In the Seventh Schedule, Article 246 of the Constitution states three lists: union, state, and concurrent. The current Seventh Schedule, union (then Federal) list, state (then Provincial) list, and concurrent lists are all inherited from that 1935 law.
It specifies that “Notwithstanding anything in the two next succeeding subsections, the Federal Legislature has, and a Provincial Legislature has not, power to make laws with respect to any of the matters enumerated in List I in the Seventh Schedule to this Act.”

How it affects public delivery

• We perceive “public good” as something that must be given by the government, ignoring that restrictive and technical meaning.
• The private sector cannot or should not provide it.
• Regardless of whether private security guards are used, most people will agree that “law and order” is a public asset.
• The majority of public goods that people conceive of are efficiently given at the local government level, rather than the Union or state level.
• There is a Seventh Schedule concern associated with the addition of a local body list.
• Citizens’ increased demand for efficient delivery of such public goods is putting a strain on the system.
• Local governments, however, are unable to respond without delegation of finances, powers, and officials, which are now left to the whims of state governments.

The need
• There is no list of local government bodies since most public goods are efficiently supplied at the local government level rather than the Union or state level.
• There is a Seventh Schedule concern associated with the addition of a local body list.
• Local governments, however, are unable to respond without delegation of finances, powers, and officials, which are now left to the whims of state governments.

Way forward
• The Rajamannar Committee, formally known as the Centre-State Relations Inquiry Committee, proposed the formation of a High Power Commission to “review the entries of Lists I and III in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution and recommend redistribution of the entries.”
• Changes in the past resulted in more centralisation: items migrated from the state list to the concurrent list, and then from the concurrent list to the union list.
• Such restricted shifts, such as in 1976, have represented growing centralisation.
• In addition to scrutinising Article 282, N K Singh, Chairman of the 15th Finance Commission, has frequently highlighted this point.

How to structure

1. Give an intro about the Seventh Schedule
2. Explain how it affects the delivery of public goods
3. Suggest way forward if any
4. Conclude

Reference:

1. https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/seventh-schedule-constitution-public-goods-7720242