Presidential Notification and Parliamentary Specification of Scheduled Tribes
Official heading: “Scheduled Tribes”
- Source edition
- The Constitution of India (as on 1 May 2026)
- Source locator
- Part XVI, Article 342, printed pages 202–203
- Last human source-link check
- Not yet checked
- Last human legal review
- Not yet reviewed
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1. In One Sentence
Provides that the President specifies Scheduled Tribes by public notification for each State, and only Parliament can by law include or exclude tribes from the list.
2. What It Means in Everyday Language
Article 342 establishes the exclusive constitutional process for notifying and maintaining the official list of Scheduled Tribes (ST).
Under clause (1), the President, after consultation with the Governor of the concerned State, issues a public notification specifying the tribes or tribal communities deemed to be Scheduled Tribes for that State or Union territory.
Under clause (2), only Parliament possesses legislative authority to modify the Scheduled Tribes list. No subsequent executive notification, state government circular, or judicial decree can expand or contract the list.
ST status is territorial: a tribal community notified as a Scheduled Tribe in State A carries that constitutional status only within State A, unless also notified in State B.
3. Practical Illustrative Example
A tribal advocacy group campaigns to have an indigenous forest community included in the Central Scheduled Tribes list.
4. Important Limits, Qualifications & Exceptions
Article 342 provides an exhaustive, centralized legal definition for Scheduled Tribes.
- Presidential notification: Issued per State/UT following gubernatorial consultation.
- Plenary Parliamentary control: Any subsequent inclusion or exclusion requires an Act of Parliament.
- Territorial relativity: Scheduled Tribe recognition is specific to the notified State or Union territory.
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 XVI, Article 342, printed pages 202–203 • 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.