For protecting the rights and for providing equal social status to the members of Scheduled Castes and Tribes, many provisions are made in the Constitution of India. This category tries to explore and bring them together. Though the list is not exhaustive, but it will try to cover everything needed for day to day happy living with dignity.
(1) Seats shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in every Municipality and the number of seats so reserved shall bear, as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in that Municipality as the population of the Scheduled Castes in the Municipal area or of the Scheduled Tribes in the Municipal area bears to the total population of that area and such seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a Municipality
(2) Not less than one third of the total number of seats reserved under clause ( 1 ) shall be reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes or, as the case may be, the Scheduled Tribes
(3) Not less than one third (including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes) of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in every Municipality shall be reserved for women and such seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a Municipality
(4) The offices of Chairpersons in the Municipalities shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and women in such manner as the Legislature of a State may, by law, provide
(5) The reservation of seats under clauses ( 1 ) and ( 2 ) and the reservation of offices of Chairpersons (other than the reservation for women) under clause ( 4 ) shall cease to have effect on the expiration of the period specified in article 334
(6) Nothing in this Part shall prevent the Legislature of a State from making any provision for reservation of seats in any Municipality or offices of Chairpersons in the Municipalities in favour of backward class of citizens
(1) (b) the Scheduled Tribes, in every Panchayat and the number of seats so reserved shall bear, as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the, total number of seats to be filled by direct election in that Panchayat as the population of the Scheduled Castes in that Panchayat area or of the Scheduled Tribes in that Panchayat area bears to the total population of that area and such seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a Panchayat
(2) Not less than one third of the total number of seats reserved under clause ( 1 ) shall be reserved for women belonging, to the Scheduled Castes or, as the case may be, the Scheduled Tribes
(3) Not less than one third (including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes) of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in every Panchayat shall be reserved for women and such seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a Panchayat
(4) The offices of the Chairpersons in the Panchayats at the village or any other level shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes the Scheduled Tribes and women in such manner as the Legislature of a State may, by law, provide: Provided that the number of offices of Chairpersons reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in the Panchayats at each level in any State shall bear, as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the total number of such offices in the Panchayats at each level as the population of the Scheduled Castes in the State or of the Scheduled Tribes in the State bears to the total population of the State: Provided further that not less than one third of the total number of offices of Chairpersons in the Panchayats at each level shall be reserved for women: Provided also that the number of offices reserved under this clause shall be allotted by rotation to different Panchayats at each level
(5) The reservation of seats under clauses ( 1 ) and ( 2 ) and the reservation of offices of Chairpersons (other than the reservation for women) under clause ( 4 ) shall cease to have effect on the expiration of the period specified in article 334
(6) Nothing in this Part shall prevent the Legislature of a State from making any provision for reservation of seats in any Panchayat or offices of Chairpersons in the Panchayats at any level in favour of backward class of citizens
334. Reservation of seats and special representation to cease after forty years Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this Part, the provisions of Constitution relating to
(a) the reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in the House of the People and in the Legislative Assemblies of the States; and
(b) the representation of the Anglo Indian community in the House of the People and in the Legislative Assemblies of the States by nomination, shall cease to have effect on the expiration of a period of forty years from the commencement of this Constitution: Provided that nothing in this article shall affect any representation in the House of the People or in the legislative Assembly of a State until the dissolution of the then existing House or Assembly, as the case may be
332. Reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assemblies of the States
(1) Seats shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, except the Scheduled Tribes in the tribal areas of Assam, in Nagaland and in Meghalaya, in the Legislative Assembly of every State
(2) Seats shall be reserved also for the autonomous districts in the Legislative Assembly of the State of Assam
(3) The number of seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assembly nearly as may be, the same proportion to the total number of seats in the Assembly as the population of the Scheduled Castes in th State or of the Scheduled Tribes in the State or part of the State, as the case may be, in respect of which seats are so reserved bears to the total population of the State
(4) The number of seats reserved for an autonomous district in the legislative Assembly of the State of Assam shall bear to the total number of seats in that Assembly a proportion not less than the population of the district bears to the total population of the State
(5) The constituencies for the seats reserved for any autonomous district of Assam shall not comprise any area outside that district
(6) No person who is not a member of a Scheduled Tribe of any autonomous district of the State of Assam shall be eligible for election to the Legislative Assembly of the State from any constituency of that district
330. Reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the House of the People
(1) Seats shall be reserved in the House of the People for
(1) (a) the Scheduled Castes;
(1) (b) the Scheduled Tribes except the Scheduled Tribes in the autonomous districts of Assam; and
(1) (c) the Scheduled Tribes in the autonomous districts of Assam
(2) The number of seats reserved in any State or Union territory for the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes under clause ( 1 ) shall bear, as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the total number of seats allotted to that State or Union territory in the House of the People as the population of the Scheduled Castes in the State or Union territory or of the Scheduled Tribes in the State or Union territory or part of the State or Union territory, as the case may be, in respect of which seats are so reserved, bears to the total population of the State or Union territory
(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in clause ( 2 ), the number of seats reserved in the House of the People for the Scheduled Tribes in the autonomous districts of Assam shall bear to the total number of seats allotted to that State a proportion not less than the population of the Scheduled Tribes in the said autonomous districts bears to the total population of the State Explanation In this article 332, the expression population means the population as ascertained at the last preceding census of which the relevant figures have been published: Provided that the reference in this Explanation to the last preceding census of which the relevant figures have been published shall, until the relevant figures for the first census taken after the year 2000 have been published, be construed as a reference to the 1971 census
366. Definition In this Constitution, unless the context otherwise requires, the following expressions have I, the meanings hereby respectively assigned to them, that is to say
(1) agricultural income means agricultural income as defined for the purposes of the enactments relating to Indian income tax;
(2) an Anglo Indian means a person whose father or any of whose other male progenitors in the male line is or was of European descent but who is domiciled within the territory of India and is or was born within such territory of parents habitually resident therein and not established there for temporary purposes only;
(3) article means an article of this Constitution;
(4) borrow includes the raising of money by the grant of annuities, and loan shall be construed accordingly;
(5) clause means a clause of the article in which the expression occurs;
(6) corporation tax means any tax on income, so far as that tax is payable by companies and is a tax in the case of which the following conditions are fulfilled;
(6) (a) that it is not chargeable in respect of agricultural income;
(6) (b) that no deduction in respect of the tax paid by companies is, by any eanctments which may apply to the tax, authorised to be made from dividends payable by the companies to individuals;
(6) (c) that no provision exists for taking the tax so paid into account in computing for the purposes of Indian income tax the total income of individuals receiving such dividends, or in computing the India income tax payable by, so refundable to, such individuals;
(7) corresponding Province, corresponding Indian State or corresponding State means in cases of doubt such Province, Indian State or State as may be determined by the President to be the corresponding Province, the corresponding India State or the corresponding State, as the case may be, for the particular purpose in question;
(8) debt includes any liability in respect of any obligation to repay capita; sums by way of annuity and any liability under any guarantee, and debt charges shall be construed accordingly;
(9) estate duty means a duty to be assessed on or by reference to the principal value, ascertained in accordance with such rules as may be prescribed by or under laws made by Parliament or the Legislature of a State relating to the duty, of all property passing upon death or deemed, under the provisions of the said laws, so to pass;
(10) existing law means any law, Ordinance, order, bye law, rule or regulation passed or made before the commencement of this Constitution by any Legislature, authority or person having power to make such a law, Ordinance, order, bye law, rule or regulation;
(11) Federal Court means the Federal Court constituted under the Government of India Act, 1935;
(12) goods includes all materials, commodities, and articles;
(13) guarantee includes any obligation undertaken before the commencement of this Constitution to make payments in the event of the profits of an undertaking falling short of a speficied amount;
(14) High Court means any court which is deemed for the purposes of this Constitution to be a High Court for any State and includes
(14) (a) any Court in the territory of India constituted or reconstituted under this Constitution as a High Court, and
(14) (b) any other Court in the territory of India which may be declared by Parliament by law to be a High Court for all or any of the purposes of this Constitution;
(15) Indian State means any territory which the Government of the Dominion of India recognised as such a State;
(16) Part means a part of this Constitution;
(17) pension means a pension, whether contributory or not, of any kind whatsoever payable to or in respect of any person, and includes retired pay so payable, a gratuity so payable and any sum or sums so payable by way of the return, with or without interest thereon or any other addition thereto, of subscriptions to a provident fund;
(18) Proclamation of Emergency means a Proclamation issued under clause (1) of Article 352;
(19) public notification means a notification in the Gazette of India, or, as the case may be, the Official Gazette of a State;
(20) railway does not include
(20) (a) a tramway wholly within a municipal area, or
(20) (b) any other line of communication wholly situate in one State and declared by Parliament by law not to be a railway;
(22) Rules means the Prince, Chief or other person who, at any time before the commencement of the Constitution (Twenty sixth Amendment) Act 1971, was recognised by the President as the Ruler of an India State or any person who, at any time before such commencement, was recognised by the President as the successor of such Ruler;
(23) Schedule means a Schedule to this Constitution;
(24) Scheduled Castes means such cases, races or tribes or parts of or groups within such castes, races or tribes as are deemed under Article 341 to be Scheduled Castes for the purposes of this Constitution;
(25) Scheduled Tribes means such tribes or tribal communities or parts of or groups within such tribes or tribal communities as are deemed under Article342 to be Scheduled Tribes for the purposes of this Constitution;
(26) securities includes stock;
(27) sub clause means a sub clause of the clause in which the expression occurs;
(28) taxation includes the imposition of any tax or impost, whether general or local or special, and tax shall be construed accordingly;
(29) tax on income includes a tax in the nature of an exceee profits tax;
(29A) tax on the sale or purchase of goods includes;
(29) (a) a tax on the transfer, otherwise than in pursuance of a contact, or property in any goods for cash, deferred payment or other valuable consideration;
(29) (b) a tax on the transfer of property in goods (whether as goods or in some other form) invoked in the execution of a works contract;
(29) (c) a tax on the delivery of goods on hire purchase or any system or payment by instalments;
(29) (d) a tax on the transfer of the rights to use any goods for any purpose (whether or not for a specified period) for cash, deferred payment or other valuable consideration;
(29) (e) a tax on the supply of goods by any unincorporated association or body or persons to a member thereof for cash, deferred payment or other valuable consideration;
(29) (f) a tax on the supply, by way of or as part of any service or in any other manner whatsoever, of goods, being food or any other article for human consumption or any drink (whether or not intoxicating), where such supply or service, is for cash, deferred payment or other valuable consideration, and such transfer, delivery or supply and a purchase of those goods by the person to whom such transfer, delivery or supply is made;
(30) Union territory means any Union territory specified in the First Schedule and includes any other territory comprised within the territory of India but not spcified in that Schedule
19. Protection of certain rights regarding freedom of speech etc.,
(1) All citizens shall have the right
(1) (a) to freedom of speech and expression;
(1) (b) to assemble peacefully and without arms;
(1) (c) to form associations or unions;
(1) (d) to move freely throughout the territory of India;
(1) (e) to reside and settle in any part of the territory of India; and
(1) (f) omitted
(1) (g) to practice any profression, or tocarry on any occupation, trade or business
(2) Nothing in sub clause (a) of clause (1) shall affect the operation of any existing law, or prevent the State from making any law, in so far as such law imposes reasonable restrictions on the exercise of the right conferred by the said sub clause in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, freindly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence
(3) Nothing in sub clause (b) of the said clause shall affect the operation of any existing law in so far as it imposes, or prevent the State from amking any law imposing, in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India or public order, reasonable restrictions on the exercise of the right conferred by the said sub clause
(4) Nothing in sub clause (c) of the said clause shall affect the operation of any existing law in so far as it imposes, or prevent the State from making any law imposing, in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India or public order or morality, reasonable restrictions on the exercise of the right conferred by the said sub clause
(5) Nothing in sub clause (d) and (e) of the said clause shall affect the operation of existing law is so far as it imposes, or prevent the State from making any law imposing, reasonable restrictions on the exercise of any of the rights conferred by the said sub clauses either in the interests of the general public or for the protection of any Scheduled Tribe.
(6) Nothing in sub clause (g) of the said clause shall affect the operation of any existing law in so far as it imposes, or prevent the State from making any law imposing, in the interests of the general public, reasonable restrctions on the exercise of the right conferred by the said sub clause, and in particular, nothing in the said sub clause shall affect the operation of any existing law in sofar as it relates to, or prevent the State from making any law relating to,
(6) (i) the professional or technical qualifications necessary for practising any profession or carrying on any occupation, trade or business, or
(6) (ii) the carrying on by the State, or by a corporation owned or controller by the State, or any trade, business, industry or service, whether to the exclusion, complete or partial, of citizens or otherwise
Article 164 (1) provides that the States of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesha and Odisha there shall be a minister in charge of tribal welfare who may in addition be in charge of the welfare of the Scheduled Castes and backward classes or any other work
(1) There shall be a Commission for the Scheduled Tribes to be known as National Commission for the Scheduled Tribes
(2) Subject to the provisions of any law made in this behalf by Parliament, the Commission shall consist of a Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and three other Members and the conditions of service and tenure of office of the Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and other Members so appointed shall be such as the President by rule determine
(3) The Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and other Members of the Commission shall be appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal
(4) The Commission shall have the power to regulate its own procedure
(5) It shall be the duty of the Commission –
(5) (a) to investigate and monitor all matters relating to the safeguards provided for the Scheduled Tribes under this Constitution or under any other law for the time being in force or under any order of the Government and to evaluate the working of such safeguards;
(5) (b) to inquire into specific complaints with respect to the deprivation of righs and safeguards of the Scheduled Tribes;
(5) (c) to participate and advise on the planning process of socio-economic development of the Scheduled Tribes and to evaluate the progress of their development under the Union and any State;
(5) (d) to present to the President, anually and at such other times as the Commission may deem fit, reports upon the working of those safeguards;
(5) (e) to make in such reports recommendations as to the measures that should be taken by the Union or any State for the effective implementation of those safeguards and other measures for the protection, welfare and socio-economic development of the Scheduled Tribes; and
(5) (f) to discharge such other functions in relation to the protection, welfare and development and advancement of the Scheduled Tribes as the President may, subject to the provisions of any law made by Parliament, by rule specify
(6) The President shall cause all such reports to be laid before each House of Parliament along with a memorandum explaining the action taken or proposed to be taken on the recommendations relating to the Union and the reasons for the non-acceptance, if any, of any of such recommendations
(7) Where any such report, or any part thereof, relates to any matter with which any State Government is concerned, a copy of such report shall be forwarded to the Governor of the State who shall cause it to be laid before the Legislature of the State along with a memorenadum explaining the action taken or proposed to be taken on the recommendations relating to the State and the reasons for the non-acceptance, if any, of any of such recommenations
(8) The commission shall, while investigating any matter referred to in sub-clause (a) or inquiring into any complaint referred in sub-clause (b) or clause (5), have all the powers of a civil court trying a suit and in particular in respect of the following matters, namely –
(8) (a) summonning and enforcing the attendance of any person from any part of India and examining him on oath;
(8) (b) requiring the discovery and production of any document;
(8) (c) receiving evidence on affidavits;
(8) (d) requisitioning any public record or copy thereof from any court or office;
(8) (e) issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses and documents;
(8) (f) any other matter which the President may, by rule, determine
(9) The Union and every State Government shall consult the Commission on all major policy matters affecting Scheduled Tribes.
338. Special Officer for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, etc.
(1) There shall be a Special Officer for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to be appointed by the President
(2) It shall be the duty of the Special Officer to investigate all matters relating to the safeguards provided for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes under this Constitution and report to the President upon the working of those safeguards at such intervals as the President may direct, and the President shall cause all such reports to be laid before each House of Parliament
(3) In this article references to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes shall be construed as including references to such other backward classes as the President may, on receipt of the report of a Commission appointed under clause (1) of the Article 340, by order specify and also to the Anglo Indian community.
