RAS Pre 2021, held on 27 October 2021. Question text as printed in RPSC's booklet; answer as per RPSC's final answer key.

President Ram Nath Kovind granted assent to which Constitutional Amendment Act on 18th August, 2021?

Q: What is the answer to RAS Pre 2021 Q150?

(4). Correct — option (4), 105th. The Gazette of India Extraordinary of 19 August 2021 (No. 52, Part II, Section 1) publishes the Constitution (One Hundred and Fifth Amendment) Act, 2021. Its notice reads: "The following Act of Parliament received the assent of the President on the 18th August, 2021". Parliament passed it as the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Seventh Amendment) Bill, 2021. PRS Legislative Research records its introduction in the Lok Sabha on 9 August 2021, passage there on 10 August and passage in the Rajya Sabha on 11 August. The Act lets every State and Union territory prepare and maintain, by law, its own list of socially and educationally backward classes (SEBCs), separate from the Central List. The idea to remember: 127th Amendment Bill → 105th Amendment Act, assent 18 August 2021: States' own SEBC lists restored.

(1)106th
(2)107th
(3)108th
(4)105th

Answer

(4)

Why

Correct — option (4), 105th.

The Gazette of India Extraordinary of 19 August 2021 (No. 52, Part II, Section 1) publishes the Constitution (One Hundred and Fifth Amendment) Act, 2021. Its notice reads: "The following Act of Parliament received the assent of the President on the 18th August, 2021".

Parliament passed it as the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Seventh Amendment) Bill, 2021. PRS Legislative Research records its introduction in the Lok Sabha on 9 August 2021, passage there on 10 August and passage in the Rajya Sabha on 11 August.

The Act lets every State and Union territory prepare and maintain, by law, its own list of socially and educationally backward classes (SEBCs), separate from the Central List.

The idea to remember: 127th Amendment Bill → 105th Amendment Act, assent 18 August 2021: States' own SEBC lists restored.

Why the others are wrong

(1)
106th — No 106th Amendment Act existed when the President gave assent on 18 August 2021; the Act assented to that day was the 105th.
The next number came later. The Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, 2023, on reservation of seats for women, came in 2023, after this exam.
(2)
107th — The number 107th had not been reached in August 2021. The Constitution amendment that received assent on 18 August 2021 was the One Hundred and Fifth, as the Gazette of India of 19 August 2021 shows.
A number above 105 on that date does not match any enacted amendment.
(3)
108th — The number 108th was not an enacted amendment in August 2021. The Act assented to on 18 August 2021 is the Constitution (One Hundred and Fifth Amendment) Act, 2021.
The larger number in the news that month belonged to the Bill: it was the One Hundred and Twenty-Seventh Amendment Bill, 2021. Bill numbers and Act numbers are counted separately.

Concept

Under Article 368(2), an amendment begins as a Bill in either House of Parliament. Once it is passed in each House by the required special majority, "it shall be presented to the President who shall give his assent to the Bill and thereupon the Constitution shall stand amended".

Bills and Acts are numbered separately. A Constitution amendment Bill carries its own number in its title, while the Act number follows the sequence of amendments actually enacted.

So the One Hundred and Twenty-Seventh Amendment Bill, 2021 became the One Hundred and Fifth Amendment Act, 2021.

RPSC's 2021 syllabus lists "Major Current Events and Issues of Rajasthan, India and International Importance." under Current Affairs.

The 105th Amendment changed three articles. It inserted a proviso in Article 338B(9), so that the National Commission for Backward Classes need not be consulted for the purposes of State lists under Article 342A(3).

It limited Article 342A(1) to the Central List, added clause (3) for State and Union territory lists, and redefined SEBCs in Article 366(26C).

Key facts

18 August 2021: President Ram Nath Kovind gave assent to the Constitution (One Hundred and Fifth Amendment) Act, 2021.
The Act was published in the Gazette of India Extraordinary on 19 August 2021.
It was passed as the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Seventh Amendment) Bill, 2021: Lok Sabha on 10 August, Rajya Sabha on 11 August 2021.
New Article 342A(3): every State or Union territory may, by law, prepare and maintain its own list of SEBCs.
The previous amendment, the 104th (2019), extended reservation of seats for SCs and STs in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies to eighty years.

From the 127th Amendment Bill to the 105th Amendment Act

9 August 2021→Bill introduced in the Lok Sabha by Dr. Virendra Kumar, Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment

10 August 2021→Passed by the Lok Sabha

11 August 2021→Passed by the Rajya Sabha

18 August 2021→President's assent — Constitution (One Hundred and Fifth Amendment) Act, 2021

19 August 2021→Published in the Gazette of India Extraordinary

Sources: PRS Legislative Research bill page; Gazette of India Extraordinary No. 52, 19 August 2021.

Study next

Article 368: procedure for amending the Constitution102nd Constitutional Amendment (2018) and the National Commission for Backward ClassesArticle 342A and the Central List of SEBCs104th Constitutional Amendment (2019)Maratha reservation judgment (May 2021)

Common traps

Bill number versus Act number: the Bill was the 127th Amendment Bill, but the Act is the 105th Amendment Act.
Assent versus publication: the President gave assent on 18 August 2021; the Gazette published the Act on 19 August 2021.
The 105th restored State lists; the 102nd (2018) had created Article 342A and made the National Commission for Backward Classes a constitutional body.

A question can give the date of assent and ask the number of the amendment.

A question can also name the amendment and ask what it changed, or give the Bill number and ask the Act number it became.

Related PYQs

UnlockIAS will link similar questions from RAS Pre 2018 and 2013 here once those papers are published on this site.

Practice

practice — not a real PYQ
The Constitution (One Hundred and Fifth Amendment) Act, 2021 was passed by Parliament as which Bill?
- (a)The Constitution (One Hundred and Fifth Amendment) Bill, 2021
- (b)The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Seventh Amendment) Bill, 2021
- (c)The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Third Amendment) Bill, 2017
- (d)The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Sixth Amendment) Bill, 2019
Answer(2) — PRS Legislative Research records the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Seventh Amendment) Bill, 2021, introduced on 9 August 2021 and passed by both Houses by 11 August. Option (1) confuses the Act number with the Bill number, and options (3) and (4) are Bills of other years.
practice — not a real PYQ
Which clause was added to Article 342A by the Constitution (One Hundred and Fifth Amendment) Act, 2021?
- (a)Clause (3), allowing every State or Union territory to prepare and maintain its own list of socially and educationally backward classes
- (b)A clause creating the National Commission for Backward Classes
- (c)A clause extending reservation of seats in the Lok Sabha for Scheduled Castes to eighty years
- (d)A clause providing reservation of seats for women in State Legislative Assemblies
Answer(1) — Section 3 of the Act inserts clause (3) in Article 342A for State and Union territory lists of SEBCs. Option (2) concerns Article 338B, created in 2018; option (3) is the 104th Amendment's change to Article 334; option (4) is not part of the 105th Amendment.