Centre State Administrative Relations in India

There can be many areas of conflict between Centre and state relations. Our Constitution provides some Articles for dealing with Centre State administrative relations in India. Articles 256 to 263 deal with administrative relationship between the Centre and the States.

Administrative Relations

• Article 256 says that every State Government has to exert its executive authority in such a way not to prejudice the authority of the Union.
  
  
• Article 257 says that Central Government gives directions and orders to every to State Government. Every State Government has to follow, implement or comply with it.
  
  If any State deliberately deviates from such orders, it will be attracting Article 365, which says that the President, by citing the reason of deviation from Union's direction, can assume that a situation has arisen in which the State Government cannot work in accordance with the Constitution and can suspend State Government.
  
  It is different from Constitutional Emergency under Article 356 in which Emergency is imposed when there is failure of the Constitutional machinery in the State.
  
  
• Article 262 says that Parliament of India by law may establish Inter State River Water Tribunals to solve or adjudicate all the disputes relating to sharing of river waters.
  
  
• Article 263 says that the President of India may establish an Inter State Council which will be a Constitutional body. It shall consist of Prime Minister as the Chairman and all the Chief Ministers of States and Union Territories as members. It is an advisory body on Centre-State and Inter-State relations.
  
  Inter State Council was established in 1990 during the reign of V.P. Singh as Prime Minister.
  
  
• Other Articles in Centre State Administrative Relations in India deal with Union confering power to states in certain cases, Power of states in entrusting functions to the Union, Union jurisdiction related to territories outside India, etc.