Article 371 - All U Need To Know

• Article 371 is a provision of the Constitution which contains special provisions for eleven states, of which six are in the North East region

• For the northeastern states — Nagaland, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Sikkim, Mizoram — the law seeks to preserve the indigenous communities' culture by according the states individual special status

• In addition to provisions for the North East, the law also specifies special conditions for districts of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, and Telangana

Article 371A, which pertains to Nagaland, states that no act of Parliament shall apply to the state in respect of the religious or social practices of the Nagas, its customary law and procedure, administration of civil and criminal justice involving decisions according to Naga customary law and ownership and transfer of land and its resources. It shall apply to Nagaland only after the state Assembly passes a resolution to do so, the law says.

Article 371B deals with special provision with respect to the State of Assam. Reportedly, the main objective of inserting Article 371B was to facilitate the creation of the sub-state ‘Meghalaya’ in 1969. The law grants powers to the President of India to "provide for the Constitution and functions of a committee of the state Assembly consisting of members elected from the tribal areas of the state".

Article 371C deals with special provisions with respect to Manipur which became a state in 1972. For Manipur, the law states that the president can entrust “special responsibility” to the Governor to ensure the proper functioning of a "committee of elected members from the Hill areas of the state in the Assembly".

Article 371F provides the Assembly of Sikkim with the power to elect a representative of the state in the Lok Sabha. "To protect the rights and interests of various sections of the population of Sikkim, Parliament may provide for the number of seats in the Assembly, which may be filled only by candidates from those sections'' the law states

For Mizoram, Article 371G lays down laws that are similar to the ones accorded to Nagaland. The provision curbs the Parliament's powers so that it cannot formulate laws on "religious or social practices of the Mizos, Mizo customary law, and procedure, administration of civil and criminal justice involving decisions according to Mizo customary law, ownership and transfer of land… unless the Legislative Assembly so decides”

Article 371H of Constitution of India makes special provision with respect to the Arunachal Pradesh. The law states, "The Governor of Arunachal Pradesh shall have special responsibility with respect to law and order in the State of Arunachal Pradesh."

In the case of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Article 371D was reportedly substituted by the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 when the state was divided for the formation of Telangana. The law granted the President of India with powers to ensure the "equitable opportunities and facilities in public employment and education" to people in all parts of the states.

The provisions for Karnataka are similar. "There is a provision for the establishment of a separate development board for the Hyderabad-Karnataka region, the working of which will be reported annually to the Assembly. There shall be “equitable allocation of funds for developmental expenditure over the said region”, and “equitable opportunities and facilities” for people of this region in government jobs and education,"

The sections of Article 371 which deal with Maharashtra and Gujarat dictate that the governors of the states have a "special responsibility" to establish "separate development boards” for “Vidarbha, Marathwada, and the rest of Maharashtra”, and Saurashtra and Kutch in Gujarat.