UPSC Prelims 2026 Q57: SC/ST Provisions, Sixth Schedule & Panchayats
Consider the following statements about the provisions pertaining to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in India:
1. Provisions regarding the administration of the Tribal Areas in the States of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram are given in the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution of India.
2. Some tribes of India are entitled to exemption from paying Income Tax on certain incomes.
3. The Constitution of India provides for reservation of seats in Panchayats for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.
Which one of the following conclusions based on the above statements is correct?
- There are two correct statements, that include statement 2.
- There are two correct statements, that are statements 1 and 3.
- There is only one correct statement.
- All three statements are correct.
Answer: (a) There are two correct statements, that include statement 2.
Statement-wise explanation
- 1: incorrect — The tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram are run under the Sixth Schedule, not the Fifth. Article 244(2) applies the Sixth Schedule to these four states. In them, elected Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) can make laws on land, forests, inheritance, marriage and social customs. The Fifth Schedule applies under Article 244(1) to Scheduled Areas in all other states, and it expressly excludes these four.
- 2: correct — Section 10(26) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 exempts the income of a member of a Scheduled Tribe who lives in certain specified areas. The income must come from a source in those areas or be dividend or interest on securities. The specified areas include the tribal areas of the North-East (Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, and specified districts of Assam and Meghalaya) and Ladakh. The exemption continues under the Income-tax Act, 2025, which replaced the 1961 Act from 1 April 2026.
- 3: correct — Article 243D(1) reserves seats for SCs and STs in every Panchayat, in proportion to their population. Article 243D(2) then says that not less than one-third of these reserved seats shall go to women belonging to the SCs or STs. Article 243D(3) separately reserves at least one-third of all directly elected seats for women, and those seats include the SC/ST women's seats.
How to eliminate
This question mostly has to be solved by knowing the facts, but each fact is a standard one. Statement 1 is a classic swap of the Fifth and Sixth Schedules. If you remember that the four states Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram (AMTM) belong to the Sixth Schedule, you can reject it at once. That leaves only two options: two correct statements that include statement 2, or one correct statement. Statement 3 can be settled from Article 243D, which reserves at least one-third of the SC/ST seats for SC/ST women. Then statement 2 decides the answer. Its wording is soft: 'some tribes' and 'certain incomes'. UPSC rarely writes a false statement in such hedged language, and statement 2 is in fact true (Section 10(26) of the Income-tax Act). Facts to remember: the AMTM states fall under the Sixth Schedule, Article 243D(2) covers SC/ST women in Panchayats, and Section 10(26) gives the tribal income-tax exemption.
Know more
Two Schedules for tribal administration (Article 244)
The Constitution has two separate systems for tribal areas.
| Feature | Fifth Schedule | Sixth Schedule |
|---|---|---|
| Article | 244(1) | 244(2) and 275(1) |
| Where | Scheduled Areas in states other than Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram (10 states today, e.g. Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, MP) | Tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram |
| Who declares the area | The President, by order | Listed in the Schedule itself (Para 20) |
| Key body | Tribes Advisory Council (up to 20 members, three-fourths of them ST MLAs) | Elected Autonomous District/Regional Councils (up to 30 members, 4 of them nominated) |
| Law-making | Governor can direct that a central or state law does not apply, or applies with changes | ADCs make their own laws on land, forests, inheritance, marriage and customs |
| Courts | Ordinary courts | Village and district council courts for disputes between tribals |
There are 10 ADCs: 3 in Assam (Bodoland, Karbi Anglong, Dima Hasao), 3 in Meghalaya (Khasi, Jaintia, Garo Hills), 1 in Tripura and 3 in Mizoram (Chakma, Lai, Mara).
SC/ST reservation in local bodies
- Article 243D (Panchayats): SC/ST seats are reserved in proportion to population. At least one-third of these seats are reserved for SC/ST women, and at least one-third of all seats for women. Chairperson posts are also reserved.
- Article 243T (Municipalities): The same pattern applies.
- PESA Act, 1996: Extends Part IX to Fifth Schedule areas. The posts of Panchayat chairpersons there are reserved for STs.
Fiscal privilege: Under Section 10(26) of the Income-tax Act (now carried into the 2025 Act), a Scheduled Tribe member living in specified North-Eastern areas or Ladakh pays no income tax on income earned there.
NCERT Concepts to Revise
- Sixth Schedule: Statement 1 depends on which Schedule governs the tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.
- Fifth Schedule: You need the Fifth Schedule's scope to judge whether statement 1 names the right Schedule.
- Scheduled Areas: Scheduled Areas are the territorial unit of the Fifth Schedule, the Schedule named in statement 1.
- Autonomous district council: Autonomous district councils are the defining institution of tribal self-rule in the four north-eastern states the statement lists.