Scheduled and Tribal Areas

Unfortunately, India has some areas where people have not been able to adapt today's culture and society and for governance of these areas, Indian constitution contains the 5th and the 6th Schedules. Read this article to understand about the administration of Scheduled and Tribal Areas.

Table of Contents

The constitution of India has established certain provisions for governance of special areas which are referred to as Scheduled Areas and Tribal Areas, it should be noted that in the north east India there have been major demands of introducing Autonomous District Councils in line with the 6th Schedule of Indian Constitution.

In this article will be studying about the Administration of both the scheduled and Tribal areas and this topic is important for UPSC GS 2 (Indian Polity) and UPSC GS 3 (Internal Security) papers.

Scheduled Areas

Article 244 in Part X of the Indian Constitution deals with the designation of areas to be Scheduled Areas. These regions differ from other normal areas due to their inhabitation and demographic composition, often inhabited by indigenous communities and it makes a necessity for special administrative and governance provisions to protect their culture, rights, and resources.

Administration of Scheduled Areas

We will study about the administration of the Scheduled areas in detail and this will include declaration of scheduled areas, executive powers, tribe advisory council and the laws applicable in the scheduled areas.

Declaration of Scheduled Area

President can declare any area to be scheduled area.
He is also empowered to decrease or increase its area.
The declaration of the scheduled area or any changes in the area by the president are done after consultation with the Governor of the concerned state.

Tribes Advisory Council for Scheduled Areas

Every state having the scheduled areas have to establish Tribes Advisory Council.
Tribes Advisory Council advises on matters related to welfare of the scheduled areas.
It consist of 20 members,3/4th of these must be representatives of Scheduled tribes in the legislative assembly

Executive Powers of State and Center in Scheduled Areas

Both state and center have powers in the scheduled areas.
It is duty of governor to submit a report to the president annually regarding administration of these areas.
Center can give directions to the state for administration of these areas.

Law Applicable to Scheduled Areas

The Governor is vested with the powers to halt enforcement of any law by the Parliament or by the State Legislative Assembly to Scheduled Areas.
He may also alter it or modify it to to be applied to the scheduled areas.
He is also empowered to make regulations in consultation with the Tribes Advisory Council.
All these regulation are required to be assented by the president.
President has to appoint a commission which reports about the conditions and welfare of the scheduled areas.
This commission can be appointed any time but it is compulsorily appointed after every 10 years.

Tribal Areas

The 6th Schedule in the Constitution deals with the special provisions made for administration of Tribal Areas in four states that is, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. Tribal areas exist in these four states as the tribes of these areas have not been able to adapt with the culture in comparison to other tribes present across India.

Administration of Tribal Areas

Further, we will be understanding the administration of Tribal Areas, as above we studied for scheduled areas.

Tribal Areas in the above mentioned 4 states have been declared autonomous districts, under the executive authority of the state.
Governor can organize and re-organize the autonomous districts.
The district can be divided into several autonomous regions if it has presence of more than one tribe.
Each of the autonomous districts have a district council, having 30 members in total.
Out of these 30 members, 4 are nominated by the Governor and 26 are elected by the people.
Each elected member serves a tenure of 5 years and the nominated members serve with the pleasure of Governor.
The district and regional councils can make laws for their areas in the following matters

Land
Forest
Canal Water
Marriage and Divorce
Social Customs
Inheritance of property
Village administration

It should be noted that all laws are subject to the assent from the Governor.
District and regional council can also constitute Village Councils or Courts for cases between the tribes.
District and regional council can also collect land revenue and impose certain tax.
Governor can appoint a commission to examine reports on welfare of the autonomous districts, he can also dissolve district or regional council based on the recommendations from the commission.

List of Tribal Areas

ASSAM :

The North Cachar Hills District
The Karbi Anglong District
The Bodoland Territorial Areas District.

MEGHALAYA :

Khasi Hills District
Jaintia Hills District
The Garo Hills District.

TRIPURA :

Tripura Tribal Area District

MIZORAM :

The Chakma District
The Mara District
The Lai District.

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