Constitution of India · Part XVI: Special Provisions Relating to Certain Classes · Reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
Article 332: 332A
In plain words
Seats in every State Legislative Assembly are reserved for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in proportion, as nearly as may be, to their share of the State's population. Seats are also reserved for the autonomous districts of Assam.
- Special rules apply to Scheduled Tribe seats in Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura until seats are readjusted on the first census after 2026.
- Only members of a Scheduled Tribe of an autonomous district of Assam can be elected from that district's constituencies, and representation in Bodoland Territorial Areas District constituencies is maintained.
- The text also reserves, as nearly as may be, one-third of directly elected Assembly seats for women, including one-third of the seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. This starts only after a fresh delimitation, as the Constitution provides.
A simplified explanation, prepared with AI assistance from the official text below and checked automatically against it for numbers and cross-references. The official text is the law and prevails over this summary. Not legal advice.
Official text
(1) Seats shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, [except the Scheduled Tribes in the autonomous districts of Assam], in the Legislative Assembly of every State ***.
(2) Seats shall be reserved also for the autonomous districts in the Legislative Assembly of the State of Assam.
(3) The number of seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assembly of any State under clause (1) shall bear, as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the total number of seats in the Assembly as the population of the Scheduled Castes in the State or of the Scheduled Tribes in the State or part of the State, as the case may be, in respect of which seats are so reserved, bears to the total population of the State. [(3A) Notwithstanding anything contained in clause (3), until the taking effect, under article 170, of the re-adjustment, on the basis of the first census after the year [2026], of the number of seats in the Legislative Assemblies of the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland, the seats which shall be reserved for the Scheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assembly of any such State shall be,—
(a) if all the seats in the Legislative Assembly of such State in existence on the date of coming into force of the Constitution (Fifty-seventh Amendment) Act, 1987 (hereafter in this clause referred to as the existing Assembly) are held by members of the Scheduled Tribes, all the seats except one;
(b) in any other case, such number of seats as bears to the total number of seats, a proportion not less than the number (as on the said date) of members belonging to the Scheduled Tribes in the existing Assembly bears to the total number of seats in the existing Assembly.] [(3B) Notwithstanding anything contained in clause (3), until the re-adjustment, under article 170, takes effect on the basis of the first census after the year [2026], of the number of seats in the Legislative Assembly of the State of Tripura, the seats which shall be reserved for the Scheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assembly shall be, such number of seats as bears to the total number of seats, a proportion not less than the number, as on the date of coming into force of the Constitution (Seventy-second Amendment) Act, 1992, of members belonging to the Scheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assembly in existence on the said date bears to the total number of seats in that Assembly.]
(4) The number of seats reserved for an autonomous district in the Legislative Assembly of the State of Assam shall bear to the total number of seats in that Assembly a proportion not less than the population of the district bears to the total population of the State.
(5) The constituencies for the seats reserved for any autonomous district of Assam shall not comprise any area outside that district ***.
(6) No person who is not a member of a Scheduled Tribe of any autonomous district of the State of Assam shall be eligible for election to the Legislative Assembly of the State from any constituency of that district ***: [Provided that for elections to the Legislative Assembly of the State of Assam, the representation of the Scheduled Tribes and non-Scheduled Tribes in the constituencies included in the Bodoland Territorial Areas District, so notified, and existing prior to the constitution of Bodoland Territorial Areas District, shall be maintained.] [332A. Reservation of seats for women in the Legislative Assemblies of the States.— (1) Seats shall be reserved for women in the Legislative Assembly of every State.
(2) As nearly as may be, one-third of the total number of seats reserved under clause (3) of article 332 shall be reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes.
(3) As nearly as may be, one-third (including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes) of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in the Legislative Assembly of every State shall be reserved for women.]
Source: India Code (Legislative Department), the official text of the Constitution of India. As amended up to the Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, 2023. Text as on 10 September 2026. Words in square brackets [ ] were inserted or substituted by later amending Acts, and *** marks words omitted by an amendment. The amendment footnotes are not reproduced here. Official text on India Code.
Supreme Court judgments citing the article 332
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The State of Punjab & Ors. v. Davinder Singh & Ors.
The Supreme Court was required to adjudicate upon whether the sub-classification of Scheduled Castes for the purpose of providing affirmative action, including reservation is valid. In this context, the following issues…
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Areas v. UOI [Dr. Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, Cji]
Matter pertains to the scope of the Court’s power to issue directions for the grant of proportional representation for the Limboo-Tamang Scheduled Tribes in the House of the People and in the Legislative Assemblies of…
- Adivasis for Social and Human Rights Action v. Union of India & Ors.
- Haji Abdul Gani Khan & Anr. v. Union of India &
- Janhit Abhiyan v. Union of India
- Pattali Makkal Katchi v. A. Mayilerumperumal & Ors.
- Dr. Jaishri Laxmanrao Patil v. The Chief Minister & Ors.
- Chebrolu Leela Prasad Rao & Ors. v. State of A.P. & Ors.
- Samta Aandolan Samiti & Anr. v. Union of India & Ors.
- Rameshbhai Dabhai Naika v. State of Gujarat & Others
- Dr. K. Krishna Murthy & Ors. v. Union of India & Anr.
- Association of Resident of Mhow (Rom) & Anr. v. The Delimitation Commission of India & Ors.
- Vijay Singh Gond and Ors. v. Union of India and Ors.
- Meera Kanwaria v. Sunita and Ors.
- S. Pushpa and Ors. v. Sivachanmugavelu and Ors.
- Sobha Hymavathi Devi v. Setti Gangadhara Swamy and Ors.
- Subrata Acharjee and Ors. v. Union of India and Anr.
- Parents Association and Anr. v. Union of India and Ors.
- R.C. Poudyal and Anr. Etc. Etc. v. Union of India and Ors. Etc. Etc.