UPPSC 2019 Prelims GS Paper-I · Question 146 of 150

Correct — A, Tripura. The Sixth Schedule, read with Article 244(2) and Article 275(1), provides a distinct system of government for the tribal areas of exactly four states — Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. In those areas the ordinary machinery of state administration is replaced or supplemented by Autonomous District Councils and Regional Councils, which are elected bodies empowered to legislate on land, forests other than reserved forests, shifting cultivation, village administration, inheritance of property, marriage and divorce and social customs, and to constitute village courts to try disputes between members of Scheduled Tribes — all subject to the Governor's assent. Tripura's tribal areas are administered by the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council, brought under the Sixth Schedule by a constitutional amendment in 1984. Of the three states named in the options, only Tripura is on that list, so the answer is (a).

• (b)Sikkim — Sikkim is not a Sixth Schedule state. Its special constitutional treatment comes from Article 371F, inserted by the Constitution (Thirty-sixth Amendment) Act, 1975, when Sikkim became a full-fledged State of the Union — a saving-and-transition provision, not a tribal-areas provision. Sikkim has no Autonomous District Council under the Sixth Schedule.
• (c)Nagaland — Nagaland is protected by Article 371A, inserted by the Constitution (Thirteenth Amendment) Act, 1962. Under it, no Act of Parliament on Naga religious or social practices, Naga customary law and procedure, the administration of civil and criminal justice involving Naga customary law, or ownership and transfer of land and its resources applies to Nagaland unless the Legislative Assembly so decides by resolution. That is a different constitutional device from the Sixth Schedule — protection through a special Article rather than through Autonomous District Councils.
• (d)All of the above — Wrong because two of the three states listed are outside the Sixth Schedule altogether. 'All of the above' is only right if Sikkim and Nagaland also had Sixth Schedule areas, and they do not — they are covered by Articles 371F and 371A respectively.

The Constitution protects tribal populations through two different chapters of Article 244. The Fifth Schedule (Article 244(1)) governs 'Scheduled Areas' and Scheduled Tribes in every state except the four north-eastern ones; there the Governor makes regulations, reports annually to the President and is advised by a Tribes Advisory Council. The Sixth Schedule (Article 244(2)) governs the 'tribal areas' of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram; there the tribal population itself governs through elected Autonomous District Councils with legislative, judicial, executive and financial powers, including the power to levy certain taxes and to receive grants-in-aid under Article 275(1). A third, quite separate device is Part XXI of the Constitution — the Article 371 series — which gives named states individually tailored special provisions.

The trap is the assumption that 'north-eastern state' and 'Sixth Schedule state' mean the same thing. They do not. Only four of the eight north-eastern states have Sixth Schedule areas: Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim are outside it, each handled by an Article 371 provision instead. Learn the four-state list as a block — 'A-M-T-M' — and the moment an option offers Nagaland or Sikkim, the 'All of the above' choice collapses with it.

• The Sixth Schedule, under Article 244(2) and Article 275(1), applies to the tribal areas of only four states: Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.
• There are ten Autonomous District Councils under the Schedule — three each in Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram, and one in Tripura (the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council).
• Autonomous District Councils may make laws on land, forests other than reserved forests, shifting cultivation, village administration, inheritance, marriage and divorce and social customs, with the Governor's assent, and may run village courts for disputes among Scheduled Tribes.
• Nagaland's protection comes from Article 371A (Thirteenth Amendment, 1962) and Sikkim's from Article 371F (Thirty-sixth Amendment, 1975); Mizoram additionally has Article 371G besides its Sixth Schedule areas.
• The Fifth Schedule (Article 244(1)) covers Scheduled Areas in the rest of India, working through the Governor, a Tribes Advisory Council and an annual report to the President — not through elected district councils.

• Assuming every north-eastern state is a Sixth Schedule state — Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim are not.
• Mixing up the Fifth Schedule (Scheduled Areas, rest of India, Governor-led) with the Sixth Schedule (tribal areas of four north-eastern states, council-led).
• Treating Article 371A or 371F as if they were Sixth Schedule provisions; they sit in Part XXI of the Constitution and work quite differently.

UPPSC asks the list directly — which state, which Schedule, which pair is not correctly matched; UPSC prefers the purpose and consequence, as in 2015 when it asked what the Fifth and Sixth Schedules were made in order to achieve.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which one of the following states does NOT have any area covered by the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India?

  • (a)Assam
  • (b)Meghalaya
  • (c)Manipur
  • (d)Mizoram

  Answer(c) Manipur — the Sixth Schedule applies only to the tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. Manipur's hill areas are administered under a different arrangement, not the Sixth Schedule.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The special provisions with respect to the State of Nagaland, under which no Act of Parliament relating to Naga customary law or to ownership and transfer of land applies unless the State Legislative Assembly so decides, are contained in

  • (a)Article 244(2)
  • (b)Article 371A
  • (c)Article 371F
  • (d)the Sixth Schedule

  Answer(b) Article 371A — inserted by the Thirteenth Amendment Act, 1962. Article 371F is Sikkim's provision, and Article 244(2) with the Sixth Schedule covers Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.