Which one of the following amendments to the Constitution of India has introduced reservations in education and in public employment for people from the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) of society?
- (a)The Constitution (101st Amendment) Act
- (b)The Constitution (102nd Amendment) Act
- (c)The Constitution (122nd Amendment) Act
- (d)The Constitution (103rd Amendment) Act
Correct — D, The Constitution (103rd Amendment) Act. The 103rd Amendment, of January 2019, inserted clause (6) into Article 15 and clause (6) into Article 16, empowering the State to make special provision for the advancement of any economically weaker sections of citizens other than the classes already covered by the existing reservations, and to reserve up to ten per cent of seats in educational institutions, including private unaided institutions, and of posts in public employment for them. That is exactly the two-part description the question gives — education and public employment. A five-judge Constitution Bench upheld the amendment in November 2022 by a majority.
- (a)The Constitution (101st Amendment) Act — That is the Goods and Services Tax amendment of 2016, which inserted Article 246A and created the GST Council. It has nothing to do with reservation.
- (b)The Constitution (102nd Amendment) Act — The 2018 amendment that gave constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes, inserting Articles 338B and 342A. Backward classes, but not the economically weaker sections quota.
- (c)The Constitution (122nd Amendment) Act — There is no such Act. The Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill was the GST bill, and when it was passed it became the 101st Amendment Act — bills and Acts are numbered in separate series, and this option exploits that.
Reservation in India was built on social and educational backwardness, under Articles 15(4), 15(5) and 16(4), with the ceiling of fifty per cent laid down in Indra Sawhney (1992). The 103rd Amendment opened a separate track based on economic criteria alone, for people not already covered by the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe or Other Backward Class reservations, and placed its ten per cent outside the existing fifty per cent. Eligibility is set by rules on family income and on holdings of agricultural land and residential property.
Amendment-number questions are answered by holding a short block of recent numbers together rather than by trying to recall a single one — 101st for GST, 102nd for the National Commission for Backward Classes, 103rd for the economically weaker sections quota, 104th for extending Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe reservation of seats in legislatures while ending the Anglo-Indian nominated seats, 105th for restoring the States' power to identify their own backward classes. The bill-versus-Act numbering in option (c) is a trap the exam has used before and will use again: a bill number never carries over to the Act. As of the 2023 exam the amendment had been upheld and was in force across central institutions and most States.
- The Constitution (103rd Amendment) Act came into force in January 2019.
- It inserted Article 15(6) and Article 16(6), covering education and public employment respectively.
- It permits reservation of up to ten per cent for economically weaker sections not already covered by existing reservations.
- Article 15(6) extends to private unaided educational institutions, other than minority institutions under Article 30(1).
- A five-judge Constitution Bench upheld the amendment in November 2022 by a majority.
Note the option that names a bill number as if it were an Act — the 122nd Bill became the 101st Amendment Act.
- Treating a Constitution Amendment Bill number as the Act number.
- Confusing the 102nd Amendment, on the backward classes commission, with the 103rd, on the economically weaker sections.
- Assuming the ten per cent sits inside the fifty per cent ceiling; it was enacted as a separate quota.
As a straight amendment-number recall item, usually with one bill number planted among the Act numbers.
Consider the following statements : Statement-I : The Supreme Court of India has held in some judgements that the reservation policies made under Article 16(4) of the Constitution of India would be limited by Article 335 for maintenance of efficiency of administration. Statement-II : Article 335 of the Constitution of India defines the term 'efficiency of administration'. Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
- (a) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II is the correct explanation for Statement-I
- (b) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II is not the correct explanation for Statement-I
- (c) Statement-I is correct but Statement-II is incorrect
- (d) Statement-I is incorrect but Statement-II is correct
Answer(c) Statement-I is correct but Statement-II is incorrect
The constitutional frame the economically weaker sections quota was added to. Both questions turn on knowing which clause of Articles 15 and 16 does what, and on the case law that has shaped reservation since Indra Sawhney.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Reservation for economically weaker sections was introduced by inserting which clauses into the Constitution of India?
- (a)Articles 15(4) and 16(4)
- (b)Articles 15(5) and 16(5)
- (c)Articles 15(6) and 16(6)
- (d)Articles 17 and 18
Answer(c) Articles 15(6) and 16(6) — added by the 103rd Amendment for education and public employment respectively.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Constitution (101st Amendment) Act relates to which subject?
- (a)Goods and Services Tax
- (b)Anti-defection
- (c)Panchayati Raj
- (d)Right to Education
Answer(a) Goods and Services Tax — it inserted Article 246A and created the GST Council in 2016.