Which region of the country was conferred special status under Article 371-J of the Constitution of India?
- (a)Nagaland
- (b)Hyderabad and Karnataka
- (c)Maharashtra and Gujarat
- (d)Ladakh
Correct — B, Hyderabad and Karnataka. Article 371-J was inserted by the 98th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2012, to give special status to the Hyderabad-Karnataka region (renamed Kalyana-Karnataka in 2019). It provides for a separate development board and reservation in education and State-government jobs for the region's six districts — Kalaburagi (Gulbarga), Bidar, Yadgir, Raichur, Koppal and Ballari (Bellary).
- (a)Nagaland — Nagaland's special provisions are under Article 371-A (protection of Naga religious/social practices, customary law and land), not 371-J.
- (c)Maharashtra and Gujarat — These are covered by the plain Article 371 — special responsibility of the Governors and development boards for Vidarbha/Marathwada and Saurashtra/Kutch — not by 371-J.
- (d)Ladakh — Ladakh has no Article 371 provision; it became a Union Territory in 2019 through the reorganisation of Jammu & Kashmir, a wholly different constitutional route.
Articles 371 to 371-J are 'special provisions' for particular States or regions, each added at a different time for a specific local need. Article 371-J (2012) is distinctive because it targets a backward region within a State — the Hyderabad-Karnataka area — with a statutory development board and quotas in education and public employment to correct regional imbalance.
The '-J' suffix plus the word 'region' (not a whole State) point to Hyderabad-Karnataka. Separate it from 371-A (Nagaland) and the plain Article 371 (Maharashtra/Gujarat). Ladakh is a distractor drawn from a different constitutional event — the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.
- Article 371-J inserted by the 98th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2012
- Covers the Hyderabad-Karnataka region (renamed Kalyana-Karnataka, 2019)
- Six districts: Kalaburagi, Bidar, Yadgir, Raichur, Koppal, Ballari
- Provides a development board plus reservation in education and State jobs
- Confusing the plain Article 371 (Maharashtra/Gujarat) with 371-J
- Assuming any 'special status' region must be in the North-East
Article-to-State/region matching from the 371 series — memorise the suffix map (A = Nagaland … J = Hyderabad-Karnataka).
Consider the following statements: 1. Articles 371A to 371I were inserted in the Constitution of India to meet regional demands of Nagaland, Assam, Manipur, Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Goa. 2. Constitution of India and the United States of America can envisage a dual policy (the Union and the States) but a single citizenship. 3. A naturalized citizen of India can never be deprived of his citizenship. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1, 2 and 3
- (b) 1 and 3
- (c) 3 only
- (d) 1 only
Answer(d) 1 only
Same concept — the Article 371 series of special constitutional provisions for particular States/regions; Article 371-J (Hyderabad-Karnataka) in this question belongs to that same family.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Article 371-J of the Constitution provides special provisions for which region?
- (a)Bundelkhand
- (b)Hyderabad-Karnataka (Kalyana-Karnataka)
- (c)Saurashtra
- (d)Bodoland
Answer(b) Hyderabad-Karnataka — added by the 98th Amendment, 2012.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The special provision under Article 371-A relates to which State?
- (a)Assam
- (b)Nagaland
- (c)Manipur
- (d)Sikkim
Answer(b) Nagaland — Article 371-A protects Naga customary law, land and social/religious practices.