Union Territories & Scheduled/Tribal Areas — Fifth & Sixth Schedules (UPSC Polity)

Union Territories — Origin & the Present Eight

🎯 Exam priority: Important. The Fifth vs Sixth Schedule contrast is one of UPSC's most reliable recurring themes — both 2025 and 2026 Prelims tested Scheduled Areas/tribal administration directly. Learn precisely which four states get the Sixth Schedule (Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram) and why the rest of tribal India instead falls under the very differently-designed Fifth Schedule.

Article 1 defines India's territory as three categories: states, Union Territories, and any territory India might acquire later. India currently has 28 states and 8 Union Territories. Unlike states, which share power with the Centre in a federal relationship, a UT is under the Centre's direct control — making UTs a genuine, if small, departure from India's otherwise federal design.

Union Territories — Origin & the Present Eight

• British-era "scheduled districts" (1874) became "chief commissioners' provinces," then Part C states and Part D territories after independence, before the 7th Amendment (1956) and the States Reorganisation Act (1956) together recast them as "Union Territories." Several have since been elevated to full statehood — Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Goa were all once UTs.

• UTs get created for varied reasons: political/administrative convenience (Delhi, Chandigarh), cultural distinctiveness (Puducherry; Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu — former Portuguese/French territories), or strategic importance (Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep). Today's eight are Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Delhi, Lakshadweep, Puducherry, Chandigarh — plus three recent ones: Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh (2019), carved from the former state of J&K (Ladakh given UT status without a legislature over its sparse, difficult terrain; J&K given one, citing the security situation), and Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu (2020), merged from two separate, previously-duplicated administrations into one.

Administration of Union Territories (Art 239–241)

Every UT answers to the President, but the resemblance to a "mini-state" varies sharply depending on whether it has its own legislature.

Administration of Union Territories (Articles 239–241)

• Every UT is run by the President, acting through an Administrator — styled Lieutenant Governor (Delhi, Puducherry, Andaman & Nicobar, J&K, Ladakh) or plain Administrator (Chandigarh, Lakshadweep, DNH&DD) at the President's discretion. Unlike a state's Governor — a constitutional head in their own right — an Administrator is simply the President's agent. The President may even appoint a neighbouring state's Governor to double as a UT's Administrator, in which case they act independently of that state's own Council of Ministers.

• Only three UTs have a legislative assembly and a Chief Minister-led Council of Ministers: Puducherry (1963), Delhi (1992) and Jammu & Kashmir (2019). Even so, Parliament retains full law-making power over all three lists — including the State List — for every UT, whether or not it has a local legislature; a local assembly doesn't displace this, it only adds a second, subordinate law-making layer (Puducherry: State + Concurrent List; Delhi: State List minus public order/police/land, + Concurrent List; J&K: State List minus public order/police, + Concurrent List).

• For UTs with no legislature, the President can legislate directly by regulation — a regulation carries the same force as a Parliamentary Act, and can even override one for that territory; Puducherry can also be regulated this way, but only while its assembly is suspended or dissolved. On the judiciary: Delhi alone has its own High Court (since 1966); every other UT sits under a neighbouring state's High Court (e.g. DNH&DD under Bombay HC), except J&K and Ladakh, which share one common High Court between them.

Special Provisions for Delhi (Article 239AA)

Delhi is the UT that behaves most like a state — but even here, Parliament and the President keep the final word.

Special Provisions for Delhi (Article 239AA)

• The 69th Amendment (1991) redesignated Delhi as the National Capital Territory (NCT), renamed its Administrator the Lieutenant Governor, and gave it a 70-member, directly-elected Assembly (elections run by the Election Commission of India) with power over the State and Concurrent Lists — except public order, police and land, which stay with Parliament, whose laws prevail over the Assembly's regardless.

• The Council of Ministers is capped at 10% of Assembly strength — 7 total (1 Chief Minister + 6 others). Unusually, the Chief Minister is appointed by the President, not the LG; other ministers are appointed by the President on the CM's advice. Ministers hold office at the President's pleasure, yet the Council is collectively responsible to the Assembly.

• The Council "aids and advises" the LG except where the LG must act in discretion; any LG-minister disagreement goes to the President for a binding decision. If Delhi's constitutional machinery breaks down, Article 239AB lets the President suspend these provisions and take over directly — a near-exact NCT parallel to Article 356's President's Rule in a state. The LG may also promulgate ordinances during the Assembly's recess (approval needed within 6 weeks of reassembly) — but never with the Assembly dissolved or suspended, and never without the President's prior permission.

• The five UTs with no legislature (Andaman & Nicobar, Chandigarh, DNH&DD, Lakshadweep, Ladakh) instead get a Home Minister's Advisory Committee (HMAC) or Administrator's Advisory Committee (AAC) — chaired by the Union Home Minister or the local Administrator respectively, including MPs and local-body representatives, to discuss the UT's social/economic development.

Fifth Schedule — Scheduled Areas

Beyond the states-vs-UTs distinction, the Constitution runs an entirely separate special-administration track for tribal India — split into two very differently-designed Schedules.

Fifth Schedule — Scheduled Areas (Article 244)

• The Fifth Schedule — sometimes called "a constitution within a constitution" — governs Scheduled Areas in every tribal-majority state except Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram (which instead get the Sixth Schedule). 10 states currently have Scheduled Areas: Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Rajasthan. The President declares (and can redraw or rescind) a Scheduled Area, consulting the state's Governor; the well-established — though not literally constitutionally spelt-out — criteria are: a preponderant tribal population, a compact and reasonably-sized area, a viable administrative unit (district/block/taluk), and comparative economic backwardness.

• Executive power: the state administers Scheduled Areas as normal, but the Governor carries a special duty — an annual (or on-demand) report to the President — while the Centre can directly instruct the state on how to administer these areas. Every state with Scheduled Areas must set up a Tribes Advisory Council — 20 members, three-fourths of them Scheduled Tribe MLAs — to advise on ST welfare (a similar council may be created even in a state with STs but no Scheduled Areas, if the President so directs).

• The Governor may direct that a given Parliamentary or state law simply won't apply to a Scheduled Area, or apply only with modifications, and may separately make regulations (after consulting the Tribes Advisory Council, with the President's assent) restricting land transfer among/by tribals, regulating land allotment, or controlling money-lending to tribals — regulations powerful enough to even repeal or amend an existing Act for that area.

• The Constitution requires the President to appoint a commission on Scheduled Area administration and ST welfare at least once every 10 years from the Constitution's commencement (and any time earlier too). The first — the Dhebar Commission — was appointed in 1960, reporting in 1961; the second, the Bhuria Commission, followed only in 2002 (reporting 2004) — a four-decade gap despite the "at least once a decade" design.

Sixth Schedule — Tribal Areas & Autonomous Districts

The Sixth Schedule takes an almost opposite approach — not protective administration from above, but genuine self-rule from within.

Sixth Schedule — Tribal Areas & Autonomous Districts (Article 244, 244A)

• Confined to Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram — the four states organise 10 tribal areas as Autonomous Districts (e.g. Assam's Karbi Anglong and Bodoland Territorial Areas; Meghalaya's Khasi, Jaintia and Garo Hills; Tripura's single Tribal Areas District; Mizoram's Chakma, Mara and Lai Districts). The rationale is genuinely different from the Fifth Schedule: many of these communities governed themselves before the British arrived, so the framers built in real self-rule rather than protective oversight — though the districts still remain within the concerned state's overall executive authority, not outside it.

• The Governor can reorganise Autonomous Districts at will (area, name, boundaries) and split one into separate Autonomous Regions if it holds multiple tribes. Each district runs its own District Council — 30 members: 4 Governor-nominated (serving at pleasure) plus 26 directly elected (5-year term); each Autonomous Region separately elects its own Regional Council too.

• District/Regional Councils can legislate on land, forests, canal water, shifting cultivation ("jhum"), village administration, inheritance, marriage/divorce and social customs — subject to the Governor's assent — and can run their own village courts for tribal disputes (High Court jurisdiction over these is Governor-specified), plus manage schools, dispensaries, markets and roads, and even assess/collect land revenue and specified taxes. As in Scheduled Areas, a Parliamentary/state law may simply not apply here, or apply only with modification. The Governor may appoint a commission to examine a Council's administration, and can dissolve a District or Regional Council on that commission's recommendation.

Fifth vs Sixth Schedule & Why UPSC Asks This

Put side by side, the two Schedules reveal a single underlying design choice: protect tribal land and custom from outside encroachment (Fifth Schedule) versus hand tribal communities genuine local government of their own (Sixth Schedule).

Fifth Schedule vs Sixth Schedule

Further Reading

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

• The Constitution of India (Bare Act) — Articles 239–242 (Union Territories) and 244–244A (Scheduled and Tribal Areas), plus the Fifth and Sixth Schedules.

Why UPSC Asks This

• Fifth vs Sixth Schedule is a near-annual Prelims theme — 2025 and 2026 both tested Scheduled Area administration directly; know exactly which four states get the Sixth Schedule and why the rest don't.

• Delhi's Article 239AA — the CM appointed by the President (not the LG), the 10%/7-member ministry cap, and the Article 239AB "President's Rule equivalent" — is a frequently tested contrast with ordinary state government.

• The Tribes Advisory Council's "20 members, three-fourths ST MLAs" ratio is a classic precise-number trap, easily confused with the District Council's "30 members, 4 nominated + 26 elected."

Test Yourself: Practice Questions & PYQs

Union Territories and Scheduled/Tribal Areas practice — UT administration and Delhi's special status, Fifth Schedule Scheduled Areas, and Sixth Schedule Autonomous Districts. Then Prelims-pattern PYQs mirroring the 2025/26 exam's real focus on this theme.

Practice Questions

Q1. India currently has how many states and Union Territories respectively?

• (a) 28 states and 8 Union Territories

• (b) 28 states and 9 Union Territories

• (c) 29 states and 7 Union Territories

• (d) 27 states and 8 Union Territories

Q2. Union Territories were first constituted as such in 1956 by:

• (a) The 7th Constitutional Amendment Act and the States Reorganisation Act

• (b) The 42nd Amendment alone

• (c) An ordinary Act of Parliament with no constitutional amendment

• (d) The 69th Constitutional Amendment Act

Q3. Which of the following Union Territories has a legislative assembly and a Chief Minister?

• (a) Chandigarh

• (b) Puducherry

• (c) Andaman and Nicobar Islands

• (d) Lakshadweep

Q4. For a Union Territory WITHOUT its own legislature, who can legislate for it by regulation?

• (a) The Chief Justice of India

• (b) The Union Home Minister

• (c) The Governor of the nearest state

• (d) The President

Q5. Which Union Territory has its own separate High Court?

• (a) Lakshadweep

• (b) Chandigarh

• (c) Delhi

• (d) Puducherry

Q6. Under Article 239AA, the Chief Minister of the National Capital Territory of Delhi is appointed by:

• (a) The President

• (b) The Lieutenant Governor

• (c) The Prime Minister

• (d) The Speaker of the Delhi Assembly

Q7. The Delhi Legislative Assembly cannot make laws on which of the following State List subjects?

• (a) Agriculture

• (b) Education

• (c) Health

• (d) Public order, police and land

Q8. The Fifth Schedule of the Constitution does NOT apply to which of the following states (which instead fall under the Sixth Schedule)?

• (a) Rajasthan and Gujarat

• (b) Madhya Pradesh and Odisha

• (c) Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram

• (d) Andhra Pradesh and Telangana

Q9. A Tribes Advisory Council under the Fifth Schedule consists of how many members, and what fraction must be Scheduled Tribe MLAs?

• (a) 30 members, four-fifths

• (b) 20 members, three-fourths

• (c) 25 members, two-thirds

• (d) 15 members, one-half

Q10. The first commission on the administration of Scheduled Areas and welfare of Scheduled Tribes was headed by:

• (a) Balwantrai Mehta

• (b) U.N. Dhebar

• (c) B.N. Rau

• (d) Dilip Singh Bhuria

Q11. Under the Sixth Schedule, a District Council consists of 30 members composed as:

• (a) 4 nominated by the Governor and 26 directly elected

• (b) 20 nominated and 10 elected

• (c) 15 nominated and 15 elected

• (d) All 30 directly elected, none nominated

Q12. Which of the following is a genuine difference between the Fifth and Sixth Schedules?

• (a) Only the Sixth Schedule gives tribal areas a body that can actually make laws (the District/Regional Council)

• (b) Both Schedules use an identical Tribes Advisory Council mechanism

• (c) Only the Fifth Schedule applies to any part of India

• (d) The Sixth Schedule applies to more states than the Fifth

UPSC Previous Year Questions (PYQs)

Pattern: which UTs have a legislature; Delhi's Article 239AA specifics (CM appointment, excluded subjects); Fifth vs Sixth Schedule state coverage (a frequent point-of-confusion trap); Tribes Advisory Council vs District Council composition; Governor's regulation-making and assent powers in both Schedules.

Q13. Consider the following statements: (1) The Fifth Schedule of the Constitution applies to Scheduled Areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. (2) The Sixth Schedule provides for Autonomous District and Regional Councils with law-making powers on specified subjects. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

• (a) 2 only

• (b) Neither 1 nor 2

• (c) 1 only

• (d) Both 1 and 2

Q14. With reference to the Union Territory of Delhi, which of the following statements is/are correct? (1) Its Legislative Assembly can make laws on the Concurrent List. (2) The Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Legislative Assembly. Select the correct answer:

• (a) 2 only

• (b) 1 only

• (c) Both 1 and 2

• (d) Neither 1 nor 2

Q15. The Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, were created in the year:

• (a) 2014

• (b) 2020

• (c) 2019

• (d) 1956

Q16. Which Article of the Constitution deals with the administration of Scheduled Areas and Tribal Areas?

• (a) Article 280

• (b) Article 371

• (c) Article 239

• (d) Article 244

Q17. In how many north-eastern states does the Sixth Schedule apply, and how many Autonomous Districts do they together contain?

• (a) 3 states, 8 Autonomous Districts

• (b) 5 states, 12 Autonomous Districts

• (c) 4 states, 10 Autonomous Districts

• (d) 4 states, 6 Autonomous Districts

Q18. Regulations made by a Governor for a Scheduled Area under the Fifth Schedule require:

• (a) Ratification by the state legislature only

• (b) The assent of the President

• (c) No approval of any kind

• (d) Approval of the Tribes Advisory Council alone, with no other assent needed

Q19. Which of the following best distinguishes an Administrator of a Union Territory from a Governor of a state?

• (a) An Administrator is directly elected while a Governor is appointed

• (b) An Administrator is an agent of the President; a Governor is a constitutional head in their own right

• (c) There is no meaningful difference between the two

• (d) An Administrator has more power than a Governor in every respect

Q20. The 69th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1991:

• (a) Created the Union Territory of Ladakh

• (b) Gave Delhi special status as the National Capital Territory with an Assembly and Council of Ministers

• (c) Established the Sixth Schedule

• (d) Merged Dadra and Nagar Haveli with Daman and Diu

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.

• Distinguish the administrative design of the Fifth Schedule from that of the Sixth Schedule.

• Examine the special constitutional provisions applicable to the National Capital Territory of Delhi under Article 239AA.

• How does Parliament's law-making power over a Union Territory differ depending on whether it has its own legislature?

• Discuss the composition and functions of the Tribes Advisory Council and the District Council.

• Trace the reasons given by the government for the 2019 reorganisation of Jammu & Kashmir and the 2020 merger of Dadra & Nagar Haveli with Daman & Diu.

• What is the constitutional requirement for periodic review of Scheduled Area administration, and how has it actually been followed?