Which one of the following comes under the ‘State List’ under the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India?

Correct — A, (a) Relief of the disabled and unemployable. This is Entry 9 of List II, the State List, in the Seventh Schedule, and the as-amended text of the Constitution prints it in exactly those words: ’Relief of the disabled and unemployable.’ The other three heads are all somewhere else in the Schedule, and knowing where is the whole of the question.

The general shape is worth carrying away, because it explains why this item is easier than it looks. Almost the whole of Indian labour and social-security law sits in List III, the Concurrent List — trade unions and industrial disputes at Entry 22, social security and social insurance at Entry 23, welfare of labour at Entry 24. That is why both Parliament and the State legislatures make labour law, and why a State can have its own shops and establishments Act while the Centre runs the provident fund. A handful of labour heads are pulled up into List I, the Union List, where the industry itself is nationally regulated: mines and oilfields are the standard example. What is left to the States alone is small, and relief of the disabled and unemployable — a head of poor relief rather than of industrial regulation — is the classic instance.

So the test to apply is not ’is this about labour’ but ’is this regulation of an industry, a nationally uniform social insurance, or local relief’. Regulation and safety in a nationally regulated industry goes to the Union. A contributory scheme meant to work the same way everywhere goes to the Concurrent List. Relief given to people who cannot work at all is not industrial regulation at all; it is welfare administered on the ground, and it stays with the State.

Why the others are wrong

• (b)Regulation of labour and safety in mines — This is Entry 55 of List I, the Union List, which reads ’Regulation of labour and safety in mines and oilfields.’ Mines and oilfields are treated throughout the Schedule as matters of national regulation — Entry 54 of List I covers the regulation of mines and mineral development to the extent declared by Parliament to be expedient in the public interest — and the labour and safety head follows the industry up to the Union. This is the option that catches candidates who reason from subject matter alone: labour is mostly Concurrent, safety sounds like a local matter, and both instincts point the wrong way here. The Mines Act, 1952 is Central law for exactly this reason.
• (c)Regulation and control of manufacture, supply and distribution of salt — This is part of Entry 58 of List I, the Union List, which reads in full: ’Manufacture, supply and distribution of salt by Union agencies; regulation and control of manufacture, supply and distribution of salt by other agencies.’ Salt has been a Union subject since the Constitution came into force, a legacy of the colonial salt monopoly and of salt’s place in the national movement. The option quotes the second limb of the entry almost word for word, which is what makes it tempting — the wording feels authentic because it is authentic, but it is authentic to the wrong List.
• (d)Social security and social insurance — This is the first limb of Entry 23 of List III, the Concurrent List: ’Social security and social insurance; employment and unemployment.’ It is the single most important entry for anyone working in the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation, because it is the constitutional footing on which the Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 and the Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948 stand. Being Concurrent, it lets Parliament and the State legislatures both legislate, with Article 254 settling any repugnancy in favour of Parliament. A candidate who half-remembers that social security is ’shared’ between the Centre and the States is remembering the right thing about the wrong list, since the question asks for a State List entry, not a shared one.

Article 246 divides legislative power using the three Lists of the Seventh Schedule: List I, the Union List, on which Parliament alone legislates; List II, the State List, on which the State legislatures alone legislate; and List III, the Concurrent List, on which both may, with Article 254 giving Parliament’s law precedence where the two conflict. Labour and social security fall overwhelmingly in List III — Entry 22 ’Trade unions; industrial and labour disputes’, Entry 23 ’Social security and social insurance; employment and unemployment’, Entry 24 ’Welfare of labour including conditions of work, provident funds, employers’ liability, workmen’s compensation, invalidity and old age pensions and maternity benefits’. That placement is the reason India has both Central labour statutes and State amendments to them, and the reason the four labour Codes had to be accompanied by State rules before they could operate. The Union List takes the labour heads that belong to nationally regulated industries, Entry 55 on mines and oilfields being the standard one. The State List keeps relief rather than regulation: Entry 9, ’Relief of the disabled and unemployable’. It is worth noting that entries move. Section 57 of the Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976 shifted Forests and Protection of wild animals and birds out of the State List and into the Concurrent List with effect from 3 January 1977, so a Seventh Schedule answer is always an answer about the Schedule as it now stands.

Key facts

• State List (List II) Entry 9 — ’Relief of the disabled and unemployable.’
• Union List (List I) Entry 55 — ’Regulation of labour and safety in mines and oilfields.’
• Union List (List I) Entry 58 — ’Manufacture, supply and distribution of salt by Union agencies; regulation and control of manufacture, supply and distribution of salt by other agencies.’
• Concurrent List (List III) Entry 23 — ’Social security and social insurance; employment and unemployment.’
• Concurrent List (List III) Entry 22 — ’Trade unions; industrial and labour disputes.’
• Concurrent List (List III) Entry 24 — welfare of labour, including conditions of work, provident funds, employers’ liability, workmen’s compensation, invalidity and old age pensions and maternity benefits.
• Article 246 allocates legislative power across the three Lists; Article 254 resolves repugnancy on a Concurrent subject in favour of Parliament.
• Section 57 of the Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976 moved Forests and Protection of wild animals and birds from the State List to the Concurrent List with effect from 3 January 1977.

Common traps

• Assuming that anything about labour must be Concurrent. Mines and oilfields carry their labour and safety head into the Union List.
• Confusing ’social security and social insurance’, which is Concurrent, with ’relief of the disabled and unemployable’, which is a State subject. The first is contributory insurance, the second is relief.
• Treating an entry’s wording as decisive of its List. Question papers quote entries verbatim, so the wording sounds right for every option.
• Answering from the pre-1977 Schedule. Entries have been inserted, omitted and substituted, and the as-amended text is the one that counts.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  ’Social security and social insurance; employment and unemployment’ appears in the Seventh Schedule as

  • (a)Entry 23 of the Union List
  • (b)Entry 23 of the State List
  • (c)Entry 23 of the Concurrent List
  • (d)Entry 9 of the Concurrent List

  Answer(c) Entry 23 of the Concurrent List

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Regulation of labour and safety in mines and oilfields falls under which List of the Seventh Schedule?

  • (a)Union List
  • (b)State List
  • (c)Concurrent List
  • (d)It is a residuary subject

  Answer(a) Union List