If that is the case, then I think my friend has no abjection to national planning being a concurrent subject. In any case, the initiative, the direction and guidance have to come from the Centre and the implementing of such decisions will have to be with the various units. Economic, technological and scientific developments have made somewhat obsolete, the old division of powers between the Centre and the circumference. Take the T. V. A.–The Tennessee Valley Authority in the U.S.A. The success of that scheme has shown that the fear that setting up a federal agency would undermine and destroy State Government’s that is, the Unit’s power and rights is a false fear; and that we can so organise as to have central production and yet have local responsibility. Whatever the constitutional set-up may be, the relationship between the Centre and the Provinces will be determined by economic forces and tendencies, and financial considerations. Commerce, trade and industry to-day as well as the economic relationship which they involve are national in scope and cannot be easily divided into Provincial and Federal aspects for purposes of regulation. Mr. President, Mr. Santhanam also said yesterday something about the mention of industries in the List of Federal Subjects. Apart from Item 6 Defence Industry, in the Item 65 there is the mention of development of industries where development under Federal control is declared by Federal law to be expedient in the public interest. This is the only rational way of dealing with this problem. As far back as 1945, in their statement on industrial policy, the Government of India have stated that industries in which a common policy is desirable should be brought under Central control. Can we not trust the future Central Government of India to decide which are the important defence industries, which are the essential industries and which are the industries which are inter-provincial in character and should be brought under Central control? In fact, in labour matters, we know that in many respects uniformity is desirable; otherwise there is the risk of one Province being very backward and another much ahead of it. Therefore there is strong case for regulation on a national basis. As regards the Indian States, for example, with some notable exceptions, the conditions regarding labour legislation and taxation, for example, do not attain the required standard and we should now try to evolve common standards in the spheres of industrial policy, taxation and labour legislation.
