What do you know by Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe? Describe the procedure for their ascertainment and how they are included in the appropriate list/orders. 

Question: What do you know by Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe? Describe the procedure for their ascertainment and how they are included in the appropriate list/orders. [MPJS 2013]

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Answer

Articles 341 and 342 of the Constitution of India define who would be Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes with respect to any State or Union Territory. The relevant Constitutional articles are quoted below:-

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 the clause of 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 purpose 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.

The relevant Articles of the Constitution which govern the entire reservation set up are the following:-

Article 16(4) “Nothing in this Article shall prevent the State from making any provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favor of any backward class of citizens which, in the opinion of the State, is not adequately represented in the services under the State.”

Article 46 “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.”

Article 335 “The claims of the members of the Scheduled Castes and the 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.”

List of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes: The existing lists of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are to be found in the following Orders and Acts:

1. The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950;
2. The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950;
3. The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) (Union Territories) Order, 1951.
4. The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) (Union Territories) Order, 1951;
5. The Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Castes Order, 1956;
6. The Constitution (Andaman and Nicobar Islands) Scheduled Tribes Order, 1959 as amended by the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Orders (Amendment) Act, 1976;
7. The Constitution (Dadra and Nagar Haveli) Scheduled Castes Order, 1962;
8. The Constitution (Dadra and Nagar Haveli) Scheduled Tribes Order, 1962;
9. The Constitution (Pondicherry) Scheduled Castes Order, 1964;
10. The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) (Uttar Pradesh) Order, 1967;
11. The Constitution (Goa, Daman and Diu) Scheduled Castes Order, .1968;
12. The Constitution (Goa, Daman, and Diu) Scheduled Tribes Order, 1968;
13. The Constitution (Nagaland) Scheduled Tribes Order, 1970;
14. The Constitution (Sikkim) Scheduled Castes Order, 1978;
15. The Constitution (Sikkim) Scheduled Tribes Order, 1978.

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