The Constitution of India
Article 244A
Formation of an autonomous State comprising certain tribal areas in Assam and creation of local Legislature or Council of Ministers or both therefor
(1) Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, Parliament may, by law, form within the State of Assam an autonomous State (comprising whether wholly or in part) all or any of the tribal areas specified in Part I of the table appended to paragraph 20 of the Sixth Schedule and create therefor —
(a) a body, whether elected or partly nominated and partly elected, to function as a Legislature for the autonomous State, or
(b) a Council of Ministers,
or both with such constitution, powers and functions, in each case, as may be specified in the law.
(2) Any such law as is referred to in clause (1) may, in particular, —
(a) specify the matters enumerated in the State List or the Concurrent List with respect to which the Legislature of the autonomous State shall have power to make laws for the whole or any part thereof, whether to the exclusion of the Legislature of the State of Assam or otherwise;
(b) define the matters with respect to which the executive power of the autonomous State shall extend;
(c) provide that any tax levied by the State of Assam shall be assigned to the autonomous State in so far as the proceeds thereof are attributable to the autonomous State;
(d) provide that any reference to a State in any article of this Constitution shall be construed as including a reference to the autonomous State; and
(e) make such supplemental, incidental and consequential provisions as may be deemed necessary.
(3) An amendment of any such law as aforesaid in so far as such amendment relates to any of the matters specified in sub-clause (a) or sub-clause (b) of clause (2) shall have no effect unless the amendment is passed in each House of Parliament by not less than two-thirds of the members present and voting.
(4) Any such law as is referred to in this article shall not be deemed to be an amendment of this Constitution for the purposes of article 368 notwithstanding that it contains any provision which amends or has the effect of amending this Constitution.
Why this exists
Article 244A was inserted by the Constitution (Twenty-second Amendment) Act, 1969, responding to demands from tribal communities in Assam's hill areas for greater self-governance, including calls for a separate state. Rather than immediately splitting Assam, the provision offered a middle path: Parliament could carve out an 'autonomous State' within Assam for specified tribal areas, giving it its own legislature and/or ministers with real but limited powers, while keeping it formally part of Assam. In practice, this specific mechanism was largely overtaken by later political settlements (such as the creation of Meghalaya as a full state and other Sixth Schedule arrangements), and Article 244A has not been extensively used.
Common misconceptions
- Myth: Article 244A automatically created a new state for Assam's tribal areas.
Fact: It only gives Parliament the power to create such an autonomous State by passing a specific law; it doesn't create one by itself, and in practice this power has rarely, if ever, been fully exercised. - Myth: An autonomous State created under Article 244A becomes a separate state like Meghalaya or Nagaland.
Fact: It remains part of Assam legally, though it can be given its own legislature, council of ministers, and specified powers — a special status short of full statehood. - Myth: A law under Article 244A must go through the Article 368 constitutional amendment process.
Fact: Clause (4) expressly says such a law is not treated as a constitutional amendment under Article 368, even if it changes how the Constitution operates.