Cooperative federalism means that though there is a constitutional provision for the distribution of powers, in practice, these powers are to be exercised jointly by the Centre and the states. It is understood to have the following characteristics:

• To evolve a shared vision of national development priorities, sectors and strategies with the active involvement of States in the light of national objectives.
• Working in a cooperative spirit through structured support initiatives and mechanisms with the States on a continuous basis, recognising that strong States make a strong nation.

However, cooperative federalism in India faces certain challenges:

• Ineffectiveness of institutions: Various institutions formed for the purpose of strengthening cooperative federalism have not lived upto the expectations.
  • Inter-State Council: Besides not having regular meetings, it is seen as a mere talk shop and its recommendations are not binding on the government.
  • NITI Aayog: Though it has given significant boost to cooperative federalism, it is not a statutory body and has limited focus on accountability. Further, its policies may work in favour of the already advanced states to the detriment of others.
• Role of the Governor: Many times, states have complained of misuse of the office of the Governor by the Centre due to political reasons.
• Unbalanced regional development: Due to different states being in different stages of development, there is often a sense of discriminatory treatment in the allocation of resources among the states.
• Inter-state water disputes: With India’s water problems taking a turn towards the worse, various states indulge in water disputes, which often becomes an emotive issue difficult to manage.

Remedial measures which can be taken:

• Expediting resolution of issues: Forums like NITI Aayog, Inter-State Council etc. should be used in an effective manner to resolve issues between the central ministries and state and UTs.
• Address misgivings of states: The Centre should ensure that genuine grievances of states are addressed, for instance the office of the Governor should not be misused politically.
• Evidence-based policy making: NITI Aayog’s approach where it focuses on policy formulation based on adequate data should be adopted and sharing of best practices should be focussed upon. For example, it brought out a three-year action agenda, development of composite water management index, promotion of GIS based planning etc.
• Balanced regional development: Such as focus on areas such as the North-East. For eg: NITI Forum for North East which aims to identify various constraints in the way of accelerated, inclusive and sustainable economic growth of the North Eastern Region (NER) is co-chaired by the Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog.
• Strengthening of Inter State Council: It can be strengthened by implementing recommendations of Sarkaria Commission by giving it all the powers contemplated in the Constitution like Article 263(a) which gives it the power to investigate issues of inter-state conflict but was dropped in the Presidential order of 1990.

The spirit of ‘cooperative federalism’ got a boost with establishment of NITI Aayog, which is the premier policy “Think Tank’ of the Government of India. The success of the GST Council in bringing one tax all over the country is also a unique example of the working of cooperative federalism.