Inter-State Council (Article 263)
The Inter-State Council is a non-permanent constitutional body that the President may establish under Article 263 of the Constitution whenever it appears that the public interest would be served by its establishment. It was actually constituted in 1990 through a Presidential Order, implementing a long-pending recommendation of the Sarkaria Commission on Centre-State Relations (1983-88), which had wanted it made a permanent body.
- Composition (per the 1990 Order): Prime Minister (Chairman); Chief Ministers of all states; Chief Ministers/Administrators of Union Territories; six Union Cabinet Ministers (including the Home Minister) nominated by the PM
- Article 263 empowers the Council to inquire into and advise on inter-state disputes, investigate subjects of common interest to the Union and states, and recommend better coordination of policy and action
- It is a recommendatory body, not a decision-making one — its role is advisory, central to India's "cooperative federalism" architecture
- The Council normally meets rarely; the Zonal Councils (under the States Reorganisation Act, 1956) function as its regional standing committees
● Tracked since March 03, 2026 · last seen September 18, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes
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