Special Provisions, Official Language and Miscellaneous Provisions PYQs – Polity, SSC & Railway

Answer: Option 1 — Article 240
Article 240 empowers the President to make regulations for the peace, progress and good government of certain Union Territories.
Such a regulation has the same force as an Act of Parliament and can repeal or amend a law of Parliament for that UT.
Revision note — Union Territories (Part VIII, Articles 239–242)
• Article 239: every UT is administered by the President through an administrator he appoints (Lt Governor, Administrator).
• Article 239A: local legislature / council of ministers for Puducherry.
• Article 239AA: special provisions for Delhi — added by the 69th Amendment, 1991.
• Article 239B: the administrator's power to issue ordinances when the UT legislature is in recess.
• Article 240 covers Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, and Puducherry only when its legislature is dissolved or suspended.
• Article 241: High Courts for Union Territories.
Do not mix these up
• Article 243 is the start of Part IX (Panchayats); Article 244 deals with Scheduled and tribal areas (Fifth and Sixth Schedules).
Also asked from this topic: who administers a Union Territory under Article 239 (the President, through an administrator); the article on the ordinance power of a UT administrator (239B).

Answer: Option 4 — 7^(th) Constitutional Amendment Act, 1956
The 7th Amendment Act, 1956 inserted Article 350B, creating a Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities.
He is known as the Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities and reports to the President.
Revision note — Linguistic minorities and the 7th Amendment
• Article 350B is in Part XVII (Official Language); the officer is appointed by the President.
• His reports are laid before each House of Parliament and sent to the state governments concerned.
• The office was set up in 1957; it now works under the Ministry of Minority Affairs.
• The same 7th Amendment (1956) also inserted Article 350A — instruction in the mother tongue at the primary stage.
• The 7th Amendment reorganised states on linguistic lines (States Reorganisation Act, 1956): abolished Part A, B, C, D states and created 14 states and 6 Union Territories.
• Article 29 protects the culture, language and script of any section of citizens; Article 30 lets minorities set up educational institutions.
Also asked from this topic: the Article that created the Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities (Article 350B); the Article giving minorities the right to establish educational institutions (Article 30).
350A and 350B arrived together with state reorganisation in 1956 — link all three to the 7th Amendment.

Answer: Option 2 — Article 368
Article 239A lets Parliament create, by an ordinary law, a legislature and/or a Council of Ministers for Puducherry.
Clause (2) says such a law is not an amendment of the Constitution for the purposes of Article 368, even if it changes constitutional provisions.
So it needs only a simple majority, not the special majority of Article 368.
Revision note — Union Territories (Part VIII, Articles 239–242)
• Article 239: every UT is administered by the President through an administrator he appoints.
• Article 239A: legislature / council of ministers for Puducherry — inserted by the 14th Amendment, 1962.
• Article 239AA: special provisions for Delhi (NCT) — inserted by the 69th Amendment, 1991.
• Article 240: President's power to make regulations for certain UTs (Andaman & Nicobar, Lakshadweep, etc.).
• Article 368: procedure to amend the Constitution (Part XX).
• UTs with legislatures today: Delhi, Puducherry, Jammu and Kashmir.
Do not mix these up
• Article 239A vs 239AA — 239A → Puducherry; 239AA → Delhi.
Also asked from this topic: who appoints the administrator of a Union Territory (the President); the UT that has a Vidhan Sabha among Puducherry, Chandigarh, Lakshadweep and Andaman (Puducherry).

Answer: Option 2 — 350-B
Article 350B provides for a Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities, appointed by the President, to look into the safeguards given to linguistic minorities.
Revision note — Official language provisions (Part XVII)
• Part XVII covers Articles 343–351 on the official language.
• Article 343: Hindi in Devanagari is the official language of the Union.
• Article 350A: facilities for instruction in the mother tongue at the primary stage.
• Article 350B: Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities; he reports to the President, whose reports are laid before Parliament. Both 350A and 350B were added by the 7th Amendment, 1956.
• Article 351: directive for the development of the Hindi language.
• The Special Officer is also called the Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities; the office functions under the Ministry of Minority Affairs.
Do not mix these up
• 350A vs 350B — 350A is about mother-tongue teaching; 350B is about the Special Officer for linguistic minorities.
Also asked from this topic: the Article for the Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities (Article 350-B); the officer provided under Article 350B (Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities).
A for Alphabet-learning in the mother tongue, B for the Babu (officer) — 350A and 350B.