If the number of seats allocated to a state in the Lok Sabha is 42, then the number of seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes in that state will be

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Q: 20 (IAS/1996)
If the number of seats allocated to a state in the Lok Sabha is 42, then the number of seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes in that state will be

question_subject: 

Polity

question_exam: 

IAS

stats: 

0,67,201,12,82,107,67

keywords: 

{'lok sabha': [42, 3, 20, 27], 'seats': [6, 6, 8, 25], 'castes': [0, 0, 0, 3], 'number': [0, 0, 0, 2]}

The Lok Sabha or the House of the People in India reserves seats for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) proportionate to their population. The allocation is not based on fixed proportions such as a certain percentage or half of the total seats, hence option 1 and 2 (21 and 14 seats which are half and one-third respectively) are incorrect. For option 3, there is no rule of allocating one-sixth of total seats to SC in any state, hence it is also incorrect. Option 4 indicates 6 seats allocated to the Scheduled Castes and this could be correct depending upon the demographic composition of the state. The exact number can only be determined considering the population of SC in the state relative to the total population, hence without that specific information, the answer could not be definitively confirmed. Thus, the correct answer indicated is option 4, but this is under the assumption that the Scheduled Caste population in that particular state justifies the allocation of 6 out of 42 seats.