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THE CONSTITUTION, MADE UNDERSTANDABLE

Article 330
Reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the House of the People

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Source edition: as on 1 May 2026. Omitted and struck-down reference entries remain labelled. Open the authoritative PDF ↗

Article 330 / Part XVI

Reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the House of the People

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Plain languageOfficial textPurpose & sources
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THE PLAIN-LANGUAGE GUIDE

What does this mean?

Lok Sabha seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes and specified Scheduled Tribes under the population and allocation rules stated here. Reserved representation concerns constituencies and eligibility under election law, not separate communal electoral rolls.

Reserved representation and special safeguards for specified communities, commissions and listing procedures.

PURPOSE & CONTEXT

Why is this provision here?

The directly elected national House includes specified representation safeguards for SC/ST communities.

Historical evidence

This Article number belongs to the original constitutional framework, but its present wording may include later amendments or substitutions. A provision-specific original Assembly debate has not been verified here. The explanation of function above is editorial inference from the text, not an attributed single motive of the framers. The original draft-making archive is a research resource, not proof of a particular historical reason. The later amendment records linked below document changes affecting this Article; their Bill statements explain those proposals, not necessarily every original clause or the complete present legal outcome.

The explanation of purpose is an editorial reading of the provision. A drafting motive is attributed only where a linked historical source supports it.

Limits, exceptions & reading carefully

Educational summary of the linked source text. Exceptions, provisos, implementing laws and applicable judgments must be read before applying it to a real case.

Amendment references
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Read the official constitutional text
330. Reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the House of the People.—(1) Seats shall be reserved in the House of the People for — (a) the Scheduled Castes; [(b) the Scheduled Tribes except the Scheduled Tribes in the autonomous districts of Assam; and] (c) the Scheduled Tribes in the autonomous districts of Assam. (2) The number of seats reserved in any State [or Union territory] for the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes under clause (1) shall bear, as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the total number of seats allotted to that State [or Union territory] in the House of the People as the population of the Scheduled Castes in the State [or Union territory] or of the Scheduled Tribes in the State [or Union territory] or part of the State [or Union territory], as the case may be, in respect of which seats are so reserved, bears to the total population of the State [or Union territory]. [(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in clause (2), the number of seats reserved in the House of the People for the Scheduled Tribes in the autonomous districts of Assam shall bear to the total number of seats allotted to that State a proportion not less than the population of the Scheduled Tribes in the said autonomous districts bears to the total population of the State.] [Explanation.—In this article and in article 332, the expression “population” means the population as ascertained at the last preceding census of which the relevant figures have been published: Provided that the reference in this Explanation to the last preceding census of which the relevant figures have been published shall, until the relevant figures for the first census taken after the year [2026] have been published, be construed as a reference to the [2001] census.] 189
Source-page notes · may concern neighbouring Articles

1. Subs. By the Constitution (Fifty-first Amendment) Act, 1984, s. 2, for sub-clause (b) (w.e.f. 16-6-1986). 2. Ins. by the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956, s. 29 and Sch. (w.e.f. 1-11-1956). 3. Ins. by the Constitution (Thirty-first Amendment) Act, 1973, s. 3 (w.e.f. 17-10-1973). 4. Ins. by the Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976, s. 47 (w.e.f. 3-1-1977). 5. Subs. by the Constitution (Eighty-fourth Amendment) Act, 2001, s. 6, for "2000" (w.e.f. 21-2-2002). 6. Subs. by the Constitution (Eighty-seventh Amendment) Act, 2003, s. 5, for "1991" (w.e.f. 22-6-2003).

Extracted from the Legislative Department’s May 2026 edition. Page footnotes may refer to neighbouring provisions; check their markers in the PDF. Inclusion in this edition does not by itself establish commencement or judicial effect.