UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Keep ST classification criteria free of ‘political manipulation’: tribal body
Q1. Article 342(2) of the Constitution provides that, save as provided in that clause, "a notification issued under clause (1) shall not be varied by any subsequent notification". What exactly does this bar mean in relation to the list of Scheduled Tribes?
- A. The President may vary the notification only after holding fresh consultation with the Governor of the State to which the notification relates.
- B. The notified list may be varied only by the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes acting with the concurrence of the Registrar General of India.
- C. A community once notified may be dropped by a subsequent presidential notification, though no fresh community may be added in that manner.
- D. The notified list may thereafter be varied only by a law made by Parliament, and not by any further presidential notification.
Q2. Under the modalities laid down on 15 June 1999 (as amended on 25 June 2002) for deciding claims for modification of the Scheduled Tribes lists, whose recommendation is the originating requirement, without which a claim is not processed further at all?
- A. The Registrar General of India, in the Ministry of Home Affairs, which maintains census and ethnographic records
- B. The State Government or Union Territory Administration concerned, which must recommend and justify the proposal
- C. The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, the constitutional body monitoring safeguards for Scheduled Tribes
- D. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs, the nodal ministry for notification of a community as a Scheduled Tribe
Q3. Consider the following statements comparing the Lokur Committee (1965) with the Task Force of 2014 that re-examined the criteria for scheduling tribes:
1. The Lokur Committee was constituted by the Ministry of Home Affairs, whereas the 2014 Task Force was constituted by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
2. The 2014 Task Force was chaired by the then Secretary (Tribal Affairs) and recommended revision of both the criteria and the procedure for scheduling of tribes.
3. The Task Force retained "indications of primitive traits" as a valid test while recommending that "geographical isolation" be deleted from the Lokur criteria.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- The Lokur Committee was constituted by the Ministry of Home Affairs, whereas the 2014 Task Force was constituted by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
- The 2014 Task Force was chaired by the then Secretary (Tribal Affairs) and recommended revision of both the criteria and the procedure for scheduling of tribes.
- The Task Force retained "indications of primitive traits" as a valid test while recommending that "geographical isolation" be deleted from the Lokur criteria.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 1 and 3 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q4. Which one of the following correctly describes the present division of responsibility in operationalising Scheduled Tribe status in India?
- A. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs alone issues and verifies every Scheduled Tribe certificate in all States and Union Territories of the country.
- B. The Registrar General of India is the sole authority both for notifying Scheduled Tribes and for verifying each individual Scheduled Tribe certificate claim.
- C. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs is the nodal ministry for notification of a community as a Scheduled Tribe, while issuance and verification of certificates rests with the State/UT.
- D. The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes issues Scheduled Tribe certificates in all Fifth Schedule areas and refers every complaint of misuse directly to the courts.
Q5. At the national convention of the Adivasi Adhikar Rashtriya Manch in New Delhi, its vice-president singled out certain of the Lokur Committee's five criteria as obsolete and in need of review. How many of the five criteria were so singled out?
- A. One of them
- B. Two of them
- C. Three of them
- D. All five of them
Q6. With reference to the charter of demands adopted at the national convention of the Adivasi Adhikar Rashtriya Manch (AARM), consider the following:
1. Inclusion of Adivasi languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution
2. Extension of reservation for Scheduled Tribes to the private sector
3. Addition of a religion criterion so that Adivasis converting to Christianity or Islam are delisted
4. An increase in the quantum of reservation available to Scheduled Tribes
Which of the above is/are correctly identified as demands in the AARM charter?
- Inclusion of Adivasi languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution
- Extension of reservation for Scheduled Tribes to the private sector
- Addition of a religion criterion so that Adivasis converting to Christianity or Islam are delisted
- An increase in the quantum of reservation available to Scheduled Tribes
- A. 1 and 3
- B. 2 and 4 only
- C. 1, 2 and 4
- D. 1, 3 and 4
Q7. The restriction that a person professing a religion other than Hinduism, Sikhism or Buddhism cannot be deemed a member of a Scheduled Caste — reaffirmed by the Supreme Court in 2026 — flows from which one of the following?
- A. Paragraph 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950
- B. Clause (2) of Article 341 of the Constitution of India
- C. Paragraph 2 of the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950
- D. Section 3 of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989
Q8. With reference to the debate on making religion a ground for delisting Scheduled Tribes, consider the following:
1. Akhil Bharatiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram — a Sangh-affiliated organisation that supports adding a religion criterion for delisting converted Adivasis
2. Adivasi Adhikar Rashtriya Manch — a Left-affiliated tribal body that opposes making religion a ground for delisting
3. Janjati Suraksha Manch — an advisory panel of the Registrar General of India that vets religion-based delisting proposals
4. National Commission for Scheduled Castes — the constitutional body whose concurrence, along with that of the RGI, is required before a community is added to the ST list
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?
- Akhil Bharatiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram — a Sangh-affiliated organisation that supports adding a religion criterion for delisting converted Adivasis
- Adivasi Adhikar Rashtriya Manch — a Left-affiliated tribal body that opposes making religion a ground for delisting
- Janjati Suraksha Manch — an advisory panel of the Registrar General of India that vets religion-based delisting proposals
- National Commission for Scheduled Castes — the constitutional body whose concurrence, along with that of the RGI, is required before a community is added to the ST list
- A. 1 and 2
- B. 2 and 3
- C. 1, 2 and 4
- D. 3 and 4
Q9. Consider the following statements regarding the classification of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes:
1. Article 341 deals with the specification of Scheduled Castes and Article 342 with that of Scheduled Tribes.
2. Scheduled Caste status is lost on conversion to a religion other than Hinduism, Sikhism or Buddhism, whereas the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950 imposes no comparable religion-based bar.
3. A separate National Commission for Scheduled Tribes was carved out of the erstwhile joint Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes by the Constitution (Eighty-ninth Amendment) Act, 2003.
4. The criteria of primitive traits, distinctive culture, geographical isolation, shyness of contact and backwardness are expressly enumerated in Article 342 of the Constitution.
Which of the statements given above is/are NOT correct?
- Article 341 deals with the specification of Scheduled Castes and Article 342 with that of Scheduled Tribes.
- Scheduled Caste status is lost on conversion to a religion other than Hinduism, Sikhism or Buddhism, whereas the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950 imposes no comparable religion-based bar.
- A separate National Commission for Scheduled Tribes was carved out of the erstwhile joint Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes by the Constitution (Eighty-ninth Amendment) Act, 2003.
- The criteria of primitive traits, distinctive culture, geographical isolation, shyness of contact and backwardness are expressly enumerated in Article 342 of the Constitution.
- A. 1 and 3
- B. 2 only
- C. 3 and 4
- D. 4 only
Q10. Under the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, as reaffirmed by the Supreme Court in 2026, persons professing how many religions can be recognised as members of a Scheduled Caste?
- A. Two
- B. Three
- C. Four
- D. No such numerical restriction applies
Q11. The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, which must concur before a community is added to or removed from a Scheduled Tribes list, owes its existence to which one of the following?
- A. Article 338, as amended by the Constitution (Sixty-fifth Amendment) Act, 1990
- B. Article 342A, inserted by the Constitution (One Hundred and Second Amendment) Act, 2018
- C. Article 338A, inserted by the Constitution (Eighty-ninth Amendment) Act, 2003
- D. Article 339, read with the Constitution (Ninety-fourth Amendment) Act, 2006
Q12. In the Special Leave Petition before the Supreme Court reported in January 2026 challenging the retention of the Lambada (Sugali/Banjara) community in Telangana's Scheduled Tribes list, the Lambadas were stated to constitute approximately what share of the State's total Scheduled Tribe population?
- A. About one-fourth
- B. About two-fifths
- C. About two-thirds
- D. About four-fifths