Question

What do you understand by Residuary Powers?

Answer 1

1. Residuary Powers are special powers entrusted by the Constitution to the Union Government.
2. Our constitution has distributed the different subjects on which laws are to be made between the Union and State Governments.
3. This distribution is done by dividing those various subjects into three lists as follows:
   1. The Union List includes the subjects on which the Union Government makes laws.
   2. The State List includes subjects on which the State Government makes laws.
   3. The concurrent list includes subjects on which state and union governments can make laws.
4. If a subject comes up that is not included in any of these three lists, the Union Government is entitled to make laws on it. These powers of the Union Government are termed as Residuary Powers.