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 autonomous districts of Assam, 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 of any State under clause (1) shall bear, as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the total number of seats in the Assembly as the population of the Scheduled Castes in the 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.

(3A) Notwithstanding anything contained in clause (3), until the taking effect, under article 170, of the re-adjustment, on the basis of the first census after the year 2026, of the number of seats in the Legislative Assemblies of the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland, the seats which shall be reserved for the Scheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assembly of any such State shall be,—

(a) if all the seats in the Legislative Assembly of such State in existence on the date of coming into force of the Constitution (Fifty-seventh Amendment) Act, 1987 (hereafter in this clause referred to as the existing Assembly) are held by members of the Scheduled Tribes, all the seats except one;

(b) in any other case, such number of seats as bears to the total number of seats, a proportion not less than the number (as on the said date) of members belonging to the Scheduled Tribes in the existing Assembly bears to the total number of seats in the existing Assembly.

(3B) Notwithstanding anything contained in clause (3), until the re-adjustment, under article 170, takes effect on the basis of the first census after the year 2026, of the number of seats in the Legislative Assembly of the State of Tripura, the seats which shall be reserved for the Scheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assembly shall be, such number of seats as bears to the total number of seats, a proportion not less than the number, as on the date of coming into force of the Constitution (Seventy-second Amendment) Act, 1992, of members belonging to the Scheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assembly in existence on the said date bears to the total number of seats in that Assembly.

(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:

Provided that for elections to the Legislative Assembly of the State of Assam, the representation of the Scheduled Tribes and non-Scheduled Tribes in the constituencies included in the Bodoland Territorial Areas District, so notified, and existing prior to the constitution of Bodoland Territorial Areas District, shall be maintained.

VERSION 1

Article 294, Draft Constitution of India 1948

(1) Seats shall be reserved for-

(a) The Muslim community, the Scheduled Castes and the scheduled tribes (except the scheduled tribes in the autonomous districts of Assam) in the Legislative Assembly of every State for the time being specified in Part I of the First Schedule; and

(b) The Indian Christian community in the Legislative Assemblies of the States of Madras and Bombay, according to the scale prescribed in clause (3) of article 149 of this Constitution.

(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 any community in the Legislative Assembly of any State for the time being specified in Part I of the First Schedule shall bear, as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the total number of seats in that Assembly as the population of the community in the State bears to the total population of the State.

Explanation.-All the Scheduled Castes in a State shall be deemed to be a single community for the purposes of this clause and so also all the scheduled tribes in a State.

(5) The constituencies for the seats reserved for any autonomous district of the State 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 I [except from the constituency comprising the cantonment and municipality of Shillong.

VERSION 2

Article 332, Constitution of India 1950

(1) Seats shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, except the Scheduled Tribes in the tribal areas of Assam, in the Legislative Assembly of every State specified in Part A or Part B of the First Schedule.

⁠(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 of any State under clause (1) shall have as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the total number of seats in the Assembly as the proportion of the Scheduled Castes in the 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 except in the case of the constituency comprising the cantonment and municipality of Shillong.

⁠(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 except from the constituency comprising the cantonment and municipality of Shillong.

SUMMARY

Draft Article 294 (Article 332 of Constitution of India 1950) was taken up in the Constituent Assembly on 24 August 1949. This Draft Article reserved seats for the Muslim, Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities in legislative assemblies across India. For Indian Christians, seats were reserved only in the Bombay and Madras legislative assemblies. The Draft Article placed a 10-year time limit on these reservations.

The Drafting Committee Chairman proposed to amend this Draft Article to remove reservations for Muslims and Indian Christians – a decision that the Assembly had previously taken on 26 May 1949.

Most Members supported this Draft Article but nonetheless voiced some concerns. A Member was not sure if SC and ST communities would benefit from reservation. Another Member responded by stating that reservation was invaluable to bring public attention to the grievances of the SC/ST community. Further, the Assembly was alerted to a key objective of reservation: to compensate for the historical wrongs these communities had endured.

One Member opposed the 10-year time limit for reservations as insufficient to significantly alter the social and political status of SC/ST communities. He wanted to extend these reservations to local bodies and the executive as well. The Assembly did not discuss these concerns further.

At the end of the debate, the Assembly adopted the Draft Article along with the Drafting Committee Chairman’s amendment.

In 1987 and 1992, Article 332 was amended to provide for reservation of seats for SC/ST communities in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura.