Official Question UPSC 2025
Solution & Analysis
Answer:
Medium Applied Logic
Federal Financial Transfers
Deconstruct Federal Financial Transfers using previous year trends.
Quick Recall
The Indian Constitution utilizes two primary mechanisms for grants-in-aid. Article 275 provides statutory grants, but only to states specifically in need of assistance, including targeted funds for scheduled areas. Conversely, Article 282 allows both the Centre and states to issue discretionary grants for any public purpose, regardless of legislative competence.
Concept Flow Mapping
Article 275
provides
provides
Statutory Grants
Statutory Grants
target
target
States in need of assistance
Article 282
permits
permits
Discretionary Grants for any public purpose
Concept Question
Under which constitutional article can the Union Government provide discretionary grants for a public purpose, even if that purpose falls outside its legislative jurisdiction?
Key Takeaway
Article 282.
Examiner's Trap
Because they are 'statutory' and come from the national Parliament, students often falsely assume Article 275 grants must be distributed equally to ALL states. They also frequently assume that a government cannot fund something outside its legislative competence, misunderstanding the raw power of Article 282.
Core Insight
Article 282 acts as a massive financial loophole in the federal structure, allowing the Centre to fund and influence areas strictly within the State List (like public health or education) by classifying them as discretionary 'public purposes'.