📘 Q.7 IAS Prelims 2023 — Polity & Governance: Scheduled Areas

With reference to ‘Scheduled Areas’ in India, consider the following statements:

Within a State, the notification of an area as Scheduled Area takes place through an Order of the President.
The largest administrative unit forming the Scheduled Area is the District and the lowest is the cluster of villages in the Block.
The Chief Ministers of the concerned States are required to submit annual reports to the Union Home Ministry on the administration of Scheduled Areas in the States.

How many of the above statements are correct?

(a) Only one
(b) Only two
(c) All three
(d) None

✅ Correct Answer: (b)

🔎 Curiosity Raiser (UPSC focus)

UPSC is testing who controls Scheduled Areas and who reports to whom.
The trap lies in confusing:

Fifth Schedule — Administration of Scheduled Areas

Under Paragraph 6(1) of the Fifth Schedule,
Scheduled Areas are declared by the President by public notification.

👉 Statement 1 is correct.

Scheduled Areas can vary in size.
In practice:
- Largest unit → District
- Smallest unit → Cluster of villages within a Block

👉 Statement 2 is correct.

The Governor, not the Chief Minister, has special responsibility for Scheduled Areas.
As per the Fifth Schedule, the Governor submits:
- Annual reports to the President,
- not to the Union Home Ministry.

👉 Statement 3 is incorrect.

Scheduled Areas → Fifth Schedule (except Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram)
Authority to declare → President
Reporting authority → Governor → President
Objective → Protection of tribal interests and self-governance

📌 Prelims Recall Line
Scheduled Areas: President declares, Governor reports, tribes are protected.

Where the Constitution senses vulnerability,
it places responsibility not with politics,
but with constitutional authority.