The way COVID pandemic has been dealt has revealed fissures in centre-state cooperation.
Examples:
Several states criticized the classification of the country by centre into ‘red’ and ‘orange’ zones. States demanded more autonomy in making classifications.
The Disaster Management Act of 2005 (under which binding COVID-19 guidelines are being issued by the Centre to the States) envisages the creation of a ‘National Plan’ and mandates State consultations before formulating a ‘National Plan’. However, to respond to COVID-19 centre has not formulated any ‘National Plan’ instead issued ad hoc binding guidelines to states, thereby circumventing the legislative mandate of State consultations.
The Centre has declared CSR exemptions for corporations donating to PM-CARES, but not for those donating towards any Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. This directly hampers donations to any Chief Minister’s Relief Fund and diverts crores in potential State revenues to PM-CARES; making the States largely dependent upon the Centre.
