Match List-I with List-II and select the answer using the code given below the Lists: List-I (Special provision in the Constitution of India) A. Article 371 B. Article 371-A C. Article 371-B D. Article 371-I List-II (State) 1. Nagaland 2. Gujarat 3. Assam 4. Goa Code :

Q: What is the answer to CDS (II) 2025 GK Q3?

C. Correct — C, A-2, B-1, C-3, D-4. Article 371 is the oldest of the group and covers two States together, Maharashtra and Gujarat: it obliges the Governor of each to take special responsibility for development boards — for Vidarbha, Marathwada and the rest of Maharashtra, and for Saurashtra, Kutch and the rest of Gujarat — and for an equitable spread of development spending and of technical training and employment opportunities. Of the four States in List-II only Gujarat is on that article, so A pairs with 2. Article 371-A, inserted by the Thirteenth Amendment in 1962 when Nagaland was created, is the Nagaland article: an Act of Parliament touching Naga religious or social practices, Naga customary law and procedure, the administration of civil and criminal justice where the decision follows Naga customary law, or ownership and transfer of land and its resources does not apply in the State unless the Legislative Assembly resolves that it shall. Article 371-B, inserted by the Twenty-second Amendment in 1969, is Assam's: the President may provide for a committee of the Assam Legislative Assembly made up of members elected from the State's tribal areas. Article 371-I is Goa's, and it does one narrow thing — it fixes the floor for the size of the Goa Legislative Assembly at thirty members. So B-1, C-3 and D-4 follow. (Provisional — pending the official UPSC key.)

(a)A-4, B-1, C-3, D-2
(b)A-4, B-3, C-1, D-2
(c)A-2, B-1, C-3, D-4
(d)A-2, B-3, C-1, D-4

Answer

Why

Correct — C, A-2, B-1, C-3, D-4. Article 371 is the oldest of the group and covers two States together, Maharashtra and Gujarat: it obliges the Governor of each to take special responsibility for development boards — for Vidarbha, Marathwada and the rest of Maharashtra, and for Saurashtra, Kutch and the rest of Gujarat — and for an equitable spread of development spending and of technical training and employment opportunities. Of the four States in List-II only Gujarat is on that article, so A pairs with 2. Article 371-A, inserted by the Thirteenth Amendment in 1962 when Nagaland was created, is the Nagaland article: an Act of Parliament touching Naga religious or social practices, Naga customary law and procedure, the administration of civil and criminal justice where the decision follows Naga customary law, or ownership and transfer of land and its resources does not apply in the State unless the Legislative Assembly resolves that it shall. Article 371-B, inserted by the Twenty-second Amendment in 1969, is Assam's: the President may provide for a committee of the Assam Legislative Assembly made up of members elected from the State's tribal areas. Article 371-I is Goa's, and it does one narrow thing — it fixes the floor for the size of the Goa Legislative Assembly at thirty members. So B-1, C-3 and D-4 follow.

Why the others are wrong

(a)A-4, B-1, C-3, D-2 — Gets Nagaland and Assam right but swaps the two ends, handing Article 371 to Goa and Article 371-I to Gujarat. Goa's article is 371-I, and it arrived only in 1987, decades after Article 371 itself.
(b)A-4, B-3, C-1, D-2 — Wrong on all four. It reverses the Nagaland and Assam pairing as well as swapping Gujarat and Goa.
(d)A-2, B-3, C-1, D-4 — Right about Gujarat and Goa, but flips the middle pair — it makes 371-A Assam's and 371-B Nagaland's. Article 371-A is the well-known Nagaland provision, and it is the single fastest check available in this question.

Concept

Part XXI of the Constitution carries temporary, transitional and special provisions, and Articles 371 to 371-J within it give particular States a tailored arrangement. Article 371 (Maharashtra and Gujarat) is about regional development boards. The lettered articles were added one at a time as States were created or as agreements were reached — 371-A Nagaland, 371-B Assam, 371-C Manipur, 371-D and 371-E Andhra Pradesh, 371-F Sikkim, 371-G Mizoram, 371-H Arunachal Pradesh, 371-I Goa and 371-J the Hyderabad-Karnataka region of Karnataka. They are not a graded scheme; each was negotiated for its own reasons and they differ sharply in strength.

The item looks like it needs four separate facts and in practice needs one. Article 371-A is the Nagaland provision, the strongest in the whole series and the one that appears in every syllabus discussion of asymmetric federalism, so B-1 should be automatic — and fixing B alone eliminates options (b) and (d). Between the two survivors the question becomes whether A is Gujarat or Goa, and the tell is that Article 371 without a letter is the original 1956 provision made when the bilingual Bombay State was reorganised, which cannot possibly concern Goa; Goa did not become a State until 1987, and its article carries the late letter I to match. The useful contrast to carry away is how uneven the series is: 371-A gives the Nagaland Assembly a veto over Parliament on four named subjects, while 371-I merely sets a minimum size for an assembly. Article 371-G does for Mizoram roughly what 371-A does for Nagaland, but with land only — its fourth item is ownership and transfer of land, without the words 'and its resources' that Nagaland's article carries.

Key facts

Article 371 makes special provision for Maharashtra and Gujarat, requiring each Governor to take special responsibility for development boards and for the equitable spread of development spending, technical education and employment.
Article 371-A was inserted by the Thirteenth Amendment in 1962; Parliament's Acts on Naga religious and social practices, Naga customary law and procedure, justice administered under that law, and ownership and transfer of land and its resources apply in Nagaland only if the State Assembly so resolves.
Article 371-B was inserted by the Twenty-second Amendment in 1969 and lets the President provide for a committee of the Assam Legislative Assembly consisting of members elected from the State's tribal areas.
Article 371-I provides that the Legislative Assembly of Goa shall consist of not less than thirty members; Goa became a State in 1987.
The series now runs to Article 371-J, added in 2012 for the Hyderabad-Karnataka region of Karnataka.

Study next

Article 371-A and Article 371-G side by side — where the Nagaland and Mizoram wordings differArticle 371-D and the Andhra Pradesh Administrative Tribunal, the only article of the series to create a tribunalArticle 371-F and the terms on which Sikkim joined the Union in 1975The Fifth and Sixth Schedules, and how they differ from the Part XXI special provisionsAsymmetric federalism in India — why identical constitutional status does not mean identical arrangements

Common traps

Assuming the lettered articles run in the order the States were created; they do not, and 371-B for Assam predates 371-F for Sikkim by six years.
Reading Article 371 as belonging to one State. It covers Maharashtra and Gujarat together.
Carrying Nagaland's phrase 'land and its resources' over to Mizoram's Article 371-G, which covers ownership and transfer of land only.

Usually as a match between an article of the 371 series and a State, or as a statements item on which subjects a particular State's assembly can veto Parliament on.

Related PYQs

NDA_GAT_2024_I_Q582024Open & attempt →

Under Article 371A of the Constitution of India, with respect to which of the following item(s) the Acts of the Parliament of India shall not apply to the State of Nagaland, unless the Legislative Assembly of the State of Nagaland by a resolution so decides? 1. Religious or social practices of Nagas 2. Naga customary law and procedure 3. Ownership and transfer of land and its resources 4. Boundaries of Nagaland with other states Select the answer using the code given below:

(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1, 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

Answer(c) 1, 2 and 3 only

The contents of the very article this question pairs with Nagaland. Three subjects are protected plus the administration of justice under Naga customary law; State boundaries are not, since they are altered by Parliament under Article 3.

CDS_GK_2024_II_Q462024Open & attempt →

As per Article 371G of the Constitution of India, special provisions have been made with respect to the state of Mizoram. Accordingly, no Act of Parliament shall apply on certain matters unless the Legislative Assembly of Mizoram so decides by a resolution. Which one of the following matters is not covered under this Article?

(a) Religious or social practices of the Mizos
(b) Mizo customary law and procedure
(c) Administration of civil and criminal justice involving decisions according to Mizo customary law
(d) Ownership and transfer of natural resources

Answer(d) Ownership and transfer of natural resources

The neighbouring article, and the reason the wordings repay careful reading. Mizoram's fourth protected subject is ownership and transfer of land; Nagaland's under Article 371-A is ownership and transfer of land and its resources, so the phrase 'natural resources' is the giveaway there.

Practice

practice — not a real PYQ
Special provision with respect to the State of Sikkim is made in which one of the following articles of the Constitution of India?
- (a)Article 371-C
- (b)Article 371-D
- (c)Article 371-F
- (d)Article 371-H
Answer(c) Article 371-F — inserted when Sikkim joined the Union in 1975. Article 371-C is Manipur's, 371-D is Andhra Pradesh's and 371-H is Arunachal Pradesh's.
practice — not a real PYQ
Under Article 371 of the Constitution of India, the special responsibility of the Governor relates to which one of the following?
- (a)Establishment of separate development boards for specified regions
- (b)Reservation of seats in the State Legislative Assembly
- (c)Approval of Acts of Parliament before they apply in the State
- (d)Appointment of members of the State Public Service Commission
Answer(a) Establishment of separate development boards for specified regions — for Vidarbha, Marathwada and the rest of Maharashtra, and for Saurashtra, Kutch and the rest of Gujarat.