Sixth Schedule

The Sixth Schedule, framed under Articles 244(2) and 275(1) of the Constitution of India, establishes a distinct constitutional regime for the administration of tribal areas in the four north-eastern states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram. Its intellectual origin lies in the report of the Bordoloi Sub-Committee of the Constituent Assembly's Advisory Committee on Minorities and Tribal Areas (1947), chaired by Gopinath Bordoloi, which recommended self-governance to protect the customary practices, land rights, and cultural identity of the hill tribes against assimilation. Unlike the Fifth Schedule, which provides for a more paternalistic gubernatorial regime over Scheduled Areas in the rest of India, the Sixth Schedule devolves genuine legislative, judicial, and executive powers to elected indigenous bodies, making it a model of asymmetric federalism and decentralised tribal autonomy.

The core institutions are the Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) and, where multiple tribes inhabit a district, Regional Councils. Each Council has up to thirty members—of whom no more than four are nominated by the Governor and the rest elected on a five-year term. These Councils wield real legislative authority over land allotment, management of forests (other than reserved forests), shifting cultivation (jhum), inheritance, marriage, divorce, social customs, village administration, and the establishment of village and town committees. They constitute Village Councils and Courts to try suits and offences between Scheduled Tribes, exercising judicial powers; they may assess and collect land revenue and levy specified taxes; and they regulate money-lending and trading by non-tribals. Crucially, Acts of Parliament and the State Legislature do not automatically apply to autonomous districts—the Governor or the Council may modify or bar their application, a feature distinguishing it sharply from ordinary state administration.

As of 2026, the Sixth Schedule operates through ten autonomous councils: three each in Assam (Bodoland Territorial Council, Karbi Anglong, Dima Hasao), Meghalaya (Khasi Hills, Jaintia Hills, Garo Hills), and Tripura (Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council), and one in Mizoram (Chakma, Lai, and Mara Councils). The Bodoland Territorial Region was reorganised under the third Bodo Accord of 2020. Demands persist for extending Sixth Schedule status to Ladakh after its 2019 conversion into a Union Territory—a recurrent contemporary-affairs issue—and the Sixth Schedule (Amendment) Bill seeking enhanced financial and reservation powers has been under discussion. The Supreme Court in cases such as T. Cajee v. U. Jormanik Siem clarified the autonomy of these Councils.

For UPSC aspirants, the Sixth Schedule is a high-yield topic for General Studies Paper II (Indian Polity and Constitution), frequently tested through comparison questions distinguishing it from the Fifth Schedule, and for the Post-Independence and Indian Society papers covering tribal integration and north-eastern insurgency. Prelims questions typically probe which states are covered, the composition of District Councils, the role of the Governor, and the powers exercised. Mains answers should connect the Schedule to themes of asymmetric federalism, the Bordoloi Committee, and live demands such as the Ladakh inclusion debate. Candidates must memorise the four covered states and avoid confusing them with Fifth Schedule states.