RAS question
Which of the following is a Union List subject?
Correct answer: (C) Defence, atomic energy, foreign affairs, railways, banking.
Defence, atomic energy, foreign affairs, railways and banking are Union List subjects under the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India.
Explanation
The answer is option C because each subject named there appears in List I, the Union List, of the Seventh Schedule: defence of India is entry 1, atomic energy is entry 6, foreign affairs is entry 10, railways is entry 22 and banking is entry 45. Article 246 gives Parliament exclusive power to make laws on matters in List I, which is why these subjects are grouped as Union List subjects. The other options mix subjects from List II and List III instead: police, public health, agriculture, fisheries, local government and land revenue are State List entries, while forests, trade unions and education are Concurrent List entries.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Education, forests and trade unions are Concurrent List subjects, so this set does not identify Union List subjects.
- (B) Police, public health and agriculture are State List subjects, not Union List subjects.
- (D) Land revenue, fisheries and local government are State List subjects, so this option belongs to state legislative competence.
Concept
This tests the constitutional distribution of legislative subjects across the Union, State and Concurrent Lists in the Seventh Schedule. RAS repeatedly asks this because governance questions often turn on identifying which level of government has law-making power over a subject.