Administrative Reforms Commission(ARC)

The Central government appointed a six-member Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) in 1966 under the chairmanship of Morarji Desai (followed by K Hanumanthayya). Its terms of reference included, among others, the examination of CentreState relations. In order to examine thoroughly the various issues in Centre-state relations, the ARC constituted a study team under M C Setalvad. On the basis of the report of this study team, the ARC finalized its own report and submitted it to the Central government in 1969. It made 22 recommendations for improving Centre-state relations. The important recommendations are:

• Establishment of an Inter-State Council under Article 263 of the Constitution.
• Appointment of persons having long experience in public life and administration and non-partisan attitude as governors.
• Delegation of powers to the maximum extent to the states.
• Transferring more financial resources to the states to reduce their dependency upon the Centre.
• Deployment of Central armed forces in the states either on their request or otherwise.

No action was taken by the Central government on the recommendations of the ARC.