The Union List is a key feature of the Constitution of India, representing a comprehensive list of subjects over which the central government has exclusive legislative authority. These subjects include matters of national importance, such as defense, foreign affairs, currency, atomic energy, and telecommunications.
The Union List ensures a unified approach to crucial areas, promoting uniformity and effective governance throughout the country. This allocation of powers between the central and state governments helps maintain a balance, allowing states to manage local affairs while the Union handles matters with broader implications.
Union List
- Defence of India and every part thereof including preparation for defence and all such acts as may be conducive in times of war to its prosecution and after its termination to effective demobilisation.
- Naval, military and air forces; any other armed forces of the Union.
- Deployment of any armed force of the Union or any other force subject to the control of the Union or any contingent or unit thereof in any State in aid of the civil power; powers, jurisdiction, privileges and liabilities of the members of such forces while on such deployment.
- Delimitation of cantonment areas, local self-government in such areas, the constitution and powers within such areas of cantonment authorities and the regulation of house accommodation (including the control of rents) in such areas.
- Naval, military and air force works.
- Arms, firearms, ammunition and explosives.
- Atomic energy and mineral resources necessary for its production.
- Industries declared by Parliament by law to be necessary for the purpose of defence or for the prosecution of war.
- Central Bureau of Intelligence and Investigation.
- Preventive detention for reasons connected with Defence, Foreign Affairs, or the security of India; persons subjected to such detention.
- Foreign affairs; all matters which bring the Union into relation with any foreign country.
- Diplomatic, consular and trade representation.
- United Nations Organisation.
- Participation in international conferences, associations and other bodies and implementing of decisions made thereat.
- Entering into treaties and agreements with foreign countries and implementing of treaties, agreements and conventions with foreign countries.
- War and peace.
- Foreign jurisdiction.
- Citizenship, naturalisation and aliens.
- Extradition.
- Admission into, and emigration and expulsion from, India; passports and visas.
- Pilgrimages to places outside India.
- Piracies and crimes committed on the high seas or in the air; offences against the law of nations committed on land or the high seas or in the air.
- Railways.
- Highways declared by or under law made by Parliament to be national highways.
- Shipping and navigation on inland waterways, declared by Parliament by law to be national waterways, as regards mechanically propelled vessels; the rule of the road on such waterways.
- Maritime shipping and navigation, including shipping and navigation on tidal waters; provision of education and training for the mercantile marine and regulation of such education and training provided by States and other agencies.
- Lighthouses, including lightships, beacons and other provision for the safety of shipping and aircraft.
- Ports declared by or under law made by Parliament or existing law to be major ports, including their delimitation, and the constitution and powers of port authorities therein.
- Port quarantine, including hospitals connected therewith; seamen’s and marine hospitals.
- Airways; aircraft and air navigation; provision of aerodromes; regulation and organisation of air traffic and of aerodromes; provision for aeronautical education and training and regulation of such education and training provided by States and other agencies.
- Carriage of passengers and goods by railway, sea or air, or by national waterways in mechanically propelled vessels.
- Posts and telegraphs; telephones, wireless, broadcasting and other like forms of communication.
- Property of the Union and the revenue therefrom, but as regards property situated in a State 1*** subject to legislation by the State, save in so far as Parliament by law otherwise provides.
- Courts of wards for the estates of Rulers of Indian States.
- Public debt of the Union.
- Currency, coinage and legal tender; foreign exchange.
- Foreign loans.
- Reserve Bank of India.
- Post Office Savings Bank.
- Lotteries organised by the Government of India or the Government of a State.
- Trade and commerce with foreign countries; import and export across customs frontiers; definition of customs frontiers.
- Inter-State trade and commerce.
- Incorporation, regulation and winding up of trading corporations, including banking, insurance and financial corporations, but not including co-operative societies.
- Incorporation, regulation and winding up of corporations, whether trading or not, with objects not confined to one State, but not including universities.
- Banking.
- Bills of exchange, cheques, promissory notes and other like instruments.
- Insurance.
- Stock exchanges and futures markets.
- Patents, inventions and designs; copyright; trade-marks and merchandise marks.
- Establishment of standards of weight and measure.
- Establishment of standards of quality for goods to be exported out of India or transported from one State to another.
- Industries, the control of which by the Union is declared by Parliament by law to be expedient in the public interest.
- Regulation and development of oilfields and mineral oil resources; petroleum and petroleum products; other liquids and substances declared by Parliament by law to be dangerously inflammable.
- Regulation of mines and mineral development to the extent to which such regulation and development under the control of the Union is declared by Parliament by law to be expedient in the public interest.
- Regulation of labour and safety in mines and oilfields.
- Regulation and development of inter-State rivers and river valleys to the extent to which such regulation and development under the control of the Union is declared by Parliament by law to be expedient in the public interest.
- Fishing and fisheries beyond territorial waters.
- Manufacture, supply and distribution of salt by Union agencies; regulation and control of manufacture, supply and distribution of salt by other agencies.
- Cultivation, manufacture, and sale for export, of opium.
- Sanctioning of cinematograph films for exhibition.
- Industrial disputes concerning Union employees.
- The institutions known at the commencement of this Constitution as the National Library, the Indian Museum, the Imperial War Museum, the Victoria Memorial and the Indian War Memorial, and any other like institution financed by the Government of India wholly or in part and declared by Parliament by law to be an institution of national importance.
- The institutions known at the commencement of this Constitution as the Benares Hindu University, the Aligarh Muslim University and the Delhi University; the University established in pursuance of article 371E; any other institution declared by Parliament by law to be an institution of national importance.
- Institutions for scientific or technical education financed by the Government of India wholly or in part and declared by Parliament by law to be institutions of national importance.
- Union agencies and institutions for—
- (a) professional, vocational or technical training, including the training of police officers;
- (b) the promotion of special studies or research;
- (c) scientific or technical assistance in the investigation or detection of crime.
- Co-ordination and determination of standards in institutions for higher education or research and scientific and technical institutions.
- Ancient and historical monuments and records, and archaeological sites and remains, declared by or under law made by Parliament to be of national importance.
- The Survey of India, the Geological, Botanical, Zoological and Anthropological Surveys of India; Meteorological organisations.
- Census.
- Union Public Service; All-India Services; Union Public Service Commission.
- Union pensions, that is to say, pensions payable by the Government of India or out of the Consolidated Fund of India.
- Elections to Parliament, to the Legislatures of States and to the offices of President and Vice-President; the Election Commission.
- Salaries and allowances of members of Parliament, the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Council of States and the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of the People.
- Powers, privileges and immunities of each House of Parliament and of the members and the Committees of each House; enforcement of attendance of persons for giving evidence or producing documents before committees of Parliament or commissions appointed by Parliament.
- Emoluments, allowances, privileges, and rights in respect of leave of absence, of the President and Governors; salaries and allowances of the Ministers for the Union; the salaries, allowances, and rights in respect of leave of absence and other conditions of service of the Comptroller and AuditorGeneral of India.
- Audit of the accounts of the Union and of the States.
- Constitution, organisation, jurisdiction and powers of the Supreme Court (including contempt of such Court), and the fees taken therein; persons entitled to practise before the Supreme Court.
- Constitution and organisation (including vacations) of the High Courts except provisions as to officers and servants of High Courts; persons entitled to practise before the High Courts.
- Extension of the jurisdiction of a High Court to, and exclusion of the jurisdiction of a High Court from, any Union territory.
- Extension of the powers and jurisdiction of members of a police force belonging to any State to any area outside that State, but not so as to enable the police of one State to exercise powers and jurisdiction in any area outside that State without the consent of the Government of the State in which such area is situated; extension of the powers and jurisdiction of members of a police force belonging to any State to railway areas outside that State.
- Inter-State migration; inter-State quarantine.
- Taxes on income other than agricultural income.
- Duties of customs including export duties.
- Duties of excise on the following goods manufactured or produced in India, namely:—
- (a) petroleum crude;
- (b) high speed diesel;
- (c) motor spirit (commonly known as petrol);
- (d) natural gas;
- (e) aviation turbine fuel; and
- (f) tobacco and tobacco products.
- Corporation tax.
- Taxes on the capital value of the assets, exclusive of agricultural land, of individuals and companies; taxes on the capital of companies.
- Estate duty in respect of property other than agricultural land.
- Duties in respect of succession to property other than agricultural land.
- Terminal taxes on goods or passengers, carried by railway, sea or air; taxes on railway fares and freights.
- Taxes other than stamp duties on transactions in stock exchanges and futures markets.
- Rates of stamp duty in respect of bills of exchange, cheques, promissory notes, bills of lading, letters of credit, policies of insurance, transfer of shares, debentures, proxies and receipts.
- Taxes on the sale or purchase of goods other than newspapers, where such sale or purchase takes place in the course of inter-State trade or commerce.
- Taxes on the consignments of goods (whether the consignment is to the person making it or to any other person), where such consignment takes place in the course of inter-State trade or commerce.
- Offences against laws with respect to any of the matters in this List.
- Inquiries, surveys and statistics for the purpose of any of the matters in this List.
- Jurisdiction and powers of all courts, except the Supreme Court, with respect to any of the matters in this List; admiralty jurisdiction.
- Fees in respect of any of the matters in this List, but not including fees taken in any court.
- Any other matter not enumerated in List II or List III including any tax not mentioned in either of those Lists.
Union List of 7th Schedule
The subsequent points outline the characteristics of the Union List as stipulated within the 7th Schedule of the Indian Constitution:
- The central government or the union government can make laws on all the subjects mentioned under the union list in the Indian Constitution.
- The union list is considered stronger and more powerful as it has more subjects than the state list.
- It has many important subjects apart from those mentioned in the concurrent list.
- All the issues or subjects related to the nation’s security, the nation’s welfare, and the uniform legislation throughout the country are secured by India’s constitution and included in the union list.
- The union list is always considered dominant to the state list, and it is taken care of by the constitution of India in case any subject overlaps with each other. The judgment made by the union will prevail.
- It is possible for the Parliament to confer power and impose duties upon a state through the law made on a subject of the union list or to authorize the centre to conform power and impose duties on a state.
- The union list has 15 specific subjects on which the Parliament can exercise power to levy taxes.
- A new subject named taxes on services was added to the union list by the 88th Amendment.
- The Parliament has got the power to expand the jurisdiction and powers of the Supreme Court concerning the matters subjected to the union list.
State List of 7th Schedule
The roster outlined in the 7th schedule of the Indian Constitution constitutes the State list. Here are several significant characteristics of the State list:
- The 42nd Amendment Act 1976 incorporated the transfer of five subjects from the State list to the concurrent list. These subjects are:
- Administration of justice
- Constitution and organization of all courts (except the Supreme Court and High Courts)
- Education
- Forests
- Protection of Birds and Wildlife
- Weights and Measures
- According to the Indian Constitution, laws on subjects listed under the State list can only be enacted by state legislatures, but this is possible under normal circumstances.
- Parliament can legislate on subjects in the state list in the national interest under Article 249.
- Under three main conditions, the Parliament can override state legislation on the state list subjects:
- If the Rajya Sabha passes a resolution
- During the imposition of Article 250, i.e., during a national emergency
- If two or more states pass a resolution
7th Schedule of Indian Constitution – Union List
Download Union List of Constitution of India 7th Schedule pdf from below link.
https://www.mea.gov.in/Images/pdf1/S7.pdf
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