Introduction:
Following the attainment of independence, free India farmed an elaborate democratic constitution which applies to each and every Indian irrespective of who he is and where he lives. In this constitution there are many provisions which apply to all Indians, but which acquire a special significance in the case of tribal and other backward classes in view of the hardships and disabilities from which these people suffer at present. Besides, there are many clauses in the Constitution which apply only to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The Preamble of the Constitution of India guarantees to all citizens of India social, economic political justice: liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; and equality of status and opportunity and seeks to promote fraternity among Indians in order to assure the dignity of the individual and the unity of the Nation.
Scheduled castes
✓ Article 341-Scheduled Castes
(1) The President may with respect to any State or Union territory, and where it is a State after consultation with the Governor thereof, by public notification, specify the castes, races or tribes or parts of or groups within castes, races or tribes which shall for the purposes of this Constitution be deemed to be Scheduled Castes in relation to that State or Union territory, as the case may be
(2) Parliament may by law include in or exclude from the list of Scheduled Castes specified in a notification issued under clause ( 1 ) any caste, race or tribe or part of or group within any caste, race or tribe, but save as aforesaid a notification issued under the said clause shall not be varied by any subsequent notification
Social protections
✓ Article 15(4)
Nothing in this article or in clause ( 2 ) of Article 29 shall prevent the State from making any special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes
✓ Article 16(4)
Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favour of any backward class of citizens which, in the opinion of the State, is not adequately represented in the services under the State
✓ Article 17
Untouchability is abolished and its practice in any for is forbidden. The enforcement of any disability arising out of untouchability shall be an offence punishable in accordance with the law.
✓ Article 23
Prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labour
✓ Article 29-Protection of interests of minorities
(1) Any section of the citizens residing in the territory of India or any part thereof having a distinct language, script or culture of its own shall have the right to conserve the same
(2) No citizen shall be denied admission into any educational institution maintained by the State or receiving aid out of State funds on grounds only of religion, race, caste, language or any of them
Educational Interests
✓ Article 46
Promotion of educational and economic interests of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other weaker sections The State shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people, and, in particular, of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, and shall protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation
Economical Progress
✓ Article 335-Claims of Scheduled Castes to services and posts The claims of the members of the Scheduled Castes shall be taken into consideration, consistently with the maintenance of efficiency of administration, in the making of appointments to services and posts in connection with the affairs of the Union or of a State
Political Protections
✓ Article 243 D
Seats shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes 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 bears to the total population of that area and such seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a Panchayat
✓ Article 243 T
Seats shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes 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 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 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
✓ Article 330
Reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes in the House of the People
✓ Article 332
Reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes in the Legislative Assemblies of the States
✓ Article 334
Reservation of seats and special representation to cease after sixty years . Originally the reservation for seats in scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in Lok Sabha and State assemblies was up to 1960. But it was successively amended by 8th, 23rd, 45th, 62nd, 79th and 95th amendment of the constitution’s article 334 to extend this period of reservation.
✓ Article 338-National Commission for Scheduled Castes
There shall be a Commission for the Scheduled Castes to be known as the National Commission for the Scheduled Castes.
Second Answer (Optional)
CONSTITUTIONAL SAFEGUARDS
The Constitution of India provides to all the citizens, social, economic and political justice and equality of status and opportunity. Article 46 under the Directive Principles of State Policy provides that “the State shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people, and in particular of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and shall protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation”. For achieving this objective social, economic, educational, cultural, political and service safeguards and certain protective measures have been provided in the Constitution for the deprived, weaker and vulnerable sections to ensure their all-round development so as to bring them into the mainstream of the nation and at par with other sections of the society.
Social Safeguards
As per Article 17 “ Untouchability is abolished and its practice in any form is forbidden.” The enforcement of any disability arising out of “Untouchability “ shall be an offence punishable in accordance with law. There are two important legislations relating to this Article viz. the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955, and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
Article 23 prohibits traffic in human beings and ‘begar’ and other similar forms of forced labour and provides that any contravention of this provision shall be an offence punishable in accordance with law. It does not specifically mention SCs & STs but since the majority of bonded labour belongs to SCs/STs this article has a special significance for them. In pursuance of this article Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, has been enacted and there is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for identification, liberation and rehabilitation of bonded labourers. However, even after the working of this Act for the last forty years, incidence of bonded labour still exists and preventive and rehabilitation activities need to be geared up further.
Article 24 provides that no child below the age of 14 years shall be employed to work in any factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment. There are Central and State laws to prevent child labour. Since substantial portion of child labour engaged in hazardous employment belong to SC/ST, this Article is significant for SCs/STs. It may be mentioned that despite the existence of these legal instruments and publicity to check this evil, child labourers are engaged in Glass Bangle Industry, Carpet Weaving, and Beedi industry etc. The pitiable conditions of these children and the violation of these laws has received wide coverage in the Mass Media fe. Press and Television. Unfortunately, the anti-child legacy still continues and steps for complete eradication of this evil, special measures are required for bringing about social awareness through voluntary efforts. At the same time about implementation of the legal provision and vigilance on the part of the Labour Department of the Central and State Government is absolutely essential.
Article 25(2)(b) provides that Hindu religious institutions of a public character shall be open to all classes and sections of Hindus . The term Hindu includes persons professing Sikh, Jain and Buddhist religions. This provision is relevant as some sects of Hindus used to claim that members belonging to SC/ST had no right to enter the temples. Though this social evil is gradually vanishing yet incidents of prohibiting SC/ST people from entering the temples are sometimes reported in the press and have also been brought to the notice of the Commission. Collective efforts of all sections of society is necessary for providing unhindered access for SCs/STs to Hindu temples and Hindu religious institutions.
Economic Safeguards
Fifth Schedule contains provisions regarding the administration and control of the Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes. There are 10 States having Scheduled Areas, viz., Andhra Pradesh, Telangana ,Jharkhand, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Orissa and Rajasthan. The Governors of these States have special responsibilities and powers. These States have Tribes Advisory Councils. They have the power to make regulations for the peace and good governance of any Scheduled Areas, particularly for the following puiposes: to prohibit or restrict the transfer of land by or among members of the Scheduled Tribes in such areas; to regulate the allotment of land to members of the Scheduled Tribes in such area; to regulate the carrying on of business as money lender by persons who lend money to members of the Scheduled Tribes in such areas. In addition to these 10 States, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal which do not have any Scheduled Areas, also have statutory TACs.
According to Article 244 clause ( 1 ), the provisions of the Fifth Schedule shall apply to the administration and control of the Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes in any State other than the States of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.
Article 275(1) provides that “there shall be paid out of the Consolidated Fund of India as grants-in-aid of the revenues of State such Capital and recurring sum as may be necessary to enable that State to meet the cost of such schemes of development as may be undertaken by the State with the approval of the Government of India for the purpose of promoting the Welfare of Scheduled Tribes in that State or raising the level of administration of the Scheduled Areas therein to that of the administration of the rest of the areas of that State”.
A similar provision exists in this article for paying such special grants to the States covered under the Sixth Schedule out of the Consolidated Fund of India. Sixth Schedule contains provisions relating to the administration of the Tribal Areas in the States of Assam (North Cachar Hills District and Karbi Anglong District), Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura (Autonomous Hill District). There are Autonomus District Council and Autonomous Regional Council in these areas which have a long tradition of selfmanagement systems. These Autonomous Councils not only administer the various Departments and development programmes but they also have powers to make laws on a variety of subjects, e.g. land, forest, shifting cultivation, Village and town administration, including village and town police, public health and sanitation, inheritance of property, marriage and divorce and social customs.
Article 339. Control Of the Union over the administration of Scheduled Areas and the Welfare of Scheduled Tribes-
(1) The President may at any time and shall, at the expiration of ten years from the commencement of this Constitution by order appoint a Commission to report on the administration of the Scheduled Areas and the welfare of the Scheduled Tribes in the States. The order may define the composition, powers and procedure of the Commission and may contain such incidental or ancillary provisions, as the President may consider necessary or desirable.
(2) The executive power of the Union shall extend to the giving of directions to [a State] as to the drawing up and execution of schemes specified in the direction to be essential for the welfare of the Scheduled Tribes in the State.
Educational and Cultural Safeguards
Article 15(4) empowers the State to make special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for SCs & STs. This provision was added to the Constitution through the Constitution (First Amendment) Act, 1951, which amended several articles. This provision has enabled the State to reserve seats for SCs/STs in educational institutions including technical, engineering and medical colleges. In this article as well as in Article 16(4) the term ‘backward classes’ is used as a generic term and comprises various categories of backward classes, viz. Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes, (Other Backward Classes, Denotified Communities (Vimukta Jatiyan) and Nomedic/Semi-nomedic Communities.
Article 29(1) provides that “any section of the citizens residing in the territory of India or any part thereof having a distinct language, script or culture of its own shall have the right to conserve the same.” This Article has special significance for the Scheduled Tribes as many of them have distinct languages and some Communities such as Santhals have a script of their own viz., Olchiki. However, this provision need not be understood to mean that the tribals should be educated only in their language and thereby isolating them further. They should also be educated in the language of the State as well as the national languages to facilitate their inteqative interaction with the national mainstream.
Article 350(A) .also provide “It shall be the endeavour of every local authority within the State to provide adequate facilities for instructions in the mother tongue at the primary stage of education to children belonging to linguistic minority groups, and the President may issue such directions to any State as he considers necessary or proper for securing the provision of such facilities.” Most of the tribal communities have their own languages or dialects which usually belong to a different family of languages than the one to which the State’s official language belongs. With a view to improve the accessibility and acceptances of education among tribal communities, it is desirable that they are given – education in their own dialect, to the extent possible, and measures are initiated taken for developing curiculla training material etc. for the purpose on top priority basis.
Political Safeguards
Article 164(1) provides that in the States of Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chattishgarh and Orissa 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.
Article 330 provides for reservation of seats for SCs & STs in the Lok Sabha. In pursuance of this Article, 106, out of 545 seats are reserved for members of SC/ST communities. In the 11 th, 12th and 13th Lok Sabha, there were respectively 123, and Members of Parliament belonging to SC/ST communities, which indicates that besides the reserve Constituencies SC/ST candidates are elected against unreserved Lok Sabha seats also. It is a healthy sign of social transfonnation.
Article 332 provides for reservation of seats for SCs & STs in the State Vidhan Sabhas (Legislative Assemblies).
Article 243-D which came into existence with the Constitution (Seventy third Amendment) Act, 1992, seats in Panchayats from village Panchayats to Zila Parishads will be reserved for SCs & STs in proportion to their population at respective level, in direct election. Out of the seats reserved for SCs & STs one-third seats will be reserved for women of these communities. These reserved seats for SCs/STs shall be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a Panchayat at each level.
With the enactment of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas)Act, 1996. (No. 40 of 1996), the provisions of Part IX of the Constitution relating to Panchayats have been extended to the Scheduled Areas subject to exceptions and modifications that a Legislature of a State shall not make any law inconsistent with any of the following features:- Customary law, social and . religious practices and traditional management practices of community services.
Article 243-T. In accordance with the Constitution (Seventy-Fourth Amendment) Act, 1992, out of total seats to be filled by direct elections, seats shall be reserved for SCs/STs in proportion to their population in the Municipal Bodies at each level. Out of these reserved seats for SCs/STs at least one-third shall be reserved for SC/ST women.
Article 371 contains special provision with respect to Nagaland.
Article 371 B contains special provisions with respect to Assam.
Article 371C contains special provisions with respect to Manipur.
Article 371F contains special provisions with respect to Sikkim.
Article 371G contains special provisions with respect to Mizoram.
Article 371H contains special provisions with respect to Arunachal Pradesh.
Service Safeguards:
Article 16(4) empowers the State to make any provision for the reservation in appointments or posts in favour of any backward class of citizens which, in the opinion of the State, is not adequately represented in the services under the State.
Article 16(4) A The Supreme Court in their judgement dated 16.11.1992 in Indira Sawhney case held that the existing policy of reservation in promotion is not sustainable under Article 16(4) of the Constitution. The Supreme Court, however, allowed that the existing policy of reservation may continue for a period of five year i.e. up to 15.11.1997.
The Government of India, however, considered it necessary to continue with reservation in promotion in the case of SCs/STs as their representation in services had not reached the required level. Accordingly Article 16 was amended vide Constitution (Seventy-Seventh Amendment) Act, 1995 empowering the Government to provide for reservation in promotion for SCs&STs by inserting Clause 4A as under: “Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any provision for classes of posts in the services under the State in favour of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tries which in the opinion of the State are not adequately represented in the services under the State.” reservation in matter of promotion to any class or Keeping in view the spirit of the amendment it was expected that reservation in promotion would be extended to all levels and all classes of posts, including those above the lowest rung of Group A upto which the present policy of reservation in promotion is restricted as the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are not adequately represented in services, especially in Group A & B. Upon consultation on this issues, the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes sent its comments to Department of Personnel Govt, of India stating that reservation in promotion should be extended to all levels including within Group A. However, the DoPT’s OM No. 36012/18/95-Estt. (Res.) Part II dated 13.8.97 did not incorporate any such provision and merely extended the ‘existing policy of reservation’. In this regard it is observed that the Govt, of India has not implemented amendment in its true spirit. The order was issued ignoring the advice of the Commission and a separate report in this regard has already been submitted to the President.
In its Fourth Report Commission had recommended that the reservation in promotion should be extended to all levels in all classes of posts by modifying the DoPT O.M. dated 13.8.97. Commission reiterates its recommendation to ensure that the most downtrodden sections of the society gets its due share and the opportunity to work and contribute in the management.
Article 335 provides “The claims of the members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes shall be taken into consideration, consistently with the maintenance of efficiency of administration, in the making of appointments to services and posts in connection with the affairs of the Union or of a State.”
Article 338-National Commission for Scheduled Castes There shall be a Commission for the Scheduled Castes to be known as the National Commission for the Scheduled Castes.