Read the passage and answer the questions:
The Making of the Constitution
One of the topics most vigorously debated in the Constituent Assembly was the respective rights of the Central Government and the states. Among those arguing for a strong Centre was Jawaharlal Nehru. As he put it in a letter to the President of the Constituent Assembly, “Now that partition is a settled fact, … it would be injurious to the interests of the country to provide for a weak central authority which would be incapable of ensuring peace, of coordinating vital matters of common concern and of speaking effectively for the whole country in the international sphere”. The Draft Constitution provided for three lists of subjects: Union, State, and Concurrent. The subjects in the first list were to be the preserve of the Central Government, while those in the second list were vested with the states. As for the third list, here the Centre and state shared responsibility. However, many more items were placed under exclusive Union control than in other federations, and more were placed on the Concurrent list too than desired by the provinces. The Union also had control of minerals and key industries. Besides, Article 356 gave the Centre the power to take over state administration on the recommendation of the Governor. The Constitution also mandated a complex system of fiscal federalism. In the case of some taxes (for instance, customs duties and Company taxes) the Centre retained all the proceeds; in other cases (such as income tax and excise duties) it shared them with the states; in still other cases (for instance, estate duties) it assigned them wholly to the states. The states, meanwhile, could levy and collect certain taxes on their own: these included land and property taxes, sales tax, and the hugely profitable tax on bottled liquor.
Choose the correct statements among the following:
(A) Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru argued for a strong Centre.
(B) The Union also had control of minerals and key industries.
(C) Customs duties and Company taxes were retained by the Centre.
(D) Income tax, Excise duties and Estate duties were assigned entirely to the States.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → (A), (B) and (C) only
(A) Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru argued for a strong Centre. Correct. The passage names Nehru among those arguing for a strong Centre. In a letter to the President of the Constituent Assembly he wrote that, now that partition was a settled fact, a weak central authority would be injurious to the country.
(B) The Union also had control of minerals and key industries. Correct. Besides the many items placed under exclusive Union control, the Union also controlled minerals and key industries.
(C) Customs duties and Company taxes were retained by the Centre. Correct. Under the system of fiscal federalism, the Centre retained all the proceeds of some taxes, such as customs duties and Company taxes.
(D) Income tax, Excise duties and Estate duties were assigned entirely to the States. Incorrect. The three taxes were not treated alike. Income tax and excise duties were shared between the Centre and the states; only estate duties were assigned wholly to the states.
NCERT (2025-26): “4. The Powers of the State … One of the topics most vigorously debated in the Constituent Assembly was the respective rights of the Central Government and the states. Among those arguing for a strong Centre was Jawaharlal Nehru. As he put it in a letter to the President of the Constituent Assembly, ‘Now that partition is a settled fact, … it would be injurious to the interests of the country to provide for a weak central authority which would be incapable of ensuring peace, of coordinating vital matters of common concern and of speaking effectively for the whole country in the international sphere’. The Draft Constitution provided for three lists of subjects: Union, State, and Concurrent. The subjects in the first list were to be the preserve of the Central Government, while those in the second list were vested with the states. As for the third list, here Centre and state shared responsibility. However, many more items were placed under exclusive Union control than in other federations, and more placed on the Concurrent list too than desired by the provinces. The Union also had control of minerals and key industries. Besides, Article 356 gave the Centre the powers to take over a state administration on the recommendation of the Governor. The Constitution also mandated for a complex system of fiscal federalism. In the case of some taxes (for instance, customs duties and Company taxes) the Centre retained all the proceeds; in other cases (such as income tax and excise duties) it shared them with the states; in still other cases (for instance, estate duties) it assigned them wholly to the states.…” |