332. Reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assemblies of the State
(1)Seats shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes,except the Scheduled Tribes in the autonomous districts of Assam, in the Legislative Assembly of every State.(2)Seats shall be reserved also for the autonomous districts in the Legislative Assembly of the State of Assam.(3)The number of seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assembly of any State under clause ( 1 ) shall bear, as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the total number of seats in the Assembly as the population of the Scheduled Castes in the State or of the Scheduled Tribes in the State or part of the State, as the case may be, in respect of which seats are so reserved bears to the total population of the State.(3A)Notwithstanding anything contained in clause ( 3 ), until the taking effect, under article 170 , of the re-adjustment, on the basis of the first census after the year2026 , of the number of seats in the Legislative Assemblies of the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland, the seats which shall be reserved for the Scheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assembly of any such State shall be--(a)if all the seats in the Legislative Assembly of such State in existence on the date of coming into force of the Constitution (Fifty-seventh Amendment) Act, 1987 (hereafter in this clause referred to as the existing Assembly) are held by members of the Scheduled Tribes, all the seats except one;(b)in any other case, such number of seats as bears to the total number of seats, a proportion not less than the number (as on the said date) of members belonging to the Scheduled Tribes in the existing Assembly bears to the total number of seats in existing Assembly.(3B)Notwithstanding anything contained in clause ( 3 ), until the re-adjustment, under article 170 , takes effect on the basis of the first census after the year2026 , of the number of seats in the Legislative Assembly of the State of Tripura, the seats which shall be reserved for the Scheduled Tribes in the legislative Assembly, shall be, such number of scats as bears to the total number of seats, a proportion not less than the number, as on the date of coming into force of the Constitution (Seventy-second Amendment) Act, 1992 , of members belonging to the Scheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assembly in existence on the said date bears to the total number of seats in that Assembly.(4)The number of seats reserved for an autonomous district in the Legislative Assembly of the State of Assam shall bear to the total number of seats in that Assembly a proportion not less than the population of the district bears to the total population of the State.(5)The constituencies for the seats reserved for any autonomous district of Assam shall not comprise any area outside that district.(6)No person who is not a member of a Scheduled Tribe of any autonomous district of the State of Assam shall be eligible for election to the Legislative Assembly of the State from any constituency of that district.Provided that for elections to the Legislative Assembly of the State of Assam, the representation of the Scheduled Tribes and non-Scheduled Tribes in the constituencies included in the Bodoland Territorial Areas District, so notified, and existing prior to the constitution of the Bodoland Territorial Areas District, shall be maintained.[Editorial comment- The Constitution (Twenty-Three Amendment) Act, 1969, this amendment was added where the scheduled tribes in Nagaland is no longer entitled to reservations in the Lok Sabha and the State Legislative Assembly, according to sections 2 and 3 of the act amending Articles 330 and 332 of the Constitution. Also refer ][Editorial comment-The Constitution (Thirty-First Amendment) Act, 1973, Assam, Nagaland, and Meghalaya’s tribal regions were also found to be under the exclusionary rule of Article 332.Also Refer][Editorial comment-The Constitution (Fifty-First Amendment) Act, 1984, it wаs enасted tо рrоvide fоr reservаtiоn оf seats in the house of the реорle for scheduled tribes in nаgаlаnd, meghаlаyа, mizоrаm аnd аrunасhаl рrаdesh аnd аlsо fоr reservаtiоn оf seаts fоr sсheduled tribes in the legislative assemblies of nаgаlаnd and meghаlаyа by suitably amending articles 330 аnd 332. The number оf seаts reserved fоr sсheduled саstes and scheduled tribes in the legislative assembly оf аny stаte under аrtiсle 332 оf the соnstitutiоn will hаve to be determined having regаrd tо the provisions of article 332 (3) оf the соnstitutiоn.Also refer][Editorial comment-The Constitution (Fifty-seventh Amendment) Act, 1987, dealt with the reservation of seats for tribal people of the North-Eastern states ( Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh ) in the Lower House of Parliament and State legislatures. This cannot be considered to be one of the major amendments but it was an important move for the upliftment of the weaker sections or those sections of society that were neglected for a very long time. The Act decided the rule of reservation or the rule for calculating the number of seats that were to be reserved for the Scheduled Tribes.Also Refer][Editorial comment-The Constitution (Ninetieth Amendment) Act, 2003, is an additional act that modifies the Indian Constitution by reserving seats for members of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in state legislatures under Article 332 of the Indian Constitution (90th Amendment Act). It aimed to bring about comprehensive changes in Indian politics and help the Bodo people get their due. Under this law, Bodo speakers are able to vote in the Bodoland territorial region, and the Constitution includes provisions to support their development.Also Refer]
