Constitutional safeguard for SCs and STs

CONSTITUTIONAL SAFEGUARD FOR SCs AND STs

(Project Topic)

PROJECT SUBMITTED TO:

DR. AVINASH SAMAL
FACULTY OF INDIAN POLITICAL SYSTEM

PROJECT SUBMITTED BY:

AMIT SMRITI XALXO
ROLL NO. 11
Sem-3

HIDAYATULLAH NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, RAIPUR

SUBMITTED ON: 24.08.2015

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 Constitutional safeguard for SCs and STs

DECLARATION OF CANDIDATE

I, Amit Smriti Xalxo , hereby declare that, the project work entitled, Constitutional
Safeguard for SCs and STs submitted to H.N.L.U., Raipur is record of an original work
done by me under the able guidance of Mr. Avinash Samal, Faculty Member, H.N.L.U.,
Raipur.

Amit Smriti Xalxo

Semester 3
Roll No. 11

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 Constitutional safeguard for SCs and STs

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I, Amit smriti xalxo, would like to humbly present this project with the grace of the almighty
to Dr. Avinash Samal. I would first of all like to express my most sincere gratitude to Dr.
Avinash Samal for his paramount support and encouragement. I am thankful for being given
the honour of doing this research paper. I am thankful to the library staff for all the
conveniences which played a major role in the completion of this project. Last but by far the
most important, I would like to thank God for keeping me in good health and senses to
complete this project. I am thankful to my seniors for all their boundless support,
encouragement and valuable advice whenever needed. I present this project with a humble
heart.

Name-Amit smriti xalxo

Roll no. - 11
Sem-3

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 Constitutional safeguard for SCs and STs

CONTENT

1. Declaration.. 2
2. Acknowledgement 3
3. Introduction. 5
4. Objective , scope, research methodology... 6
5. Social safeguard...............................................................................8
6. Economic safeguard.................................. 11
7. Education and cultural safeguard................................................12
8. Political Safeguard...............................................................................13
9. Service safeguard..................................................................................16
10. Conclusion17
11. Bibliography18

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 Constitutional safeguard for SCs and STs

INTRODUCTION

The founding fathers of our constitution desired to secure justice, social, economic and
political for all citizens. They realized that the inequitable forces embedded in the socio-
economic system and also political organizations, had resulted in deprivation and
disadvantages and disadvantages for the poor and the weaker sections of the society .They,
therefore, considered it necessary to provide specific safeguards in the constitution for the
Scheduled caste and Scheduled Tribes, who due to tradition and a combination of
circumstances, were the most deprived, weak and vulnerable amongst the various sections of
society. The various safeguards and protective measures sought to measures sought to ensure
for them all round development and freedom from exploitation and social injustice so that
they could form part of the mainstream of society.

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OBJECTIVES
To understand the Constitutional safeguard Provided for SCs and STs.
To understand the Constitutional Protective measures for SCs and STs.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This research is descriptive and analytical in nature. Secondary and Electronic resources have
been largely used to gather information and data about the topic.

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 Constitutional safeguard for SCs and STs

Constitutional Safeguard

The preamble to the constitution of India provides for securing to all the citizens, social,
economic and political justice and equality of status and opportunity . The Directive
principle as contained in Article 46 of the constitution provide that 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 Scheduled Tribes and shall protect them from
social injustice and all forms of exploitation. To facilitate the implementation of the above
Directive Principles , the Constitution of India provides for a number of safeguards for the
Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes.

The Constitutional Safe Guards can be broadly group into five Categories-

1.Social Safeguards
2.Economic Safeguards
3.Educational and Cultural Safeguards
4.Political Safeguards
5.Service Safeguards

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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.

Article 342-

Scheduled Tribes
(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 tribes or tribal communities or parts of or
groups within tribes or tribal communities which shall for the purposes of this
Constitution be deemed to be Scheduled Tribes 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 Tribes
specified in a notification issued under clause (1) any tribe or tribal
community or part of or group within any tribe or tribal community, but save
as aforesaid a notification issued under the said clause shall not be varied by any subsequent
notification.

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Article 366.- Definitions

In this Constitution, unless the context otherwise requires, the following expressions have the
meanings hereby respectively assigned to them, that is to say -

(24) "Scheduled Castes" means such castes, 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 or

groups within such tribes or tribal communities as are deemed under article 342 to be

Scheduled Tribes for the purposes of this Constitution

The Constitutional Safe Guards can be broadly group into five Categories-

1.Social Safeguards
2.Economic Safeguards
3.Educational and Cultural Safeguards
4.Political Safeguards
5.Service Safeguards

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1.Social Safeguards-

Article -17 Abolition of Untouchability

" 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.

This Article enacts two declarations . Firstly , it announces that Untouchability is

abolished and its practice in any form is forbidden , and secondly it declares that the
enforcement of any disability arising out of untouchability shall be an offence punishable
in accordance with law.1

Article -25. Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and

propagation of religion

1. Subject to public order, morality and health and to the other provisions of this Part, all
persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess,
practise and propagate religion.
2. Nothing in this article shall affect the operation of any existing law or prevent the
State from making any law-

(a) Regulating or restricting any economic , financial, Political or other secular activity
which may be associated with religious practise .

( b) . providing for social welfare and reform or the throwing open of Hindu religious
institutions of a public character to all classes and sections of Hindus.

Article-23
Prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labour-

1.Prohibits traffic in human beings and beggar and other similar forms of forced labour and
provides that any contravention of this provision shall be an offence punishable in accordance
with law .

1
V.N. shuklas , constitution of india12th edition,eastern company , lucknow

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It does not specifically mention SCs And STs but since the majority of belong to SCs and
STs this article has a special significance for SCs and STs .In pursuance of this article there is
the Bonded Labour System (Abolition ) Act ,1976, and there is a centrally Sponsored Scheme
for identification ,liberation and rehabilitation of bonded labour.

Article -24
Prohibition of employment of children in factories, etc.-

Provides that no child below the age of 14 years shall be employed to work in an factory or
mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment. There are Central and State laws to
prevent child labour. This article is significant for SCs and STs too as a substantial portion ,
if not the majority , of child labour engaged in hazardous employment belong to SCs and
STs.

ARTICLE -25(2)b-

Provides that Hindu religious institutions of a public character shall be thrown open to all
classes and sections of Hindus. This provision is relevant as some sects of Hindus used to
claim that members belonging to Scheduled Castes had no right to enter the temples.

Economic Safeguards-
The Provision of Article 46, 23 and mentioned above also form part of the economic
safeguards. The specific safeguards for the Scheduled Tribes are mentioned below-

Article-24
According to clause (1), the provision of the fifth Scheduled 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.

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.According to clause (20), the provision of the sixth Scheduled shall apply to the

administration of the tribal areas in 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 a 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 the
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 the state.

. A similar provision exists in this article for paying such special grants to the States covered
under sixth Scheduled of the consolidated fund of India.

. Fifth Scheduled contains provisions regarding the administration and control of the
Scheduled Areas and Scheduled tribes .There are eight States having Scheduled Areas, viz,
Andhra Pradesh ,Bihar , Gujarat ,Himachal Pradesh ,Madhya Pradesh ,Maharashtra, Orissa
and Rajasthan . The Governors of these States have special responsibilities and Powers.
These States have Tribes Advisory Councils.(In addition Tamil Nadu and West Bengal
,which do not have any Scheduled ,also have statutory TACs).The Governors of these eight
states have the power to make regulation for the peace and good governance of any
Scheduled Areas, particularly for the following purposes-
(a) To prohibit the transfer of land by or among members of the Scheduled Tribes in such
areas,
(b) To regulate the allotment of land to members of the Scheduled Tribes in such areas,
(c) To regulate the carrying on of business as money lender by persons who lend
money to members of the Scheduled Tribes in such areas.

.Sixth Scheduled contains provision relating to the administration of the Tribal areas in
the State of Assam, (North Cachar hills district and Karbi Anlong District),Meghalaya,
Mizoradowsm and Tripura .There are Autonomous District Councils and Autonomous
Regional councils in these areas which have a long tradition of self-management systems
.These Autonomous councils not only administer the various department and development

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programmes but they also have power to make laws on variety of subject e.g. land , forest,
shifting cultivation , village or town administration including village or town police and
public health and sanitation ,marriage and divorce and social customs.

Education and Cultural Safeguards-

Article 15(4) empowers the state to make any special provision for the advancement of
any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for STs or SCs. The 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 and
STs in educational institutions including technical, engineering and medical colleges.
Article 29 (1) provides that any section of the citizen 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 all the Scheduled Tribes.
Article 350 A- It shall be the endeavour of every state and of every local authority within
the State to provide adequate facilities for the instructions in the mother-tongue at the primary
stage of education to children belonging to linguistic minority groups, and the primary stage
of education to children belonging to linguistic minority groups, and the President may issue
such directions to any State as he consider necessary or proper for securing the provisions of
such facilities .Most of the tribal communities have their own language oe dialects which
usually belong to a different family of languages than the one to which the State officially
language belongs.

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.

Political Safeguards-

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Article 164 (1) provides that in the States of Bihar Madhya Pradesh and orrisa 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 and STs in the Lok Sabha.
Article332 provides for reservation of SCs and STs in the State Vidhan Sabhas.
Article 334- originally laid down that the provision relating to the reservation of seats for
SCs and STs in the Lok Sabha and the State Vidhan Sabhas( And the representation of the
Anglo Indian community in the Lok Sabha and the State Vidhan Sabhas by nomination
)would cease to have effect on the expiration of a period of ten years from the
commencement of the Constitution .This article has since been amended four times ,
extending the said period by ten years on each occasion .
Article 243 D Reservation of Seats
(1) (A) Seat shall be reserved for The Scheduled Castes (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 total number of seat to be filled by direct election in that
panchayat as the population of the Scheduled Castes in that panchayat areas 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 constituency in a panchayat.
(2) Not less than one third of the total number of seat 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.

Article334. Reservation of seats and special representation to cease after

sixty years

Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this Part, the provisions of this
Constitution relating to

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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 sixty 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.

Service Safeguard

Article 16 (4)-Empowers the State to make any provision for the reservation or
appointment or posts in favour of any backward class of citizens which, in the opinion of the
State, is not adequately represented in the service under the state.

Article335 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 post in the connection with the affairs of the
union or of a state.
Article 320 (4) provides that consultation with the UPSC or any State Public Service
Commission shall not be required as respects the manner in which any provision under
Article 16(4) may be made or the manner in which effect may be given to the provision of
Article 335.

Article338-. National Commission for Scheduled Castes

1. There shall be a Commission for the Scheduled Castes to be known as the National
Commission for the Scheduled Castes.
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 may by
rule determine.

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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 -
a. to investigate and monitor all matters relating to the safeguards provided for
the Scheduled Castes 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;
b. to inquire into specific complaints with respect to the deprivation of rights and
safeguards of the Scheduled Castes;
c. to participate and advise on the planning process of socio-economic
development of the Scheduled Castes and to evaluate the progress of their
development under the Union and any State;
d. to present to the President, annually and at such other times as the
Commission may deem fit, reports upon the working of those safeguards;
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 Castes; and
f. to discharge such other functions in relation to the protection, welfare and
development and advancement of the Scheduled Castes as the President may,
subject to the provisions of any law made by Parliament, by rule specify.
g. 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 Castes; and
h. to discharge such other functions in relation to the protection, welfare and
development and advancement of the Scheduled Castes 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
memorandum 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 recommendations.
8. The Commission shall, while investigating any matter referred to in sub-clause (a) or
inquiring into any complaint referred to in sub-clause (b) of clause (5), have all the
powers of a civil court trying a suit and in particular in respect of the following
matters, namely:-
a. summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person from any part of India
and examining him on oath;
b. requiring the discovery and production of any documents;

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c. receiving evidence on affidavits;

d. requisitioning any public record or copy thereof from any court or office;
e. issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses and documents;
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 Castes.
10. In this article, references to the Scheduled Castes 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 article 340 by order specify and
also to the Anglo-Indian community.

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Conclusion

The inequitable forces working in the social and economic systems in the
country became instrumental for exploitative practices in the society .Hence it
was thought necessary to provide safeguards in the education ,social ,political
and other fields so that fruits development could be shared by all in the segment
of society irrespective of caste and creeds.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

M.P JAIN- Constitution of India

V.N SHUKLA-Constitution of India
Bare Act-Constitutional law

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