In regard to the scheme of distribution of powers, the House will realise that there is nothing to take exception to generally. While a good number of items in the Central list can be brought under the head of Defence, Foreign Affairs and Communications, the three main heads envisaged by the Cabinet Mission Scheme, the items such as Bills of Exchange, Banking, Corporation Law, Inter-unit trade bear upon the general welfare of the country. It is possible in regard to Banking, Corporation Law and Insurance, following the Australian and Canadian model to differentiate between Corporations having purely provincial objects and Corporations whose objects extend beyond the limits of the Units. If so, it would be open to any Committee or to this House to take that into consideration and canvass that point whether it is possible to make any exception in regard to Corporations or Banks having purely provincial objects. We have been crying about a strong Centre. If you look at the provincial lists, very few if at all of the provincial list have been taken up and transferred to the federal list. It will be a much more useful purpose to take item after item in the provincial list. We ought to take item after item in the Central first and see which of them can be transferred to the provincial list instead of arguing abstractly, Centre versus Provinces, a strong Centre versus weak Centre, strong Provinces versus weak Provinces. This is of no assistance when we are dealing with the practical question of evolving a constitution for the future. We shall have to concentrate our attention in the next few days on particular items and see which of the items deserve to be modified. That would be a much more useful purpose than a general attack upon what might be called a strong Centre or a weak Centre. There may be very few items in the Centre and yet that Centre may be strong. Today it cannot be said that Australia has not a strong Centre; today it cannot be said that America has not a strong Centre. Therefore, having regard to the exigencies of the Indian situation, concentrating our attention upon the main topics of national interest in their relation to the subjects we have to see which of them can find a place in the Central list, which of them can find a place in the concurrent list and which of them can find a place in the provincial list. That would be a more useful mode of approach than a general attack upon the Centre, Provinces and go on. Very few if at all of the items of the provincial list have been taken over to the Centre, as I have already stated.
