Discretionary Public Purpose Expenditure by Union or States
Official heading: “Expenditure defrayable by the Union or a State out of its revenues”
- Source edition
- The Constitution of India (as on 1 May 2026)
- Source locator
- Part XII, Article 282, printed page 167
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1. In One Sentence
Authorizes the Union or a State to make grants for any public purpose, even if the purpose is not within its legislative competence.
2. What It Means in Everyday Language
Article 282 is a flexible financial spending provision that permits the Union or a State to spend money on any "public purpose", irrespective of Seventh Schedule legislative limits.
Under Article 282, the Union can make grants for subjects falling in the State List (such as health, agriculture, and rural development), and a State can spend money on matters outside its legislative competence, provided it serves a legitimate public purpose.
Historically, Article 282 was designed as a residual spending power for unforeseen emergencies.
Over the decades, however, it has become the primary constitutional vehicle for massive Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) such as national rural employment, health missions, and housing programs, prompting debates about federal spending discretion versus statutory Article 275 grants.
3. Practical Illustrative Example
The Central Government launches a nationwide drinking water or rural sanitation mission, transferring funds to state departments for execution.
4. Important Limits, Qualifications & Exceptions
Article 282 decouples public spending power from strict legislative list boundaries.
- Public purpose test: The sole constitutional requirement is that the expenditure must serve a public purpose.
- Extra-jurisdictional spending: Union can spend on State subjects, and States on Union subjects.
- Centrally Sponsored Schemes: Provides the legal underpinning for central developmental funding across state subjects.
5. Operative Constitutional Text
6. Sources & Historical Assembly Deliberations
Assembly quotations are withheld until wording, dates, and attribution have been checked against the primary record.
- •Government of India (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice) • Part XII, Article 282, printed page 167 • Human source-link check pending
Primary PDF accessed and transcribed with AI assistance on 14 October 2026. Formatting and amendment annotation markers are omitted; operative wording is retained. This is not human legal review. Later amendments and commencement notifications have not been comprehensively checked.