Power-sharing among social groups

Detail

1. What NCERT means by power-sharing among social groups

• Power-sharing among social groups means giving different social groups a share of power in the legislature and the administration. These groups include religious and linguistic groups, socially weaker sections and women.
• Why it is needed:
• Some groups would otherwise feel cut off from the system (alienated).
• Minorities get a fair share of power. Without it, the majority alone would decide.

• The opposite idea is majoritarianism: the belief that the majority community should rule the country in whatever way it wants, and ignore the wishes and needs of the minority. Sri Lanka's Sinhala Only Act, 1956 is NCERT's example.

• Two ways NCERT says it is done:

• Community government (Belgium): a separate government elected by the people of one language community (Dutch-, French- or German-speaking). It has power over cultural, educational and language matters, whatever region the people live in.

• Constitutional and legal arrangements (India): weaker sections and women get guaranteed seats. One example is reserved constituencies (constituencies where only candidates from a particular group, such as SCs or STs, can contest, while every voter in the constituency still votes).

• Khalil's dilemma (Lebanon), from NCERT:

• Lebanon fixes top posts by community. The President must be a Maronite Catholic, the Prime Minister a Sunni Muslim, the Deputy Prime Minister an Orthodox Christian and the Speaker a Shia Muslim.
• This brought peace after a civil war. But a citizen like Khalil cannot become President because he was born into another community.
• The lesson: fixed group shares can buy peace, but they can limit individual equal citizenship.

2. Indian arrangements at a glance

Arrangement	Legal anchor	Key facts
SC/ST seats in legislatures	Arts. 330 (Lok Sabha), 332 (state assemblies), 334 (time limit)	84 SC and 47 ST Lok Sabha seats under the 2008 delimitation; extended to 25 January 2030 [4]
Anglo-Indian nomination	Arts. 331, 333	Ended: the 2019 extension covered only SCs/STs, so nomination lapsed on 25 January 2020 [4]
Women: local bodies	Arts. 243D (panchayats), 243T (municipalities)	At least one-third of seats and chairperson posts; reserved seats rotate
Women: legislatures	Arts. 330A, 332A, 334A (106th Amendment, 2023)	One-third of seats; starts only after a delimitation based on the first census after 2023; lasts 15 years [5]
Jobs and education	Arts. 15(4), 16(4), 16(4A); 103rd Amendment, 2019 (Arts. 15(6), 16(6))	Special provisions for SCs, STs and backward classes; reservation in promotions for SCs/STs; up to 10% EWS quota
Religious and linguistic minorities	Arts. 29, 30, 350A, 350B	Cultural and educational rights; mother-tongue teaching; Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities
Tribal self-rule	Sixth Schedule; PESA 1996; Arts. 371-371J	Autonomous councils in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram [6]; gram sabha powers in Fifth Schedule areas [7]

3. Reserved seats for SCs and STs (Arts. 330, 332, 334)

• Art. 330 reserves Lok Sabha seats for SCs and STs. Art. 332 does the same for state Legislative Assemblies.
• The number of seats depends on each group's share of the state's population.
• Numbers: 84 SC and 47 ST seats in the Lok Sabha (2008 delimitation). Delimitation means redrawing the boundaries of constituencies, and fixing their number, on the basis of a census.
• Time limit (Art. 334):
• The original Constitution gave reservation for 10 years. It has been extended every 10 years since.
• By January 2020 it had run for 70 years, and it was due to expire on 25 January 2020 [4].
• The 104th Amendment Act, 2019 extended SC/ST reservation by 10 years, to 25 January 2030 [4].
• It was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 9 December 2019 as the Constitution (126th Amendment) Bill, 2019 [4]. Bill numbers and Act numbers are different.

• Anglo-Indians: the extension did not cover nominated Anglo-Indian members in the Lok Sabha and the assemblies, so that nomination ended [4].

• Detailed ECI procedure is covered in the elections-electoral-system note.

4. Women's representation

(a) Local bodies: in force

• Art. 243D reserves at least one-third of panchayat seats and chairperson posts for women. The 73rd Amendment, 1992 added Part IX.
• Art. 243T does the same for municipalities. The 74th Amendment, 1992 added Part IXA.
• Women's quota includes SC/ST women. Reserved seats are given out by rotation (a seat reserved in one term may be general in the next).

(b) Parliament and state assemblies: 106th Amendment, 2023 (Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam)

• It reserves, as nearly as possible, one-third of directly elected seats for women in the Lok Sabha (Art. 330A), state assemblies (Art. 332A) and the Delhi Assembly [5].
• One-third of SC/ST reserved seats go to women of those groups [5].
• When it starts (Art. 334A): only after a delimitation based on the first census after 2023, once that census is published [5].
• How long: 15 years from the start of the Act. Parliament can extend it by law [5].
• Seats reserved for women rotate after each later delimitation [5].
• Timing problem: the reference date for the new census is 1 March 2027. A delimitation based on it is unlikely to be finished before the 2029 Lok Sabha election, so the women's quota would probably not apply in 2029 [3].

(c) Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026: failed attempt to bring it forward

• Introduced: Lok Sabha, 16 April 2026. Negatived (defeated): 17 April 2026 [2].
• What it proposed:
• Raise the maximum size of the Lok Sabha to 850: up to 815 members from states and up to 35 from Union Territories [2].
• Allow delimitation on the basis of the 2011 census [3].

• Base women's reservation on that delimitation, so it could start earlier [3].

• Why it could fail: a constitutional amendment needs a special majority under Art. 368.

Step (Art. 368)	Requirement
1. Introduction	In either House; no President's prior permission needed
2. Passing in each House	Majority of the total membership, plus two-thirds of members present and voting
3. State ratification (only for federal matters, e.g. representation of states in Parliament)	Approval by the legislatures of at least half the states, by simple majority
4. President's assent	Must be given (24th Amendment, 1971)

5. Jobs and education

• Art. 15(4): the State can make special provisions for socially and educationally backward classes, SCs and STs.
• Art. 16(4): reservation in government posts for backward classes that are not adequately represented in State services.
• Art. 16(4A): reservation in promotions for SCs and STs.
• 103rd Amendment, 2019: added Arts. 15(6) and 16(6). These allow up to 10% reservation for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), that is, poor people who are not covered by the SC, ST or OBC quotas.
• Creamy layer: the better-off members of the backward classes. They are excluded from the OBC quota so that the benefit reaches those who are actually behind. It applies to OBC reservation in jobs and education. It does not apply to SC/ST seats in legislatures.

6. Minorities: cultural, educational and linguistic safeguards

• Art. 29: any group of citizens with its own language, script or culture has the right to preserve it. No one can be denied entry to a state-funded institution only because of religion, race, caste or language.
• Art. 30: religious and linguistic minorities have the right to set up and run educational institutions of their choice. The State cannot discriminate against them when giving grants.
• Art. 350A: states should provide teaching in the mother tongue at the primary stage for children of linguistic minorities.
• Art. 350B: a Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities, appointed by the President, looks into these safeguards and reports to the President.
• These are rights in culture and education. They are not reserved political seats.

7. Tribal self-rule

(a) Sixth Schedule (Arts. 244(2), 275(1))

• The Sixth Schedule governs tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram [6].
• Each autonomous district has an Autonomous District Council, and each autonomous region has a Regional Council. These councils have law-making and executive powers over land, forests, customary law and similar subjects [6].
• Councils by state:
• Assam: Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council, North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council, Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) [6].
• Meghalaya: Khasi Hills, Garo Hills and Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Councils [6].
• Tripura: Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) [6].
• Mizoram: councils such as the Lai Autonomous District Council [6].

(b) PESA 1996

• The Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 extends Part IX (panchayats) to Fifth Schedule areas. These are tribal areas in states other than the four Sixth Schedule states [7].
• It gives the gram sabha (the assembly of all adult voters of a village) powers over local resources, customs and dispute resolution [7].

(c) Special provisions: Arts. 371-371J

• Art. 371A (Nagaland) and Art. 371G (Mizoram): an Act of Parliament on the people's religious or social practices, customary law, or ownership and transfer of land applies there only if the state assembly agrees by resolution.
• Other clauses cover states such as Maharashtra and Gujarat (371), Assam (371B), Manipur (371C), Andhra Pradesh and Telangana (371D), Sikkim (371F), Arunachal Pradesh (371H), Goa (371I) and Karnataka (371J, Hyderabad-Karnataka region).
• Details are in the special-provisions-scheduled-areas and vulnerable-sections-safeguards notes.

8. Debates

(a) Group representation vs individual citizenship

• For group shares: they protect minorities from being permanently outvoted. Belgium avoided Sri Lanka's path this way.
• Against: fixed group shares can freeze identities. As in Khalil's case, they can deny an individual a post because of birth.
• India mixes the two. Every voter in a reserved constituency votes, so group seats sit inside a common electorate.

(b) India's choice against fixed communal allocation

• Separate electorates were the colonial system in which only members of a community voted for that community's candidate.
• The Constituent Assembly dropped separate electorates and seat reservation for religious minorities in 1949.
• Reservation stayed only for SCs and STs, groups defined by social disadvantage, not by religion.
• The aim was to stop politics from splitting along religious lines after Partition.

(c) Rotation and the creamy layer

• Rotation: panchayat and municipal reserved seats rotate, and so will women's legislative seats under Art. 334A [5]. SC/ST Lok Sabha seats change only at delimitation.
• Critics say fixed seats lock some voters out of contesting for decades.

• Others say rotating seats stop representatives from building up experience.

• Creamy layer: without it, a few better-off families may take most of the benefits.

(d) Strains: demands and failures of accommodation

• Ladakh: groups demand Sixth Schedule status and statehood for the Union Territory. The agitation turned violent in Leh in September 2025. Check the current status.
• Manipur: ethnic conflict between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities since May 2023. President's Rule was imposed in February 2025. Check the current status. President's Rule means the Union governs a state directly under Art. 356 after the state's constitutional machinery fails.
• It shows what happens when groups stop trusting shared institutions.

Prelims Hooks

• 104th Amendment Act, 2019 (introduced as the 126th Amendment Bill) extended SC/ST seats in the Lok Sabha and assemblies to 25 January 2030 and ended Anglo-Indian nomination (Arts. 331, 333).
• Art. 334A (106th Amendment, 2023): women's quota starts after a delimitation based on the first census after 2023 and lasts 15 years.
• One-third of SC/ST reserved seats are reserved for women of those groups, not one-third of general seats only.
• Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026: introduced 16 April 2026 and negatived 17 April 2026. It proposed a Lok Sabha of up to 850 members (815 from states, 35 from UTs).
• Art. 350B creates the Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities, appointed by the President. Art. 350A provides mother-tongue teaching at the primary stage.
• Sixth Schedule states: Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. Trap: PESA 1996 applies to Fifth Schedule areas, not these four states.
• Bodoland Territorial Council is in Assam; TTAADC is in Tripura; the Khasi, Garo and Jaintia Hills councils are in Meghalaya.
• Women's quota in panchayats is in Art. 243D; in municipalities it is in Art. 243T.
• EWS quota: 103rd Amendment, 2019, through Arts. 15(6) and 16(6).
• Trap: India has no reserved seats for religious minorities. The Constituent Assembly dropped them in 1949.

Mains Points

• Accommodation vs majoritarianism: India uses reserved constituencies, minority rights (Arts. 29-30), Sixth Schedule autonomy and Art. 371 to avoid Sri Lanka's path. Ladakh (2025) and Manipur (since 2023) show that these tools fail when they lag behind what people want or when groups lose trust in each other.
• Group rights within common citizenship: India keeps group shares inside a common electorate and limits them to social disadvantage, not religion. This avoids Lebanon-style fixed communal posts (Khalil's dilemma). The critique is that caste-based seats may still harden identities.
• Women's reservation delayed by delimitation: the 106th Amendment depends on the post-2023 census, with a reference date of 1 March 2027. The failure of the 131st Amendment Bill in 2026 means the quota is unlikely to apply in 2029. Delinking it from delimitation is a reform worth debating, along with the North-South seat-share concerns that delimitation raises.
• Fairness within reserved groups: rotation of seats and the creamy layer try to spread benefits more widely. Extending the creamy-layer test, or sub-classifying groups, is a live debate on whether reservation reaches the weakest.