Read the passage and answer the questions:
Constitution: 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. 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.
Identify the correct statements from below:
(A) Among those arguing for a strong Centre was Jawaharlal Nehru.
(B) The Draft Constitution provided for three lists of subjects: Union, State, and Concurrent.
(C) The Union had no direct control of minerals and key industries.
(D) The Constitution also mandated for a complex system of fiscal federalism.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → (A), (B) and (D) only
(A) Among those arguing for a strong Centre was Jawaharlal Nehru. Correct. In a letter to the President of the Constituent Assembly, Nehru wrote that now that partition was a settled fact, a weak central authority would be injurious to the interests of the country.
(B) The Draft Constitution provided for three lists of subjects: Union, State, and Concurrent. Correct. The Union list was the preserve of the Central Government, the State list was vested with the states, and on the Concurrent list the Centre and the states shared responsibility.
(C) The Union had no direct control of minerals and key industries. Incorrect. The passage says the opposite: the Union also had control of minerals and key industries. This was one more way in which the Constitution leaned towards a strong Centre.
(D) The Constitution also mandated for a complex system of fiscal federalism. Correct. Under this fiscal federalism, the Centre kept all the proceeds of some taxes, shared others with the states, and gave still others wholly to the states.
Note: This passage is taken from the NCERT chapter ‘Framing the Constitution’, word for word. Four of the five answers of this group were sitting in one paragraph of the chapter, so give the long paragraphs the same attention as the boxes.
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. 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.…” |