Administration of Fifth and Sixth Schedule Scheduled and Tribal Areas
Official heading: “Administration of Scheduled Areas and Tribal Areas”
- Source edition
- The Constitution of India (as on 1 May 2026)
- Source locator
- Part X, Article 244, printed page 143
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- Not yet checked
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1. In One Sentence
Applies the Fifth Schedule to Scheduled Areas in mainland States and the Sixth Schedule to tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram.
2. What It Means in Everyday Language
Article 244 is the constitutional cornerstone for protecting the land, culture, and self-governance of India’s tribal and indigenous communities.
Clause (1) provides that the **Fifth Schedule** governs the administration of Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes across mainland States (currently in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, and Himachal Pradesh). In Fifth Schedule areas, the Governor has special powers to modify or disapply parliamentary and state laws, and a Tribes Advisory Council must be consulted.
Clause (2) provides that the **Sixth Schedule** governs the administration of tribal areas in the four northeastern States of **Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram**. It creates Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) and Regional Councils possessing legislative, judicial, and executive autonomy.
3. Practical Illustrative Example
A state law regulating land transfers is amended, but the Governor directs that it shall not apply to a notified tribal scheduled district without special safeguards against tribal land alienation.
4. Important Limits, Qualifications & Exceptions
Article 244 provides asymmetric constitutional protection for India’s tribal populations.
- Bifurcated tribal regime: Fifth Schedule for mainland States; Sixth Schedule for Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram.
- Governor’s regulatory power: Can direct that general statutes do not apply to Scheduled Areas.
- Autonomous District Councils: Sixth Schedule ADCs possess law-making powers over land, forests, and customary law.
5. Operative Constitutional Text
6. Sources & Historical Assembly Deliberations
Assembly quotations are withheld until wording, dates, and attribution have been checked against the primary record.
- •Government of India (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice) • Part X, Article 244, printed page 143 • Human source-link check pending
Primary PDF accessed and transcribed with AI assistance on 14 October 2026. Formatting and amendment annotation markers are omitted; operative wording is retained. This is not human legal review. Later amendments and commencement notifications have not been comprehensively checked.