In which Article of the Indian Constitution is there a provision of reservation of seats for Scheduled Tribes in the State Assembly?

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — B, Article 332. It provides for the reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assembly of every State (with a special arrangement for the Scheduled Tribes of the autonomous districts of Assam). The number of seats reserved bears, as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the total number of seats in the Assembly as the SC/ST population of the State bears to its total population — which is why Madhya Pradesh, with a large tribal population, has 47 of its 230 Assembly seats reserved for STs.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) Article 339 deals with Union control over the administration of Scheduled Areas and the welfare of Scheduled Tribes — including a Commission appointed by the President to report on their administration. It creates no reserved seats.  (c) Article 334 does not create the reservation — it only fixes how long it lasts. The 104th Amendment (2019) extended SC/ST reservation in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies up to 25 January 2030 and discontinued the nomination of Anglo-Indians.  (d) Article 243D reserves seats for SCs, STs and women in Panchayats — local bodies under Part IX — not in the State Legislative Assembly. (The parallel provision for municipalities is Article 243T.)

Concept: Political reservation in India sits in a small, learnable cluster of Articles: 330 reserves seats for SCs and STs in the Lok Sabha, 332 does the same in the State Legislative Assemblies, and 334 fixes the time limit for both. Below the State level, 243D covers Panchayats and 243T covers Municipalities. Crucially, there is no reservation of seats in the Rajya Sabha or in State Legislative Councils, because those Houses are not filled by direct election from territorial constituencies.

State PCS 2025 Q45 — Indian Polity PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2025 Q45 — Indian Polity PYQ with Answer