Special Provisions for Certain Classes & Some States (Art 371) — UPSC Polity

Specifying SCs, STs, OBCs & Anglo-Indians

🎯 Exam priority: Foundational. Tested occasionally — two facts anchor this chapter: the 102nd-to-105th Amendment sequence on who specifies OBCs, and the sharp contrast between SC/ST reservation (extended to 2030) and Anglo-Indian nomination (discontinued in 2020, not extended at all).

To realise the Preamble's equality and justice goals, Part XVI (Articles 330-342A) makes special provisions for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), Backward Classes (BCs) and the Anglo-Indian community — covering legislative reservation/representation, service reservation, educational grants, and dedicated National Commissions and investigative Commissions. These provisions split two ways: permanent vs temporary (some run indefinitely, others for a fixed period), and protective vs developmental (shielding from injustice, versus actively promoting socio-economic interests).

Specifying SCs, STs, OBCs & Anglo-Indians

• The Constitution never names which castes/tribes count as SC or ST — the President specifies this per state/UT (consulting the Governor for states), and only Parliament — never a later Presidential notification — can subsequently add or remove an entry. OBC specification followed a genuinely important two-step amendment sequence: the 102nd Amendment (2018) first let the President specify socially/educationally backward classes per state/UT; the 105th Amendment (2021) then modified this — the President now specifies OBCs only for a Central List (for Central Government purposes), while each state/UT independently maintains its own list, by law, which may genuinely differ from the Central List.

• Unlike SC/ST/OBC, the Constitution does define "Anglo-Indian" precisely: a person whose father or any male-line ancestor was of European descent, but who is domiciled in India, born there to parents habitually resident (not merely temporarily present) in the country.

Special Provisions for SCs & STs

SC/ST protections run through legislatures, public employment and a dedicated National Commission each — with the legislature-reservation clock having been reset seven separate times since 1950.

Special Provisions for SCs & STs

• Reservation in legislatures (Lok Sabha and state Assemblies, by population ratio) was originally meant to last just ten years (to 1960) — but Parliament has repeatedly extended it, ten years at a time:

• Article 335 requires SC/ST claims to be considered in Centre/state service appointments, without sacrificing administrative efficiency; the 82nd Amendment (2000) added a further provision permitting relaxed qualifying marks/evaluation standards specifically for SC/ST promotion reservation.

• The President must set up a National Commission for SCs (Article 338) and a separate National Commission for STs (Article 338A), each investigating constitutional-safeguard matters and reporting to Parliament with an action-taken memorandum. Originally a single combined Commission, the 89th Amendment (2003) split it into these two dedicated bodies.

• On Article 339 (Union control over Scheduled Areas administration and ST welfare) — including the President's compulsory ten-year commission requirement, and the Dhebar Commission (1960-61) and Bhuria Commission (2002-04) that resulted — this article builds directly on the fuller account already covered in this playlist's Fifth/Sixth Schedule article.

Special Provisions for BCs & Anglo-Indians

BCs and Anglo-Indians follow a genuinely different pattern from SCs/STs — one gaining constitutional status only recently, the other losing its special legislative representation entirely.

Special Provisions for BCs & Anglo-Indians

• The National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) began life in 1993, set up by an ordinary Act of Parliament — only the 102nd Amendment (2018) gave it constitutional status, inserting Article 338B. Separately, Article 340 lets the President appoint a commission to investigate BC conditions and recommend improvements, reporting to Parliament. Two such commissions have been appointed: the first (1953), under Kaka Kalelkar, reported in 1955 — but its recommendations went unactioned, seen as vague and impractical, with sharp internal disagreement on the very criterion of "backwardness." The second (1979), chaired by B.P. Mandal, reported in 1980 — the now-famous Mandal Commission — whose recommendations also sat unimplemented until the V.P. Singh Government announced 27% reservation in government jobs for OBCs in 1990.

• Anglo-Indian representation followed the SC/ST pattern for decades — before 2020, the President nominated two Anglo-Indian members to the Lok Sabha (if inadequately represented), and each state Governor nominated one to the state Assembly, on the same repeatedly-extended ten-year cycle (last extended to 2020 by the 95th Amendment, 2009). But here the pattern breaks sharply: unlike SC/ST reservation, the 104th Amendment (2019) did not extend this provision — Anglo-Indian nomination simply ceased on 25 January 2020. Separately, pre-independence job reservations (railways, customs, postal/telegraph services) and special educational grants for Anglo-Indians were both phased out entirely by 1960. The National Commission for SCs also investigates Anglo-Indian community safeguards, exactly as it does for SCs.

Article 371 Series — Maharashtra, Gujarat, Nagaland & the Tuensang Regime

Part XXI's Article 371 series carves out genuinely distinct constitutional treatment for twelve states — starting with two development-board states, and Nagaland's uniquely elaborate regime.

Article 371 Series — Maharashtra, Gujarat, Nagaland & the Tuensang Regime

• Article 371 (Maharashtra & Gujarat): the President may give the Governors special responsibility for separate development boards (Vidarbha, Marathwada and the rest of Maharashtra; Saurashtra, Kutch and the rest of Gujarat) — with annual Assembly reports, equitable development-fund allocation, and equitable technical-education/employment provisions for these regions.

• Article 371A (Nagaland, 13th Amendment, 1962) is unusually elaborate. Parliamentary Acts on Naga religious/social practices, customary law and procedure, customary-law-based civil/criminal justice, and land ownership/transfer don't apply to Nagaland unless the state Assembly agrees. The Governor holds special responsibility for law and order so long as Naga-related internal disturbances continue — exercised in the Governor's own individual judgment (final, after consulting the Council of Ministers), lasting until the President ends it. A 35-member Regional Council governs the Tuensang district specifically — and for ten years from Nagaland's formation (extendable on the Council's recommendation), Tuensang runs under a distinct sub-regime: Governor-administered, with its own equitable-fund distribution, Nagaland-Assembly Acts applying only if the Governor directs, Governor-made Regulations that can even override Parliament's own laws there, a dedicated Minister for Tuensang Affairs, and Assembly members from Tuensang chosen by the Regional Council rather than direct election.

Article 371 Series — Assam, Manipur, Andhra Pradesh/Telangana & Sikkim

Assam, Manipur, undivided Andhra Pradesh, and Sikkim's own path to statehood each carry genuinely distinct constitutional machinery.

Article 371 Series — Assam, Manipur, Andhra Pradesh/Telangana & Sikkim

• Article 371B (Assam, 22nd Amendment, 1969) lets the President create a special Assembly committee drawn from members elected from Assam's Tribal Areas (its Sixth Schedule areas — North Cachar Hills, Karbi Anglong and Bodoland Territorial Areas). Article 371C (Manipur, 27th Amendment, 1971) similarly creates an Assembly committee for Manipur's Hill Areas, with the Governor bearing special responsibility for its functioning, an annual report to the President, and Central directions to the state government on Hill Areas administration.

• Articles 371D and 371E (Andhra Pradesh, 32nd Amendment, 1973; extended to Telangana via the 2014 Reorganisation Act): the President ensures equitable public-employment and education opportunities across the state's different parts — through local cadres, direct local-area recruitment, and reservation/preference rules — and may set up a state Administrative Tribunal for civil-post appointment/promotion disputes, functioning outside the High Court's purview, with only the Supreme Court retaining jurisdiction (the President can abolish this tribunal once satisfied it's no longer needed). Article 371E separately empowers Parliament to establish a Central University in Andhra Pradesh.

• Article 371F (Sikkim, 36th Amendment, 1975) accompanied Sikkim's transformation into a full state: an Assembly of at least 30 members; a single Lok Sabha seat forming one Parliamentary constituency; Parliament's power to reserve Assembly seats (and delimit constituencies) protecting different Sikkimese population sections; the Governor's special, discretionary (President-directed) responsibility for peace and equitable socio-economic advancement; and the President's power to extend any other state's law to Sikkim, with modifications.

Article 371 Series — Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa & Karnataka

The final four states in this series range from the strikingly minimal (Goa) to the newest addition of all (Karnataka, added only in 2012) — closing with a full side-by-side reference.

Article 371 Series — Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa & Karnataka

• Article 371G (Mizoram, 53rd Amendment, 1986) mirrors Nagaland's protections: Parliamentary Acts on Mizo religious/social practices, customary law, customary-law-based justice, and land ownership don't apply unless the state Assembly agrees; its Assembly must have at least 40 members. Article 371H (Arunachal Pradesh, 55th Amendment, 1986) mirrors Nagaland's Governor's individual-judgment law-and-order responsibility, with an Assembly of at least 30 members. Article 371-I (Goa, 56th Amendment, 1987) is the simplest of all — it only fixes Goa's Assembly at a minimum of 30 members.

• Article 371J (Karnataka, 98th Amendment, 2012) — the newest addition to this series — gives Karnataka's Governor special responsibility for the Hyderabad-Karnataka region (six backward northern districts: Gulbarga, Bidar, Raichur, Koppal, Yadgir and Bellary): a dedicated development board, annual Assembly reports, equitable development funding, and reservation in regional educational/vocational institutions and state government posts for people from the region. This followed 2010 resolutions by both Houses of the Karnataka legislature seeking exactly such special treatment to reduce the region's inter-district and inter-regional disparities.

Further Reading

• Standard NCERT-level texts and reference books on the Indian Constitution and Polity (any UPSC reading list).

• The Constitution of India — Part XVI (Articles 330-342A) and Part XXI (Articles 371-371J).

Why UPSC Asks This

• The 102nd-to-105th Amendment OBC sequence — Central List vs each state/UT's own list — is exactly the kind of "what changed, and how" detail Prelims tests precisely.

• SC/ST reservation's extension to 2030 versus Anglo-Indian nomination's outright 2020 discontinuation is the sharpest single contrast in this chapter.

• Nagaland's and Mizoram's near-identical customary-law-protection design (needing state Assembly consent to override) versus Nagaland's and Arunachal Pradesh's near-identical Governor's-individual-judgment law-and-order design — is a genuinely useful "spot the shared pattern" study technique.

Test Yourself: Practice Questions & PYQs

Special Provisions for Certain Classes & Some States practice — SC/ST/OBC/Anglo-Indian specification and legislature-reservation history, the National Commissions and BC Commissions, and the full Article 371 series across all twelve states, including Nagaland's Tuensang regime and Karnataka's newest addition. Then Prelims-pattern PYQs.

Practice Questions

Q1. The lists of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in a state can be modified by:

• (a) The National Commission for SCs or STs directly

• (b) The concerned state's Governor

• (c) A fresh Presidential notification at any time

• (d) Parliament alone, not by a subsequent Presidential notification

Q2. The 105th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2021 modified the 102nd Amendment Act, 2018's provision on OBCs by providing that:

• (a) OBC identification is frozen permanently at 2018 levels

• (b) The President specifies OBCs only for a Central List, while states/UTs may maintain their own separate list by law

• (c) Only the Supreme Court can identify backward classes

• (d) States lose all power to identify their own backward classes

Q3. Reservation of seats for SCs and STs in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies has been extended, most recently by the 104th Amendment Act, 2019, until:

• (a) 2050

• (b) 2025

• (c) 2020

• (d) 2030

Q4. The 82nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 2000 specifically permits which of the following for SCs and STs?

• (a) Reservation in all foreign service postings

• (b) Relaxed qualifying marks or evaluation standards for reservation in promotion to public services

• (c) Reservation only in private-sector employment

• (d) Reservation in the judiciary alone

Q5. The National Commission for SCs and the National Commission for STs were originally a single combined body, split into two separate Commissions by:

• (a) The 102nd Amendment Act, 2018

• (b) The 89th Amendment Act, 2003

• (c) The 73rd Amendment Act, 1992

• (d) The 44th Amendment Act, 1978

Q6. The National Commission for Backward Classes, originally set up in 1993 by an ordinary Act of Parliament, was given constitutional status by inserting Article 338B through:

• (a) The 89th Amendment Act, 2003

• (b) The 93rd Amendment Act, 2005

• (c) The 102nd Amendment Act, 2018

• (d) The 105th Amendment Act, 2021

Q7. The Mandal Commission's recommendation of 27% reservation for OBCs in government jobs was implemented in 1990 by the government headed by:

• (a) Rajiv Gandhi

• (b) Morarji Desai

• (c) P.V. Narasimha Rao

• (d) V.P. Singh

Q8. Special representation for the Anglo-Indian community in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies by nomination:

• (a) Ceased to have effect on 25 January 2020, as the 104th Amendment did not extend it further

• (b) Continues to operate today, extended till 2030 like SC/ST reservation

• (c) Never existed in the Constitution

• (d) Was made permanent by the 95th Amendment Act, 2009

Q9. Under Article 371A, Acts of Parliament relating to Naga religious/social practices, customary law, and land ownership apply to Nagaland only if:

• (a) The State Legislative Assembly so decides

• (b) The Supreme Court gives its consent

• (c) The President specifically directs so

• (d) The Governor issues a proclamation

Q10. The Regional Council established for the Tuensang district of Nagaland under Article 371A consists of:

• (a) 21 members

• (b) 30 members

• (c) 25 members

• (d) 35 members

Q11. Article 371D, providing for equitable employment/education opportunities and an Administrative Tribunal, originally applied to Andhra Pradesh and was extended to Telangana by:

• (a) The 98th Amendment Act, 2012

• (b) The 42nd Amendment Act, 1976

• (c) The 32nd Amendment Act, 1973 directly

• (d) The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014

Q12. Article 371J, providing special provisions for the Hyderabad-Karnataka region, was inserted into the Constitution by:

• (a) The 89th Amendment Act, 2003

• (b) The 56th Amendment Act, 1987

• (c) The 98th Amendment Act, 2012

• (d) The 104th Amendment Act, 2019

UPSC Previous Year Questions (PYQs)

Pattern: SC/ST specification vs the 102nd-to-105th Amendment OBC sequence; the seven-amendment reservation-extension history and its 2030 endpoint; Anglo-Indian nomination's 2020 discontinuation as a sharp contrast; Kaka Kalelkar vs Mandal Commission outcomes; each Article 371-series state's distinguishing provision and enabling Amendment; Tuensang's 35-member Regional Council.

Q13. Consider the following statements: (1) Reservation of seats for SCs and STs in legislatures has been extended until 2030. (2) Special representation for the Anglo-Indian community in legislatures was similarly extended until 2030 by the same amendment. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

• (a) Neither 1 nor 2

• (b) Both 1 and 2

• (c) 2 only

• (d) 1 only

Q14. Consider the following statements regarding Article 371D: (1) It originally applied to the undivided state of Andhra Pradesh. (2) It was extended to the state of Telangana following its creation in 2014. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

• (a) Both 1 and 2

• (b) 1 only

• (c) 2 only

• (d) Neither 1 nor 2

Q15. With reference to Sikkim's special constitutional provisions under Article 371F, consider the following statements: (1) Sikkim became a full-fledged state of the Indian Union through the 36th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1975. (2) The Sikkim Legislative Assembly must consist of not less than 30 members. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

• (a) Neither 1 nor 2

• (b) 1 only

• (c) Both 1 and 2

• (d) 2 only

Q16. Consider the following statements: (1) Under Article 371A, the Governor of Nagaland's special responsibility for law and order is exercised in the Governor's individual judgment. (2) Under Article 371H, the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh's special responsibility for law and order follows a similar individual-judgment pattern. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

• (a) 1 only

• (b) Both 1 and 2

• (c) Neither 1 nor 2

• (d) 2 only

Q17. Consider the following statements about the two Backward Classes Commissions appointed under Article 340: (1) The recommendations of the first Commission, chaired by Kaka Kalelkar, were acted upon immediately after its 1955 report. (2) The recommendations of the second Commission, chaired by B.P. Mandal, were implemented in 1990. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

• (a) 2 only

• (b) Both 1 and 2

• (c) Neither 1 nor 2

• (d) 1 only

Q18. Among the Article 371-series provisions, which was the most recently inserted into the Constitution?

• (a) Article 371G for Mizoram (1986)

• (b) Article 371F for Sikkim (1975)

• (c) Article 371-I for Goa (1987)

• (d) Article 371J for Karnataka (2012)

Mains Practice Questions

Use these to frame full-length answers. You don't have to answer one exactly — they show the angles UPSC tests, so let them guide which points you cover.

• Discuss the constitutional provisions relating to the specification of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and socially and educationally backward classes, with reference to the 102nd and 105th Constitutional Amendment Acts.

• Trace the successive amendments extending the reservation of seats for SCs and STs in legislatures, and contrast this with the fate of the Anglo-Indian community's special representation.

• Examine the composition and significance of the Kaka Kalelkar Commission and the Mandal Commission.

• Discuss the special provisions made for Nagaland under Article 371A, with particular reference to the Tuensang district.

• Compare the special provisions made for Andhra Pradesh/Telangana under Article 371D-E with those made for Sikkim under Article 371F.

• Examine the rationale and provisions of Article 371J relating to the Hyderabad-Karnataka region.