How many seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes in the Lok Sabha?

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — D, 84. Of the 543 elected seats in the Lok Sabha, 84 are reserved for the Scheduled Castes and 47 for the Scheduled Tribes under Article 330 of the Constitution. The number of reserved seats is fixed in proportion to the SC/ST population of each state, and the present figures were set by the delimitation order based on the 2001 Census. So 84 is the SC total across the country.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) Does not match the SC reservation — the correct total is 84; 59 corresponds to no standard reserved-seat figure for the Lok Sabha.  (b) Incorrect — the SC reserved total is 84, not 69.  (c) Incorrect — close to but not the SC figure; the reserved SC seats number 84 (47 seats are reserved for Scheduled Tribes).  (d) This is the correct option, not a distractor.

Concept: The Constitution reserves Lok Sabha seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes under Article 330 (a parallel provision, Article 332, does the same for State Legislative Assemblies). Reservation means the seat can only be contested by SC (or ST) candidates, though all voters in that constituency vote. The number of reserved seats in each state is proportional to that state's SC/ST share of the population and is fixed by the Delimitation Commission — currently 84 SC and 47 ST out of 543 elected Lok Sabha seats.

State PCS 2018 Q44 — Indian Polity PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2018 Q44 — Indian Polity PYQ with Answer