RAS question
Reservation for SC and ST in Lok Sabha is provided under:
Correct answer: (C) Article 330.
Article 330 of the Constitution of India provides for reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Lok Sabha.
Explanation
Article 330 is the direct constitutional provision for reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the House of the People, that is, the Lok Sabha. The cited Constitution text states that seats shall be reserved in the House of the People for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, with the reserved-seat count linked proportionately to their population in the State or Union Territory. This is why Article 330, not the surrounding provisions, answers the question. Article 332 performs a similar function for State Legislative Assemblies, while Article 334 deals with the period after which such reservation provisions cease to operate, currently framed as eighty years for SC/ST reservation after commencement of the Constitution.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Article 334 does not create Lok Sabha reservation; it deals with when SC/ST seat reservation and Anglo-Indian special representation cease to have effect.
- (B) Article 335 concerns the claims of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in appointments to services and posts, not reservation of Lok Sabha seats.
- (D) Article 332 provides reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in State Legislative Assemblies, not in the Lok Sabha.
Concept
This tests Part XVI of the Constitution, especially the separation between parliamentary representation, State Assembly reservation and service-related safeguards. RAS repeatedly asks these article-match questions because confusing Articles 330, 332, 334 and 335 is a common prelims trap.