Q. With reference to the reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in Parliament, consider the following statements:
1. Seats are reserved for SCs and STs only in Lok Sabha and not in Rajya Sabha.
2. Equal number of seats are reserved for SCs and STs in Parliament from each state.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Exp) Option a is the correct answer
Statement 1 is correct. Some constituencies are reserved for people who belong to the Scheduled Castes [SC] and Scheduled Tribes [ST] only in the Lok Sabha elections. There is no constitutional provision for reservation of any kind in the council of states or Rajya Sabha, which has members elected by the State Assemblies as distinct from the directly elected Lok Sabha.
Statement 2 is incorrect. The constituencies reserved for SCs and STs in Lok Sabha are not spread evenly over the entire country. The reserved constituencies for SCs and STs depend upon their population in a state hence the number varies with population of the state.
| Important Tips In a Scheduled Caste reserved constituency only someone who belongs to the Scheduled Castes can stand for election. Similarly, only those belonging to the Scheduled Tribes can contest an election from a constituency reserved for ST. Currently, in the Lok Sabha, 84 seats are reserved for the Scheduled Castes and 47 for the Scheduled Tribes. |
