Art. 371 series I: regional-equity provisions (Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Goa)

Detail

1. Map of the whole Art. 371 series

• Special provisions for certain states: these are extra rules in the Constitution that apply to only one state, or to one region inside a state. They are not part of the normal Centre–state pattern. All of them sit in Part XXI ("Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions"), Arts. 371–371J.
• Parliament added each one by a constitutional amendment under Art. 368. Each needed a special majority: a majority of the total membership of each House, plus two-thirds of the members present and voting.

Article	State	Amendment (year)	Purpose (in brief)	Family
371	Maharashtra, Gujarat	7th (1956); adapted after Bombay was split in 1960	Development boards for backward regions	Regional equity
371A	Nagaland	13th (1962)	Protects Naga customs, customary law and land	Identity and security
371B	Assam	22nd (1969)	Assembly committee for tribal-area members	Identity and security
371C	Manipur	27th (1971)	Assembly committee for Hill Area members	Identity and security
371D, 371E	Andhra Pradesh (now also Telangana)	32nd (1973)	Local cadres, local quotas, Administrative Tribunal; central university	Regional equity
371F	Sikkim	36th (1975)	Sikkim joins India; assembly of at least 30	Identity and security, plus assembly size
371G	Mizoram	53rd (1986)	Protects Mizo customs and land; assembly of at least 40	Identity and security, plus assembly size
371H	Arunachal Pradesh	55th (1986)	Governor's role in law and order; assembly of at least 30	Identity and security, plus assembly size
371I	Goa	56th (1987)	Assembly of at least 30	Assembly size only
371J	Karnataka	98th (2012)	Development board and local quotas for Hyderabad-Karnataka	Regional equity

• Three strands:
• Regional equity inside a state (371, 371D, 371J). These target poorer regions within one state. They are the subject of this section.
• Identity and security (the North-East and Sikkim). Section 5 covers these.

• Minimum assembly size for small states: Sikkim 30, Mizoram 40, Arunachal 30, Goa 30. A state assembly normally needs at least 60 members under Art. 170. These provisions let small states have fewer.

• NCERT Class 11 (Federalism) lists the following among states with special provisions: Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Sikkim and Telangana.

2. Art. 371: Maharashtra and Gujarat

• Background: the 7th Amendment (1956) inserted the provision for the old bilingual Bombay State. The Bombay Reorganisation Act, 1960 split Bombay into Maharashtra and Gujarat, and the provision was adapted to cover both new states.
• Special responsibility of the Governor: a task that the Constitution gives the Governor directly. Usually the Governor acts on the ministers' advice (Art. 163). In a special responsibility, the Governor consults the ministers but can use their own judgement to make sure the task is done.
• What Art. 371(2) lets the President order [4][5]:
• (a) separate development boards for Vidarbha, Marathwada and the rest of Maharashtra, or for Saurashtra, Kutch and the rest of Gujarat. Each board's working report must be placed before the State Legislative Assembly every year.
• (b) equitable allocation of funds (a fair share) for development spending in these areas, "subject to the requirements of the State as a whole".

• (c) equitable arrangements for technical education, vocational training and jobs in state services in all these areas.

• How it works, step by step [5][6]:

• Presidential Order: the President gives the Governor the special responsibility.
• Governor's Order: the Governor sets up the board(s).

• Annual report: each board reports to the Assembly every year.

• Maharashtra in practice:

• The President issued the State of Maharashtra (Special Responsibility of the Governor for Vidarbha, Marathwada and the Rest of Maharashtra) Order, 1994 [5].
• On 30 April 1994 the Governor issued the Development Boards for Vidarbha, Marathwada and the Rest of Maharashtra Order, 1994. It was partly changed in 2011 [5].

• The boards lapsed in 2020 and were later revived. Check the latest notified Order before the exam.

• Links:

• The Vidarbha statehood demand (NCERT Class 11) shows that boards have not fully satisfied regional feeling.
• The Kelkar Committee (2013), a High-Level Committee on Balanced Regional Development in Maharashtra, studied the gaps between regions and how to close them.

3. Arts. 371D and 371E: Andhra Pradesh and Telangana

• Background:
• Mulki rules: old Hyderabad State rules that reserved government jobs for "mulkis", meaning local residents of Hyderabad State.
• After Andhra Pradesh was formed in 1956, people in Telangana felt outsiders were taking their jobs. This led to the Telangana agitation (1969). Courts later ruled on the Mulki rules, and coastal Andhra answered with the Jai Andhra agitation (1972–73).
• Six-Point Formula (1973): a compromise agreed by the state's political leaders. It replaced the Mulki rules with local preference in jobs and education across all regions and called for constitutional backing.

• That backing came through the 32nd Amendment (1973), which inserted Arts. 371D and 371E [6].

• Art. 371D: main parts [6]:

• Clauses (1)–(2): the President can order equitable opportunities in public employment and education for people from different parts of the state. The tools are:
  • local cadres: posts grouped by area, so recruitment and transfers stay within that area;
  • local-area reservation: a share of posts and college seats kept for local candidates.
• Clause (3): the President can set up an Administrative Tribunal for appointment, allotment and promotion in state civil posts. An Administrative Tribunal is a special body that hears government employees' service disputes in place of regular courts.
• Clause (5) proviso: "the State Government may, by special order made in writing and for reasons to be specified therein, modify or annul any order of the Administrative Tribunal before it becomes effective" [6].

• Clause (8): the President can abolish the tribunal if it is no longer needed [6].

• Art. 371E: Parliament may set up a central university in the state by law. This became the University of Hyderabad.

• P. Sambamurthy v. State of Andhra Pradesh (1987):
• Problem: under the proviso, the state government could overturn the tribunal's rulings. The government is itself one of the parties in a service dispute.
• Holding: the Supreme Court struck down the proviso to Art. 371D(5).
• Reason: the tribunal replaces the High Court. If the executive can cancel its rulings, the tribunal is no longer a real judicial body, and that damages judicial review (the courts' power to check whether government action is lawful). Judicial review is part of the basic structure (core features of the Constitution that even an amendment cannot destroy).

• Lesson: a constitutional amendment itself can be struck down if it damages the basic structure.

• Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014:

• The Act created Telangana as a separate state [7].
• Section 97 of the Act amended Art. 371D. The article now reads "the State of Andhra Pradesh or the State of Telangana", so local cadres, local quotas and the tribunal apply to both states [7][6].

4. Art. 371J: Karnataka (Hyderabad-Karnataka, now Kalyana-Karnataka)

• Origin:
• In March 2012 both Houses of the Karnataka legislature passed a resolution asking for special provisions for the Hyderabad-Karnataka region [3].
• Parliament then took up the Constitution (118th Amendment) Bill, 2012. It was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 7 September 2012, passed by the Lok Sabha on 18 December 2012 and passed by the Rajya Sabha on 19 December 2012 [3].

• It became the Constitution (98th Amendment) Act, 2012 [2].

• Region covered: six districts of the old Nizam's Hyderabad State: Gulbarga (Kalaburagi), Bidar, Raichur, Koppal, Yadgir and Bellary (Ballari) [3]. The region was renamed Kalyana-Karnataka in 2019.

• What the President may order, as the Governor's special responsibility [2]:
• (a) a separate development board for the region. Its report must go before the State Legislative Assembly every year.
• (b) equitable allocation of funds for development in the region, "subject to the requirements of the State as a whole".

• (c) equitable opportunities for people of the region in public employment, education and vocational training. This is done through reservation for locals in educational institutions and in state-government posts in the region.

• Stated aim: to build an institutional mechanism (a permanent body with legal backing) for the region's development, to promote inclusive growth, and to reduce disparity between regions and between districts in Karnataka [3].

• Difference from Art. 371:
• Art. 371J is newer. It names a local quota in education and state jobs in clear terms.
• Art. 371 speaks more broadly of "adequate facilities" and "adequate opportunities".

5. Art. 371I: Goa

• 56th Amendment (1987) came with Goa's statehood. Daman and Diu were separated as a Union Territory.
• The article only says the Goa Legislative Assembly shall have at least 30 members. There is no development board, quota or special Governor role.
• It belongs to the "small-state assembly size" strand, not the regional-equity strand.

6. Assessment: do boards and quotas work?

• For:
• They give backward regions a legal claim to a share of funds, jobs and seats.
• The annual report to the Assembly keeps the issue in front of legislators.

• They answer regional anger inside the existing state, without redrawing borders. This links to the NCERT Class 12 lesson that India accommodates regional aspirations through democratic negotiation.

• Against:

• The "fair share" is always "subject to the requirements of the State as a whole", so the state government still decides much of it.
• Boards depend on Presidential and Governor's Orders that can lapse, as Maharashtra's did in 2020.
• Telangana still became a separate state in 2014, even after more than 40 years of Art. 371D. Vidarbha's demand also continues.

• Local quotas can split the state's job market and limit people's freedom to work anywhere in the state.

• NCERT question: do these provisions really reduce regional imbalance, or do they only postpone demands for new states?

Prelims Hooks

• Art. 371 covers Maharashtra and Gujarat: boards for Vidarbha, Marathwada and the rest of Maharashtra, and for Saurashtra, Kutch and the rest of Gujarat. It was added by the 7th Amendment, 1956.
• Arts. 371D and 371E were added by the 32nd Amendment, 1973. 371E covers a central university (University of Hyderabad). 371D(3) covers the Administrative Tribunal.
• P. Sambamurthy (1987) struck down the proviso to Art. 371D(5), which let the state government change or cancel tribunal orders, because it hurt judicial review.
• Section 97 of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014 amended Art. 371D to cover both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
• Art. 371J came from the 98th Amendment, 2012 (passed as the 118th Amendment Bill). It covers Hyderabad-Karnataka, renamed Kalyana-Karnataka in 2019, with six districts: Kalaburagi, Bidar, Raichur, Koppal, Yadgir and Ballari.
• Art. 371I (Goa, 56th Amendment, 1987): only a minimum assembly of 30. There is no development board.
• Trap: under Arts. 371, 371D and 371J, the board or quota comes into force through a Presidential Order. The Governor then has a special responsibility. The state legislature does not create it.
• Trap: under Arts. 371 and 371J, the board's report goes every year to the State Legislative Assembly, not to Parliament.
• Minimum assembly sizes: Sikkim 30, Mizoram 40, Arunachal 30, Goa 30. Mizoram is the odd one out.

Mains Points

• Asymmetric federalism within states: Arts. 371, 371D and 371J show that India deals with inequality inside a state through constitutional boards and quotas, not only by creating new states. This is a flexible tool, but its results are mixed: Telangana still separated in 2014, and Vidarbha's demand continues.
• Accountability gap: board funding is "subject to the requirements of the State as a whole", and Presidential Orders can lapse (Maharashtra, 2020). Reform ideas:
• fix fund shares by statute or by a formula (Kelkar Committee, 2013);
• require boards to stay in force without breaks;

• hold timely Assembly debates on the annual reports.

• Rights trade-off: local cadres and local quotas protect backward regions. They also weaken the idea of a single state-wide job market and raise equality questions under Arts. 14 and 16. Sambamurthy (1987) shows that even special provisions must respect judicial review.

• GS-I link (post-1947 politics): the chain runs Mulki agitations → Six-Point Formula (1973) → Art. 371D → Telangana statehood (2014). It shows how regional movements can be absorbed by constitutional compromise and later come back as statehood demands.