a number of seats in the parliament of india, state assemblies, urban and rural-level institutions are reserved for the scheduled castes (sc) and scheduled tribes (st). though seats are reserved for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, they are elected by all the voters in a constituency, without any separate electorate. also a member of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes is not debarred from contesting a general i.e. non-reserved seat. this system was introduced by the constitution of india in 1950 and was supposed to be in place for the first 10 years, to ensure participation in politics by these groups which were deemed weak, marginalised, under-represented and needing special protection. under 104th amendment to the constitution of india, this reservation is to last until 2030..