Consider the following statements about the provisions pertaining to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in India:
- 1.Provisions regarding the administration of the Tribal Areas in the States of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram are given in the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution of India.
- 2.Some tribes of India are entitled to exemption from paying Income Tax on certain incomes.
- 3.The Constitution of India provides for reservation of seats in Panchayats for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.
Which one of the following conclusions based on the above statements is correct?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (a) There are two correct statements, that include statement 2.
Statements 2 and 3 are correct. The tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram fall under the Sixth Schedule, not the Fifth, so statement 1 is wrong. The Constitution reserves at least one-third of the SC and ST seats in Panchayats for women of those groups, and members of Scheduled Tribes living in specified north-eastern areas are exempt from income tax on income from those areas.
- ✗ 1. Article 244(1) applies the Fifth Schedule to Scheduled Areas in every State other than Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram; Article 244(2) gives those four States' tribal areas the Sixth Schedule.
- ✓ 2. Members of Scheduled Tribes living in specified north-eastern areas pay no income tax on income arising in those areas, so some tribes do have an exemption on certain incomes.
- ✓ 3. Article 243D(2) reserves not less than one-third of the seats reserved for SCs and STs in a Panchayat for women of those groups; NCERT puts this at 17 per cent of all seats.
- • Since then The Income-tax Act, 2025 has since been enacted and carries the same exemption for Scheduled Tribe members in its Schedule III, in place of section 10(26) of the Income-tax Act, 1961.
Remember · Fifth Schedule = Scheduled Areas in most States; Sixth Schedule = tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram (Art 244). Panchayats: one-third of SC/ST seats go to SC/ST women (Art 243D).
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 Social Change and Development in India, Ch 3 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- Constitution of India (Legislative Department, Government of India), Article 244 ↗ “(2) The provisions of the Sixth Schedule shall apply to the administration of the tribal areas in 2[the States of Assam, 3[, 5[Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram]]]. … (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.”
- NCERT Class 12 · Social Change and Development in India, Chapter 3 “Out of this, 17 per cent seats are reserved for women belonging to the scheduled castes and tribes.”
Question and answer: UPSC's provisional GS Paper I (2026, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·