Definition & Specification of Scheduled Castes

Definition

Scheduled Castes are defined in Article 366(24) of the Constitution of India, as - “such castes, races or tribes or parts of or groups within such castes, races or tribes as are deemed under Article 341 to be Scheduled Castes for the purpose of the Constitution.”

Specification

Article 341 of the Constitution deals with specification of a caste as a Scheduled Caste and reads as under:-

• Clause (1): The President may with respect to any State or Union Territory and where it is a State after consultation with the Governor thereof, by public notification, specify the castes, races or tribes or parts of or groups within castes, races or tribes which shall for the purposes of this Constitution be deemed to be Scheduled Castes in relation to that State or Union Territory, as the case may be.
• Clause (2): Parliament may by law include in or exclude from the list of Scheduled Castes specified in a notification issued under clause (1) any caste, race or tribe or part of or group within any caste, race or tribe, but save as aforesaid a notification issued under the said clause shall not be varied by any subsequent notification.

So far the following six Constitutional Orders have been issued, specifying “Scheduled Castes” in 26 States & 5 Union Territories:

• The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950
• The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) (Union Territories) Order, 1951
• The Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir), Scheduled Castes Order, 1956
• The Constitution (Dadra and Nagar Haveli) Scheduled Castes Order, 1962
• The Constitution (Pondicherry), Scheduled Castes Order, 1964
• The Constitution (Sikkim) Scheduled Castes Order, 1978

The above orders have been amended by Acts of Parliament from time to time, the last being in the year 2007. A total of 1206 castes have so far been specified as Scheduled Castes.