MPSC 2025 Prelims Paper-I · Question 76 of 100

Correct — option (4), Tripura, Jharkhand. Article 371 and its sub-articles (371A through 371J), grouped under Part XXI of the Constitution, grant special provisions to twelve specific States: Maharashtra and Gujarat under Article 371 itself (special responsibility of the Governor for the development of certain backward regions, such as Vidarbha and Marathwada, and Saurashtra and Kutch); Nagaland under Article 371A; Assam under Article 371B; Manipur under Article 371C; Andhra Pradesh and Telangana under Articles 371D and 371E; Sikkim under Article 371F; Mizoram under Article 371G; Arunachal Pradesh under Article 371H; Goa under Article 371I; and Karnataka under Article 371J (for the Hyderabad-Karnataka, now Kalyana-Karnataka, region). Tripura and Jharkhand do not appear anywhere in this list — neither State has a dedicated sub-article under Article 371 granting it any special constitutional status, despite Tripura being a northeastern State bordering several States that do have such provisions, and despite Jharkhand, like several Article 371-covered States, having a substantial tribal population. Because every other option here pairs at least one, and in most cases both, States that genuinely do have an Article 371 sub-article, only 'Tripura, Jharkhand' correctly identifies two States entirely outside this special-status list.

• (1)Nagaland, Assam — Both States named here do have special status under Article 371's sub-articles: Nagaland is covered by Article 371A, which requires the Assembly's resolution before Parliament can legislate on matters of Naga religious/social practice, customary law, or land ownership, and Assam is covered by Article 371B, which allows for a special Assembly committee for tribal areas. Naming both as 'without special status' is the opposite of the actual position for each.
• (2)Manipur, Sikkim — Both States named here also have dedicated special provisions: Manipur is covered by Article 371C, providing for a special Assembly committee for its Hill Areas along with the Governor's annual report to the President on hill-area administration, and Sikkim is covered by Article 371F, which sets special terms of accession, seat allocations and the survival of certain pre-merger Sikkim laws. Neither State lacks special status; this option again names two States that are actually included in Article 371's coverage.
• (3)Mizoram, Nagaland — Both States named here also carry Article 371 sub-articles: Mizoram is covered by Article 371G, similar in structure to Nagaland's Article 371A in shielding religious/social practices, customary law and land ownership from Parliamentary legislation without the Assembly's resolution, and Nagaland itself is covered by Article 371A, as already noted. As with the other distractors, this option names two States that are genuinely included in the special-status list, the opposite of what the question asks for.

Part XXI of the Constitution, titled 'Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions', contains Article 371 and a run of sub-articles, 371A to 371J, each tailored to the specific historical, social or administrative circumstances of a particular State at the time it was created or reorganised. These provisions vary considerably in what they actually do: some (371A for Nagaland, 371G for Mizoram) shield local religious and social practices, customary law and land ownership from ordinary Parliamentary legislation unless the State Assembly itself passes a resolution allowing it; others (371B for Assam, 371C for Manipur) provide for special Assembly committees to look after particular tribal or hill areas; others (371D for Andhra Pradesh/Telangana, 371J for Karnataka) address regional equity in public employment and education within a State; and the original Article 371 addresses the Governor's special responsibility for backward-region development in Maharashtra and Gujarat. In total, twelve States carry some form of Article 371 special provision: Maharashtra, Gujarat, Nagaland, Assam, Manipur, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Sikkim, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa and Karnataka. States created or reorganised outside this list — including Tripura and Jharkhand — were not given a corresponding special-status article, even where they share features, such as a significant tribal population or northeastern geography, with States that were.

MPSC's polity questions on Article 371 commonly test the full roster of covered States precisely because it is a long, easily confused list, and because a candidate's intuition ('northeastern State' or 'tribal-heavy State') can mislead them into assuming a State like Tripura or Jharkhand must be included simply because it resembles States that are. This question flips the usual 'which States are covered' framing to ask which States are excluded, testing whether a candidate has the complete twelve-State list memorised precisely enough to identify what is missing from it, rather than a partial or approximate list built on regional stereotypes.

• Article 371 and sub-articles 371A-371J grant special constitutional provisions to twelve States: Maharashtra, Gujarat, Nagaland, Assam, Manipur, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Sikkim, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa and Karnataka.
• Article 371A (Nagaland) and Article 371G (Mizoram) both shield religious/social practices, customary law and land ownership from Parliamentary legislation without the State Assembly's resolution.
• Article 371B (Assam) and Article 371C (Manipur) both provide for special Assembly committees addressing tribal or hill areas.
• Tripura and Jharkhand do not have any dedicated sub-article under Article 371, despite sharing regional or demographic features with States that do.
• These provisions sit in Part XXI of the Constitution, titled 'Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions'.

• Assuming a northeastern or tribal-majority State must automatically have Article 371 special status, when Tripura, despite being northeastern, does not
• Confusing Article 371 (State-specific special constitutional provisions) with the Sixth Schedule (autonomous tribal district councils), which are two separate protective mechanisms that can apply to different or overlapping States
• Losing track of which sub-article letter corresponds to which State among the long 371A-371J sequence
• Assuming Jharkhand, given its significant Scheduled Tribe population, must have an Article 371 provision analogous to Manipur's or Assam's, when it does not

MPSC polity questions on Article 371 often test the complete list of covered States by asking either which States are included or, as here, which are excluded, using plausible-sounding but actually-covered States as distractors to check whether a candidate has memorised the full twelve-State roster precisely rather than a rough regional impression.

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which Article of the Constitution provides special provisions for Nagaland, shielding religious and social practices, customary law and land ownership from Parliamentary legislation without the State Assembly's resolution ?

  • (a)Article 371A
  • (b)Article 371C
  • (c)Article 371F
  • (d)Article 371J

  Answer(a) Article 371A — this sub-article, specific to Nagaland, requires the State Assembly's resolution before Parliament can legislate on Naga religious/social practice, customary law, civil/criminal justice under customary law, or land ownership.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which of the following states carries special status under Article 371 and its sub-articles ?

  • (a)Tripura
  • (b)Jharkhand
  • (c)Sikkim
  • (d)Chhattisgarh

  Answer(c) Sikkim — Sikkim is covered by Article 371F, while Tripura, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh do not have any dedicated Article 371 sub-article.