THE UNION LIST

OVERVIEW :-

When India got Independent in 1947 then at that time there was no rules and regulations of how the government of India will work. Therefore, The Constitution of India was designed and came into existence. The Constitution of India clearly defines the powers that resides with Central and State Governments. In the Seventh Schedule of Constitution of India there are 3 lists clearly mentioned to distribute powers between Central and State Governments. The 3 lists are – Union, State and Concurrent List. Out of which, Central Government powers are mentioned in Union List. It has total 90+ points mentioned which keeps on changing as per the Amendment in the Constitution by the Parliament.

SUBJECTS MENTIONED IN THE UNION LIST :-

DEFENCE –

1. The duty to defend India at the time of war and to safeguard the people of India during and after the war will reside with the Central Government.
2. Naval, military and air forces; any other armed forces of the Union.
   [2A. 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.]
3. 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.
4. Naval, military and air force works.
5. Arms, firearms, ammunition and explosives.
6. Atomic energy and mineral resources necessary for its production.
7. Industries declared by Parliament by law to be necessary for the
   purpose of defence or for the prosecution of war.
8. Central Bureau of Intelligence and Investigation.
9. Preventive detention for reasons connected with Defence, Foreign
   Affairs, or the security of India; persons subjected to such detention.
   FOREIGN AFFAIRS –
10. Foreign affairs; all matters which bring the Union into relation with
    any foreign country.
11. Diplomatic, consular and trade representation.
12. United Nations Organisation.
13. Participation in international conferences, associations and other
    bodies and implementing of decisions made thereat.
14. Entering into treaties and agreements with foreign countries and
    implementing of treaties, agreements and conventions with foreign countries.
15. War and peace.
16. Foreign jurisdiction.
17. Citizenship, naturalisation and aliens.
18. Extradition.
19. Admission into, and emigration and expulsion from, India; passports
    and visas.
20. Pilgrimages to places outside India.
21. 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.
    TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATION –
22. Railways.
23. Highways declared by or under law made by Parliament to be national
    highways.
24. 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.
25. 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.
26. Lighthouses, including lightships, beacons and other provision for
    the safety of shipping and aircraft.
27. 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.
28. Port quarantine, including hospitals connected therewith; seamen’s
    and marine hospitals.
29. 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.
30. Carriage of passengers and goods by railway, sea or air, or by national
    waterways in mechanically propelled vessels.
31. Posts and telegraphs; telephones, wireless, broadcasting and other
    like forms of communication.
32. 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.

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34. Courts of wards for the estates of Rulers of Indian States.
    TRADES, BANKING AND COMMERCE –
35. Public debt of the Union.
36. Currency, coinage and legal tender; foreign exchange.
37. Foreign loans.
38. Reserve Bank of India.
39. Post Office Savings Bank.
40. Lotteries organised by the Government of India or the Government of
    a State.
41. Trade and commerce with foreign countries; import and export across
    customs frontiers; definition of customs frontiers.
42. Inter-State trade and commerce.
43. Incorporation, regulation and winding up of trading corporations,
    including banking, insurance and financial corporations, but not including
    co-operative societies.
44. Incorporation, regulation and winding up of corporations, whether
    trading or not, with objects not confined to one State, but not including
    universities.
45. Banking.
46. Bills of exchange, cheques, promissory notes and other like instruments.
47. Insurance.
48. Stock exchanges and futures markets.
49. Patents, inventions and designs; copyright; trade-marks and
    merchandise marks.
50. Establishment of standards of weight and measure.
51. Establishment of standards of quality for goods to be exported out of
    India or transported from one State to another.
52. Industries, the control of which by the Union is declared by Parliament
    by law to be expedient in the public interest.
53. 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.
54. 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.
55. Regulation of labour and safety in mines and oilfields.
56. 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.
57. Fishing and fisheries beyond territorial waters.
58. Manufacture, supply and distribution of salt by Union agencies;
    regulation and control of manufacture, supply and distribution of salt by
    other agencies.
59. Cultivation, manufacture, and sale for export, of opium.
60. Sanctioning of cinematograph films for exhibition.
61. Industrial disputes concerning Union employees.
    EDUCATION AND PRESERVATION OF HERITAGE SITES –
62. 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.
63. The institutions known at the commencement of this Constitution as
    the Benares Hindu University, the Aligarh Muslim University and the 1
    [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.
64. 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.
65. Union agencies and institutions for—
    (a) professional, vocational or technical training, including the
    training of police officers; or
    (b) the promotion of special studies or research; or
    (c) scientific or technical assistance in the investigation or detection
    of crime.
66. Co-ordination and determination of standards in institutions for higher
    education or research and scientific and technical institutions.
67. Ancient and historical monuments and records, and archaeological
    sites and remains, 1
    [declared by or under law made by Parliament] to be of
    national importance.
68. The Survey of India, the Geological, Botanical, Zoological and
    Anthropological Surveys of India; Meteorological organisations.
    JURISDICTION AND OTHER SERVICES –
69. Census.
70. Union Public Service; All-India Services; Union Public Service
    Commission.
71. Union pensions, that is to say, pensions payable by the Government
    of India or out of the Consolidated Fund of India.
72. Elections to Parliament, to the Legislatures of States and to the offices
    of President and Vice-President; the Election Commission.
73. 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.
74. 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.
75. 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 Auditor-
    General.
76. Audit of the accounts of the Union and of the States.
77. 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.
78. Constitution and organisation 1
    [(including vacations)] of the High
    Courts except provisions as to officers and servants of High Courts; persons
    entitled to practise before the High Courts.
    2
    [79. Extension of the jurisdiction of a High Court to, and exclusion of the
    jurisdiction of a High Court from, any Union territory.]
79. 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.
80. Inter-State migration; inter-State quarantine.
    TAXES –
81. Taxes on income other than agricultural income.
82. Duties of customs including export duties.
83. Duties of excise on tobacco and other goods manufactured or produced
    in India except—
    (a) alcoholic liquors for human consumption;
    (b) opium, Indian hemp and other narcotic drugs and narcotics,
    but including medicinal and toilet preparations containing alcohol or any
    substance included in sub-paragraph (b) of this entry.
84. Corporation tax.
85. Taxes on the capital value of the assets, exclusive of agricultural land,
    of individuals and companies; taxes on the capital of companies.
86. Estate duty in respect of property other than agricultural land.
87. Duties in respect of succession to property other than agricultural
    land.
88. Terminal taxes on goods or passengers, carried by railway, sea or air;
    taxes on railway fares and freights.
89. Taxes other than stamp duties on transactions in stock exchanges
    and futures markets.
90. 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.
91. Taxes on the sale or purchase of newspapers and on advertisements
    published therein.
    1
    [92A. 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.]
    2
    [92B. 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.]
    *[92C. Taxes on services.]
92. Offences against laws with respect to any of the matters in this List.
93. Inquiries, surveys and statistics for the purpose of any of the matters
    in this List.
94. Jurisdiction and powers of all courts, except the Supreme Court, with
    respect to any of the matters in this List; admiralty jurisdiction.
95. Fees in respect of any of the matters in this List, but not including fees
    taken in any court.
96. Any other matter not enumerated in List II or List III including any other taxes that is not mentioned in those Lists.

*Reference of these subjects is taken from The Constitution of India.

Links :-

https://legislative.gov.in/constitution-of-india