Rajamannar Committee

The Rajamannar Committee was a three-member committee of the Government of Tamil Nadu on relations between the Centre and the States. Gurmit Singh writes that it was to examine them "on the basis of autonomy for the States", without impairing the integrity of the country. Its chairman was Dr P. V. Rajamannar, a former Chief Justice of the Madras High Court; the other members were Dr A. L. Mudaliar and P. Chandra Reddy.

When it was set up: the sources differ. Gurmit Singh dates the Tamil Nadu Government's order to 22 September 1969, and Wikipedia's article on Rajamannar also places his appointment in 1969. The News Minute says Karunanidhi's government set the committee up on 19 August 1970. Both Gurmit Singh and The News Minute give 27 May 1971 as the date of its report.

What it recommended

• Gurmit Singh: a true federation in which the Federal Government would have powers only over defence, foreign policy, inter-State communication and currency, and the States all the others.
• The News Minute adds an Inter-State Council of Chief Ministers headed by the Prime Minister; corporation tax, customs and export duties to go into the shared revenue pool; investments under Rs 100 crore left to the States; several items moved to the State List; and High Courts as the highest courts for civil and criminal matters, with the Supreme Court a constitutional court.
• The report and the Tamil Nadu government's endorsement went to the Prime Minister on 15 June 1971. On 22 June Indira Gandhi replied that the Administrative Reforms Commission had examined the issue and that she intended to consult all the Chief Ministers. The News Minute says that consultation took 12 years to come, and that the Inter-State Council was set up only in 1990.

Why it appears in Sikh history: Gurmit Singh says the Akali Dal had asked since the early 1950s for the Centre's sphere to be limited to foreign affairs, defence and communications, and that the Anandpur Sahib Resolution of 16 to 17 October 1973 asked that only four subjects, defence, foreign relations, currency and general communications, stay with the Centre. Critics said the Resolution could be a stepping-stone to Khalistan. Gurmit Singh answers that the expert Rajamannar Committee had suggested the same limits on the Centre's powers and that nobody called its members "anti-national or secessionist". That is his argument for the Resolution; the sources found do not show the committee dealing with Punjab itself.