Know Your Rights
Articles
This protects all citizens from being prohibited on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.
- The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them.
- No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them, be subject to any disability, liability, restriction or condition with regard to–
- Access to shops, public restaurants, hotels and places of public entertainment; or
- The use of wells, tanks, bathing ghats, roads and places of public resort maintained wholly or partly out of State funds or dedicated to the use of the general public.
- Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any special provision for women and children.
- Nothing in this article or in clause (2) of article 29 shall prevent the State from making any special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.]
- Nothing in this article or in sub-clause (g) of clause (1) of article 19 shall prevent the State from making any special provision, by law, for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes in so far as such special provisions relate to their admission to educational institutions including private educational institutions, whether aided or unaided by the State, other than the minority educational institutions referred to in clause (1) of article 30.
This promises equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the State.
(4-A) Nothing in this Article shall prevent
the State from making any provision for reservation in matters of
promotion to any class or classes of posts in the services under
the State in favour of the SC and the ST which in the opinion of
the State, are not adequately represented in the services under
the State (added by 77th amendment 1995).
(4-B) nothing in this Article shall prevent the
State from considering any unfilled vacancies of a year which are
reserved for being filled up in that year in accordance with any
provision for reservation made under clause (4) or (4A) as a separate
class of vacancies to be filled up in any succeedingyear or years
& such class of vacancies shall not be considered together with
the vacancies of the year in which they are being filled up for
determining the ceiling of 50% reservation on total number of that
year (added by 81st amendment 2000).
Article 16(4) is the second exception to the general rule embodied in Articles 16(1) & (2). It empowers the State to make special provision for the reservation of appointments of posts in favour of any backward class of citizens. Article 16 (4) applies only if two conditions are satisfied.
- The class of citizens is backward; and
- The said class is not adequately represented in the services of the State.
"Untouchability" is abolished and its practice in any form is forbidden. The enforcement of any disability arising out of "Untouchability" shall be an offence punishable in accordance with law.
In promoting the economic interests of the weaker sections of the people, this article guarantees protection from social injustice and other forms of exploitation.
The State shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people, and in particular, of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, and shall protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation.
Under this, seats will be reserved for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the House of People.
The number of seats reserved in any State [or Union territory] for the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes under clause (1) shall bear, as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the total number of seats allotted to the States [or Union territory] in the House of the People as the population of the Scheduled Castes in the State [or Union territory] or of the Scheduled Tribes in the State [or Union territory] or part of the State [or Union territory], as the case may be, in respect of which seats are so reserved, bears to the total population of the State [or Union territory].
Under this, seats are 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.
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.
This article provides for relaxation in qualifying marks in any examination for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes members.
Under this Article, provision will be made in favour of the members of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for relaxation in qualifying marks in any examination or lowering the standards of evaluation, for reservation in matters of promotion to any class or classes of services or posts in connection with the affairs of the Union or of a State.
Article 339 allows the central government to direct states to implement and execute plans for the betterment of SC/STs.
Allows the president to appoint a commission to investigate the condition of socially and economically backward classes and table the report in the parliament.
Seats will be reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes members in the same proportion as number of SCs/STs to the total population in that area.
Also, no less than one-third of these seats will be reserved for SC/ST women.
Seatsare reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in every Municipality.
The number of seats so reserved shall bear, as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in that Municipality as the population of the Scheduled Castes in the Municipal area or of the Scheduled Tribes in the Municipal area bears to the total population of that area and such seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a Municipality.
Acts
Under this Act, any act of atrocity on a member of Scheduled Caste or Tribe is punishable for imprisonment for a term not less than six months and which may extend to five years with fine.
Within this Act, any person enforcing religious disabilities (preventing an untouchable from entering a religious place or from worshipping and offering prayers or enforcing social disabilities (preventing access to shops, public places, use of utensils, practice of any occupation, etc.); refusing to sell goods or render services or causing injuries due to untouchability is punishable with imprisonment.
This Act prohibits insanitary latrines, which include such latrines where human excreta needs to be cleaned or otherwise handled manually and directs municipality to rehabilitate those involved in this inhuman occupation.
This Bill provides for reservation of appointments or posts in civil services by direct recruitment and promotion for members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in establishments.
This amendment provides for reservation in matters of promotion, with consequential authority for members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.