RAS question
Which Constitutional Amendment introduced the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes as a separate body?
Correct answer: (A) 89th Amendment.
The Constitution (Eighty-ninth Amendment) Act, 2003 introduced the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes as a separate constitutional body under Article 338A.
Explanation
The 89th Amendment Act, 2003 is the amendment behind the separate National Commission for Scheduled Tribes. Before this change, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were covered by a combined National Commission under Article 338. The amendment split that arrangement: Article 338 continued for the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, while a new Article 338A created the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes. The official Constitution text supports this directly: Article 338A says there shall be a Commission for the Scheduled Tribes known as the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, and the footnote records that Article 338A was inserted by the Constitution (Eighty-ninth Amendment) Act, 2003.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) The 73rd Amendment is linked to Panchayati Raj institutions, not to the separation of the Scheduled Tribes commission from the earlier combined SC/ST commission.
- (C) The 65th Amendment established the combined National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes; it did not create a separate National Commission for Scheduled Tribes.
- (D) The 97th Amendment dealt with cooperative societies, so it does not explain the insertion of Article 338A for the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes.
Concept
This tests constitutional bodies and amendments, especially how Part XVI institutions evolved through specific amendment Acts. RAS repeatedly asks such items because they connect article numbers, commission names and amendment chronology.