Which of the following is not a generally accepted parameter for granting special status to a state in India?

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — C, 'Sizeable SC and ST population'. The parameters the National Development Council actually adopted in 1969 for Special Category Status speak of a sizeable share of TRIBAL population — Scheduled Castes were never part of the list. The accepted set is: (i) hilly and difficult terrain, (ii) low population density and/or sizeable tribal population, (iii) strategic location along borders with neighbouring countries, (iv) economic and infrastructural backwardness, and (v) non-viable nature of state finances. Options (a), (b) and (d) are lifted straight from that list; only (c) alters it by adding SC, so it is the odd one out.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) This IS a criterion — it is the first parameter on the accepted list, and the reason every north-eastern state plus Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand qualified.  (b) This IS a criterion — 'low population density and/or a sizeable share of tribal population' is a single accepted parameter. Many candidates wrongly rule this out because density sounds like a geography fact rather than a fiscal one.  (d) This IS a criterion — states bordering China, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Nepal or Pakistan qualified precisely on this strategic-location ground.

Concept: Special Category Status (SCS) was an administrative category, not a constitutional one. It was created in 1969 by the National Development Council, following the approach of the Fifth Finance Commission, to give structurally handicapped states more generous central plan assistance. Under the Gadgil (later Gadgil–Mukherjee) formula, SCS states received central plan assistance in a 90% grant : 10% loan mix, against a far less favourable grant-loan ratio for general category states, and a preferential share of the total plan pool.

State PCS 2025 Q6 — Indian Polity PYQ with Answer

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