Which pair is not correctly matched?

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — C, Administration of scheduled areas - 6th schedule. This is the mismatched pair, and it is the one BPSC itself explained when it disposed of candidate objections on 31 October 2025: administration of Scheduled Areas comes under the Fifth Schedule. Check it against the Constitution's own headings. The Fifth Schedule is headed 'Provisions as to the Administration and Control of Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes' and is issued under Article 244(1). The Sixth Schedule is headed 'Provisions as to the Administration of Tribal Areas in the States of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram' and is issued under Articles 244(2) and 275(1). Two different phrases, two different schedules: Scheduled Areas belong to the Fifth, Tribal Areas of those four north-eastern States to the Sixth. The Constitution does not leave the boundary to inference — paragraph 1 of the Fifth Schedule states that in that Schedule the expression 'State' does not include the States of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram, so the four Sixth Schedule States are expressly carved out of the Fifth. The other three pairs are all correct as printed, which is what makes the question fair. The Fourth Schedule is headed 'Allocation of seats in the Council of States', so option (a) holds. The Third Schedule is headed 'Forms of Oaths or Affirmations' and carries the oath forms for Ministers, legislators, judges and the Comptroller and Auditor-General, so option (b) holds. The Seventh Schedule contains List I the Union List, List II the State List and List III the Concurrent List, so option (d) holds. Note also what the two tribal schedules actually do, because that is the substance behind the labels. Under the Fifth Schedule the Governor of every State having Scheduled Areas reports annually, or whenever the President requires, to the President on their administration, and the Union's executive power extends to giving the State directions on it; a Tribes Advisory Council of not more than twenty members, three-fourths of them Scheduled Tribe members of the State Legislative Assembly, advises the Governor; and 'Scheduled Areas' are those the President declares by order. The Sixth Schedule instead creates autonomous districts and autonomous regions with elected District and Regional Councils holding their own legislative, judicial and financial powers. Fifth Schedule equals gubernatorial and presidential oversight; Sixth Schedule equals self-governing councils.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) Correctly matched, so it cannot be the answer. The Fourth Schedule is headed 'Allocation of seats in the Council of States' and tabulates how many Rajya Sabha seats each State and Union territory gets. The most common way candidates lose this one is by confusing it with the Second Schedule, which deals with the emoluments and allowances of the President, Governors, presiding officers, judges and the CAG.  (b) Correctly matched. The Third Schedule is headed 'Forms of Oaths or Affirmations' and prints the actual texts sworn by Union and State Ministers, by candidates and members of Parliament and State legislatures, and by judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts and the Comptroller and Auditor-General. Only the President's and Governors' oaths sit elsewhere, in Articles 60 and 159 themselves.  (d) Correctly matched, and the pair a candidate is likeliest to be sure of. The Seventh Schedule is the three-list schedule read with Article 246 — List I the Union List, List II the State List, List III the Concurrent List. Because it is so familiar it is usually eliminated first, which is exactly why an examiner puts it in a not-correctly-matched question: it costs nothing and speeds the candidate toward the real decision between the Fifth and Sixth.

Concept: The Constitution originally carried eight Schedules; there are now twelve, and each is a body of detail lifted out of the articles so the text of the articles stays readable. Every Schedule is anchored to an article, and knowing the anchor is often faster than memorising the list: the First (States and Union territories) to Articles 1 and 4; the Second (emoluments of the President, Governors, presiding officers, judges and the CAG) to several articles including 59, 65 and 125; the Third (Forms of Oaths or Affirmations) to Articles 75, 84, 99, 124, 148, 164, 188 and 219; the Fourth (allocation of Rajya Sabha seats) to Articles 4 and 80; the Fifth to Article 244(1); the Sixth to Articles 244(2) and 275(1); the Seventh to Article 246; the Eighth (languages) to Articles 344 and 351; the Ninth (validation of certain Acts and Regulations) added by the First Amendment in 1951 and anchored to Article 31B; the Tenth (disqualification on ground of defection) added by the 52nd Amendment in 1985; and the Eleventh and Twelfth, added by the 73rd and 74th Amendments in 1992, listing the subjects that may be entrusted to Panchayats under Article 243G and to Municipalities under Article 243W. The Fifth and Sixth are the pair examiners return to most, because both concern tribal administration and both are named after a kind of area — but they run on opposite principles. The Fifth keeps administration with the State's Governor under presidential supervision; the Sixth devolves it to elected autonomous councils.

State PCS 2025 Q60 — Polity & Governance PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2025 Q60 — Polity & Governance PYQ with Answer