Article 330 of Indian Constitution: Reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the House of the People

Article 330 Of Indian Constitution

Original Text:

(1) Seats shall be reserved in the House of the People for —

• the Scheduled Castes;
• the Scheduled Tribes except the Scheduled Tribes in the autonomous districts of Assam; and]
• the Scheduled Tribes in the autonomous districts of Assam.

(2) The number of seats reserved in any State 2[or Union territory] for the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes under clause (1) shall bear, as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the total number of seats allotted to that State 2[or Union territory] in the House of the People as the population of the Scheduled Castes in the State 2[or Union territory] or of the Scheduled Tribes in the State 2[or Union territory] or part of the State 2[or Union territory], as the case may be, in respect of which seats are so reserved, bears to the total population of the State 2[or Union territory].

(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in clause (2), the number of seats reserved in the House of the People for the Scheduled Tribes in the autonomous districts of Assam shall bear to the total number of seats allotted to that State a proportion not less than the population of the Scheduled Tribes in the said autonomous districts bears to the total population of the State.

[Explanation. —In this article and in article 332, the expression “population” means the population as ascertained at the last preceding Census of which the relevant figures have been published:

Provided that the reference in this Explanation to the last preceding census of which the relevant figures have been published shall, until the relevant figures for the first census taken after the year 5 [2026] have been published, be construed as a reference to the 6 [2001] census.]

Explanation of Article 330 of Indian Constitution:

Provisions for Reservation of Seats in the House of people for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes:

• To deal with the backwardness and historical injustices towards Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes, the Constitutions provided for the Reservation of seats in the Lok Sabha for SCs and STs in proportion to their population in states.
• It is to be noted that this provision is not equivalent to the separate electorate; the candidates are elected by all the voters of that constituency.
• The Constitution had provided for this provision to continue for 10 years; however, it has been extended continuously since then by 10 years at a time. The 104^th Constitutional Amendment Act extended the reservations till 2030.
• The 87^th Constitutional Amendment Act has provided for the fixing of reserved seats on the basis of 2001 census

The article ensures that there shall be a reservation of seats for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes (except the scheduled tribes in the autonomous districts of Assam) and the scheduled tribes in the autonomous districts of Assam in the Lok Sabha.

The number of seats for scheduled castes or scheduled tribes in any state or union Territory of India shall be proportional to their population in that State or Union territory, as compared to the total population of that state or union territory, as nearly as possible.

In spite of the provisions in clause 2 of the article, a minimum proportion of seats in the House of the People shall be reserved for the scheduled tribes (ST) in the autonomous district of Assam, this proportion is based on the population of the scheduled Tribes in these districts as compared to the total population of the State.

In this article and in article 332, the term “population” refers to the population as per the last preceding census, the figures of which have been published.

List of Amendments in Article 330 of Indian Constitution

Amendments in Article 330 of Indian Constitution	Description
87th Amendment Act, 2003	To provide for the Reservation of the seats in the house of the people for scheduled Tribes in Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram Amended article 332 of the Constitution to provide for similar Reservation in the legislative Assemblies of Nagaland and Meghalaya. The amendment has provided for the fixing of reserved seats on the basis of 2001 census figures.
104th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2019	The amendment act extends the deadline for the termination of the Reservation of seats for members from scheduled castes (SC) and the scheduled Tribes (ST) in the House of the People and state legislative Assemblies by a period of ten years. Earlier, there was a provision (Article 331) for the nomination of 2 Anglo-Indians in the Lok Sabha by the President if the community is not represented adequately.

Note: The Government recently passed 106^th Constitutional Amendment Act, which has inserted article 330A after article 330 to provide 1/3^rd reservation for women in House of the People.

For further Reference:

Read the constitution of India.

Read the Parliament.

Other Related Links:

Indian Constitution: All Articles and schedules	Article 1 of Indian Constitution
Article 2 of Indian Constitution	Article 3 of Indian Constitution
Article 4 of indian Constitution	Article 5 of Indian Constitution
Fundamental Rights	DPSP
Fundamental Duties	Amendments of the Indian Constitution
Article 329 of Indian Constitution	Article 331 of Indian Constitution