. He explores resilience, capacity-building by doing, federalism’s role in policy innovation, and why education and many functions should return to states.
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Constitutional Design Favoured Centralization
- The Indian Constitution was framed with a centralist bias inherited from the Government of India Act 1935.
- Ashok Vardhan Shetty argues this design limits accountability because the center is distant and less accessible to people than state or local governments.
Decentralization Backed By Multiple Disciplines
- Decentralization is supported by economics, management and systems theory, not just constitutional law.
- The committee cites Nobel laureates and management thinkers to show decentralization generally yields better accountability and innovation.
Decentralization Improves System Resilience
- Centralized systems perform well in normal times but create a single point of failure during crises.
- Shetty uses the internet's decentralized design and dispersed defence installs as examples of resilience through distribution.