Administration of Scheduled and Tribal Areas (Article 244)

Scheduled tribal areas administration is the special constitutional arrangement under Article 244 by which certain tribal-dominated regions are governed outside the ordinary state framework. The Constitution splits this into two schemes — the Fifth Schedule and the Sixth Schedule — each suited to a different set of states and a different degree of self-governance, aimed at shielding tribal communities from exploitation while allowing local participation in governance.

Two Schedules, One Article

Article 244 does the sorting. Clause (1) applies the Fifth Schedule to Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes in every state except Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. Clause (2) applies the Sixth Schedule to tribal areas within those four north-eastern states. Article 244A additionally lets Parliament carve out an autonomous state within Assam from some or all Sixth Schedule tribal areas, with its own legislature or council of ministers.

The distinction is administrative, not about who is protected — Scheduled Tribes live in both kinds of area — but the governance machinery differs sharply.

Administration of Scheduled Areas Under the Fifth Schedule

Within a state's Scheduled Areas, the state's own executive power continues to apply, but the Governor carries an added responsibility: submitting an annual report to the President on their administration, more often if directed. This gives the Union a direct channel of oversight, since it may issue directions to the state on how these areas are run.

The President declares an area a Scheduled Area, and may later include, exclude, or alter its boundaries after consulting the Governor. Areas are generally chosen where Scheduled Tribes form a substantial share of the population, the tract is compact and administratively workable, and the area is economically backward relative to its neighbours. Ten states currently have notified Fifth Schedule areas: Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Rajasthan.

The Fifth Schedule also lets the Governor apply, or disapply with modifications, any Act of Parliament or the state legislature to a Scheduled Area, and to frame regulations for it — including restrictions on transfer of tribal land to non-tribals and on money-lending affecting Scheduled Tribes. Every such regulation needs the President's assent.

Tribes Advisory Council

A Tribes Advisory Council (TAC) must be set up in every state with Scheduled Areas, and the President may direct one even where a state has Scheduled Tribes but no notified Scheduled Area. The Council has not more than twenty members, roughly three-fourths of whom are Scheduled Tribe representatives in the state Legislative Assembly. It advises the state government on the welfare and advancement of Scheduled Tribes on matters referred to it.

Periodic Review Through Commissions

The Constitution requires the President to appoint a commission on Scheduled Area administration and ST welfare, compulsorily once ten years have passed since commencement, and at discretion thereafter. The first, headed by U.N. Dhebar, was set up in 1960 and reported in 1961; the second, chaired by Dilip Singh Bhuria, was set up in 2002 and reported in 2004.

Administration of Tribal Areas Under the Sixth Schedule

The Sixth Schedule takes a different, more self-governing approach for Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram, reflecting the framers' concern with preserving these north-eastern tribal societies' democratic traditions and cultural diversity. The tribal areas listed in the Schedule's table are constituted as autonomous districts, and where more than one Scheduled Tribe inhabits a district, the Governor may further divide it into autonomous regions. The Governor also holds power to include or exclude areas from the table, create new districts, enlarge or reduce one, or merge two or more.

Autonomous Districts and District Councils

Each autonomous district is run by a District Council of thirty members — twenty-six elected for a five-year term and four nominated by the Governor — with a separate Regional Council where autonomous regions exist. These Councils can legislate on land allotment, management of forests other than reserved forests, shifting cultivation, village and town administration, and inheritance, marriage and social customs. They may run local institutions such as primary schools, dispensaries, markets, ferries, fisheries and roads, and can regulate money-lending and trading by non-tribals, subject to the Governor's assent. They also function as courts trying suits between Scheduled Tribe members and hearing appeals, and may assess and collect land revenue and specified taxes.

Acts of Parliament and the state legislature ordinarily do not apply to these autonomous districts and regions, or apply only with the Governor's modifications. The Governor may also appoint a commission to examine a council's administration and dissolve it on that commission's recommendation.

Related Provisions and Legislation

Article 275 empowers Parliament to charge grants-in-aid on the Consolidated Fund of India for states needing assistance, including grants for Scheduled Tribe welfare schemes and for raising tribal-area administration to the standard of the rest of the state. Article 339 gives the Union a supervisory role over the administration of Scheduled Areas and ST welfare generally.

The Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA) extends Part IX of the Constitution — panchayats — to Fifth Schedule areas with modifications suited to tribal self-governance; all ten Fifth Schedule states fall under its scope. Part IX itself does not apply to Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram, the scheduled and tribal areas of the states, the hill areas of Manipur, or Darjeeling district, though Parliament may extend it to scheduled and tribal areas with exceptions it specifies. This pattern of carving tribal and Inner Line areas out of general legislation recurs elsewhere — the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, for instance, excludes the Sixth Schedule tribal areas and Inner Line Permit areas from its operation.

What the Constituent Assembly Debated

Framers disagreed on how tightly to draw this protection. B.R. Ambedkar flagged a practical limit: a Scheduled Tribe member migrating out of a scheduled or tribal area could not carry its privileges with him, since such protections were enforceable only within the covered territory. Yudhisthir Mishra wanted the Tribes Advisory Council compulsory in every state with Scheduled Tribes, not just notified Scheduled Areas, with an advisory mandate not dependent on what the Governor chose to refer. Shibban Lal Saksena wanted Scheduled Area authority to rest with the President alongside the Governors, and Parliament to declare scheduled areas. A.V. Thakkar welcomed the design, viewing the Council's three-fourths tribal composition as a genuine advance in representation.

UPSC Relevance

Prelims

• Article 244 lies in Part X of the Constitution and links to the Fifth and Sixth Schedules.
• The Fifth Schedule applies to ten states; the Sixth Schedule applies to Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.
• The Tribes Advisory Council has not more than 20 members, three-fourths being ST MLAs.
• District Councils under the Sixth Schedule have 30 members — 26 elected, 4 nominated — for a five-year term.
• The Dhebar Commission (1960–61) and Bhuria Commission (2002–04) reviewed Scheduled Area administration.

Mains

• Compare the Fifth and Sixth Schedule models of tribal administration and evaluate which offers stronger self-governance.
• Discuss the role of the Governor as a constitutional link between the Union and Scheduled Area administration.
• Assess how PESA, 1996 has affected local self-government in Fifth Schedule areas.

FAQ

Q. What does Article 244 deal with? A. Administration of Scheduled Areas via the Fifth Schedule, and of tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram via the Sixth Schedule.

Q. What is the difference between a Scheduled Area and a tribal area? A. A Scheduled Area is a Fifth Schedule region in any state other than the four north-eastern states; a tribal area is a Sixth Schedule region in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura or Mizoram, governed by autonomous District and Regional Councils instead of ordinary state machinery.

Q. How many states have Fifth Schedule areas? A. Ten: Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Rajasthan.

Q. What is the Tribes Advisory Council? A. A body of up to 20 members, three-fourths Scheduled Tribe MLAs, set up in every state with Scheduled Areas to advise on tribal welfare matters referred to it.

Q. What powers do District Councils have under the Sixth Schedule? A. They legislate on land, forests, shifting cultivation, and inheritance and marriage customs; run local institutions like schools and markets; try cases involving Scheduled Tribes; and collect land revenue and specified taxes.

Quick Revision

• Article 244(1): Fifth Schedule → Scheduled Areas, all states except Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram.
• Article 244(2): Sixth Schedule → tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram.
• Article 244A: autonomous state within Assam from listed tribal areas.
• Tribes Advisory Council: ≤20 members, ¾ ST MLAs.
• District Council: 30 members, 26 elected + 4 nominated, 5-year term.
• Dhebar Commission (1960–61); Bhuria Commission (2002–04).
• PESA, 1996 extends panchayati raj to Fifth Schedule areas with modifications.
• Articles 275 and 339 support Union funding and oversight of tribal administration.

Sources

• The Constitution of India — Ministry of Law and Justice
• Fifth Schedule and Sixth Schedule — Constitution of India, legislative.gov.in
• Land and Governance Under The Fifth Schedule — Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India
• Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 — legislative.gov.in

Further Reference

For deeper reading on this topic and the wider polity syllabus, these standard works are recommended:

• M. Laxmikanth, Indian Polity (McGraw Hill) — the standard UPSC handbook.
• D.D. Basu, Introduction to the Constitution of India (LexisNexis) — authoritative constitutional-law treatment.
• The Constitution of India — Bare Act — the official text.

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