Part XVI · Special Provisions relating to Certain Classes
Article 330: Reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the House of the People
Text of Article 330
(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.]
Words in [square brackets] were inserted or substituted by later amendments (see below). Source: Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India
A plain-English explanation of Article 330, landmark judgments and exam facts are being added to this page.
Amendment history
Changed by: 7th Amendment Act, 1956, 31st Amendment Act, 1973, 42nd Amendment Act, 1976, 51st Amendment Act, 1984, 84th Amendment Act, 2001, 87th Amendment Act, 2003
- Subs. By the Constitution (Fifty-first Amendment) Act, 1984, s. 2, for sub-clause (b) (w.e.f. 16-6-1986).
- Ins. by the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956, s. 29 and Sch. (w.e.f. 1-11-1956).
- Ins. by the Constitution (Thirty-first Amendment) Act, 1973, s. 3 (w.e.f. 17-10-1973).
- Ins. by the Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976, s. 47 (w.e.f. 3-1-1977).
- Subs. by the Constitution (Eighty-fourth Amendment) Act, 2001, s. 6, for "2000" (w.e.f. 21-2-2002).
- Subs. by the Constitution (Eighty-seventh Amendment) Act, 2003, s. 5, for "1991" (w.e.f. 22-6-2003).
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