Union, State and Concurrent Lists

Also called: Seventh Schedule · Topic: Framing the Indian Constitution · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 4 "Framing the Constitution"

Meaning

The Union, State and Concurrent Lists are three lists in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution. They divide the subjects on which laws can be made:

• the Union List for Parliament (the Centre),
• the State List for the state legislatures,
• the Concurrent List for both (Concurrent means both the Centre and a state may make laws on it).

These lists matter because they show how power was shared between the Centre and the states. The Constituent Assembly gave the Union far more exclusive subjects than other federations did, and made the Concurrent List longer than the provinces wanted. So the lists are the clearest sign of the Constitution's lean towards a strong Centre.

Explanation

Background: why the Assembly wanted a strong Centre

• The Constituent Assembly first met on 9 December 1946 [2]. The question of how much power the Centre should have and how much the provinces should have ran through its debates.
• Before Partition, Congress had promised provincial autonomy (wide powers for the provinces), mainly to reassure the Muslim League.
• Partition removed that pressure. In a letter to the Assembly President, Nehru wrote that "now that partition is a settled fact", a weak central authority would be "injurious". In his view, a weak Centre could not:
• keep peace,
• coordinate matters that concern all of India,

• speak for India in the world.

• The riots of Partition made the case stronger:

• communal violence was spreading from one province to another;

• members felt that only one authority with power over every province could stop it.

• Dr B.R. Ambedkar wanted a "strong and united Centre", "much stronger than the Centre we had created under the Government of India Act of 1935". The 1935 Act was the British law that had given the provinces their own elected ministries.

• Gopalaswami Ayyangar said the Centre "should be made as strong as possible".
• Balakrishna Sharma (United Provinces) said only a strong Centre could:
• plan for the whole country,
• mobilise resources (collect money and materials from every part of India),
• run the administration properly,
• defend the country from outside attack.

The design: what the three lists did

• Union List: subjects on which Parliament makes laws [4].
• It had many more subjects under exclusive Union control than in other federations of the world.

• Minerals and key industries were placed under Union control.

• State List: subjects on which state legislatures make laws [4].

• Concurrent List: subjects on which both the Centre and the states can make laws [4].

• It was longer than the provinces wanted.

• Article 356 went with the lists. It let the Centre take over the administration of a state on the Governor's recommendation.

• The taxes were divided in the same spirit (fiscal federalism, meaning who collects which tax):
• Only the Centre: customs duties (tax on goods coming into the country) and Company taxes.
• Shared by the Centre and the states: income tax and excise duties (tax on goods made inside the country).
• Given to the states: estate duties (tax on property left by a person who has died).
• States could collect: land and property taxes, sales tax, and the "hugely profitable" tax on bottled liquor.

The debate: how the provinces pushed back

• K. Santhanam (Madras) led the attack:
• "There is almost an obsession that by adding all kinds of powers to the Centre we can make it strong."
• A Centre with too many jobs would work worse, not better.
• The tax plan would make the provinces poor, because almost every tax except land revenue went to the Centre.
• If that was the plan, he said, it would be better to be openly unitary than to run a fake ("sham") federation.

• He warned that within a few years the provinces would "revolt against the Centre".

• A member from Orissa warned that "the Centre is likely to break" under the weight of so many powers.

• A. Ramaswamy Mudaliar (Mysore) rejected the idea that people who wanted a strong Centre were better patriots.
• The official record shows members arguing that the powers given to the Centre are too many and too extensive, and that the States have been deprived of power in their own fields [3].
• Critics called the result a "Federo-Unitary" system: federal in name but unitary in practice. They pointed to the long lists of Concurrent and Central subjects in law-making and taxation, and to the Centre's power to take over a state's administration [3].

Result: why centralisation won

• Partition removed the main reason for promising provincial autonomy.
• A colonial unitary system was already in place, because the British had ruled India from the top. The new state took over that machinery.
• The violence of the time pushed the Assembly towards the Centre for two reasons:
• to stop chaos and keep the country from breaking apart,

• to plan economic development.

• NCERT's verdict: the Constitution had "a distinct bias towards the rights of the Union of India over those of its constituent states."

Time, place and evidence

• Period: the Constituent Assembly, 1946–1950.
• First meeting: 9 December 1946, in the Constitution Hall, now the Central Hall of Parliament House, New Delhi [2].
• Drafting Committee under Ambedkar set up on 29 August 1947 [2].

• Constitution adopted on 26 November 1949; came into force on 26 January 1950 [2].

• Where the lists came from: the Draft Constitution was built on the reports of four bodies: the Union Powers Committee, the Provincial Constitution Committee, the Advisory Committee and the Minorities Committee [3].

• Scale of the debate: the Assembly spent 114 days on the Draft Constitution and dealt with 2,473 amendments out of 7,635 tabled [2].
• Key people:
• for a strong Centre: Nehru, Ambedkar, Gopalaswami Ayyangar, Balakrishna Sharma (United Provinces);

• for the provinces: K. Santhanam (Madras), a member from Orissa, A. Ramaswamy Mudaliar (Mysore).

• How we know:

• the Constituent Assembly Debates, Official Report, Volume VII (4 November 1948 to 8 January 1949) [3];
• Rajya Sabha records on the Constituent Assembly [2];

• NCERT Class 12, Ch 4 "Framing the Constitution".

• Later change: the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956 amended Article 356. It removed the words "or Rajpramukh" when the princely-state category of head of state was abolished [5].

Don't confuse with

• Seventh Schedule vs Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956: the Seventh Schedule is the part of the Constitution that holds the three lists. The Seventh Amendment Act, 1956 is a later law; among other things, it removed "or Rajpramukh" from Article 356 [5].
• Government of India Act, 1935: this British law also divided subjects between the Centre and the provinces and gave the provinces elected ministries. Ambedkar wanted the new Centre to be stronger than the 1935 Centre.
• Concurrent List vs State List: subjects on the Concurrent List can be made into law by both the Centre and the states. The State List belongs to the states alone. Provinces complained that the Concurrent List was too long.
• Union Powers Committee vs Drafting Committee: the Union Powers Committee was one of four committees whose reports the draft was built on [3]. The Drafting Committee (Ambedkar, 29 August 1947) wrote the Draft Constitution [2].

Prelims Hooks

• Three lists: Union, State, Concurrent. They sit in the Seventh Schedule. Minerals and key industries were put under Union control.
• The Union List had more subjects under exclusive Union control than in other federations.
• Taxes only for the Centre: customs duties and Company taxes. Shared: income tax and excise. Given to the states: estate duties. Trap: estate duty was not a Union tax.
• Article 356: the Centre can take over a state's administration on the Governor's recommendation.
• K. Santhanam was from Madras and warned the provinces would "revolt against the Centre". A. Ramaswamy Mudaliar was from Mysore. Balakrishna Sharma was from the United Provinces.
• The Draft Constitution was based on reports of the Union Powers Committee, Provincial Constitution Committee, Advisory Committee and Minorities Committee [3].

Mains Points

• Partition decided the federal balance. Before 1947, provincial autonomy was Congress's offer to the Muslim League. After Partition, Nehru wrote that "partition is a settled fact" and a weak Centre would be "injurious". The lists were shaped by political events and violence, not only by constitutional theory.
• Two ideas of a "strong" India. Ambedkar, Ayyangar and Balakrishna Sharma said strength meant more powers at the Centre for peace, planning and defence. Santhanam replied that an overloaded Centre works worse, and that starving the provinces of taxes would create a sham federation and lead to revolt. A good answer compares the two views.
• Continuity with colonial rule. The Assembly built on the unitary machinery of the Raj and the 1935 Act. Members called the result "Federo-Unitary" [3]. The long Union and Concurrent Lists, the Centre-heavy tax division and Article 356 together explain NCERT's verdict of "a distinct bias towards the rights of the Union of India over those of its constituent states."

Related concepts

• Strong Centre debate
• N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar
• Balakrishna Sharma
• Provincial autonomy
• Union Powers Committee
• Article 356
• Fiscal federalism
• K. Santhanam
• A. Ramaswamy Mudaliar

Read more

• The powers of the state: Centre versus provinces