Article 336

Transitional Quotas for Anglo-Indians in Railway, Customs, and Postal Services

Official heading: “Special provision for Anglo-Indian community in certain services”

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Source edition: The Constitution of India (as on 1 May 2026)
Source locator: Part XVI, Article 336, printed page 194
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1. In One Sentence

Provided a transitional ten-year quota for the Anglo-Indian community in railway, customs, postal, and telegraph services, phasing out in 1960.

2. What It Means in Everyday Language

Prior to 1950, Anglo-Indians held customary job reservations in key infrastructure sectors, specifically the railways, customs, postal, and telegraph departments.

Article 336 preserved these appointments on the same basis as existed immediately before 15 August 1947, but created a mandatory ten-year phase-out schedule.

Every two years, the quota was reduced by ten percent (90%, 80%, 70%, 60%), and at the end of ten years from commencement (26 January 1960), all special employment reservations under this article ceased.

3. Practical Illustrative Example

Everyday Scenario:

In 1955, an Anglo-Indian candidate applied for an engineering post in Indian Railways under the reduced transitional quota.

Core takeaway: Article 336 granted a structured ten-year economic transition window to assist the community during decolonization.

Illustrative Notice: This transitional economic protection completely expired in January 1960; no special service quotas exist under this article today.

4. Important Limits, Qualifications & Exceptions

Article 336 was a temporary transitional employment safeguard that concluded in 1960.

Specific departments: Covered railway, customs, and postal & telegraph public services.
Progressive taper: Reduced appointment quotas by 10% every two years.
Sunset completion: Fully expired ten years after constitutional commencement on 26 January 1960.

5. Operative Constitutional Text

(1) During the first two years after the commencement of this Constitution, appointments of members of the Anglo-Indian community to posts in the railway, customs, postal and telegraph services of the Union shall be made on the same basis as immediately before the fifteenth day of August, 1947. During every succeeding period of two years, the number of posts reserved for the members of the said community in the said services shall, as nearly as possible, be less by ten per cent. than the numbers so reserved during the immediately preceding period of two years: Provided that at the end of ten years from the commencement of this Constitution all such reservations shall cease. (2) Nothing in clause (1) shall bar the appointment of members of the Anglo-Indian community to posts other than, or in addition to, those reserved for the community under that clause if such members are found qualified for appointment on merit as compared with the members of other communities.

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6. Sources & Historical Assembly Deliberations

Assembly quotations are withheld until wording, dates, and attribution have been checked against the primary record.

Sources & Citation Metadata

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Constitutional TextThe Constitution of India (as on 1 May 2026)Cited PDF page
Government of India (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice) • Part XVI, Article 336, printed page 194 • 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.

Human legal review is pending; compare the text with the cited editionNon-partisan educational resource