Which of the following Constitution Amendment Bills is related to the provision of modifying the list of Scheduled Caste in Tamil Nadu?

Correct — B. The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2021 is the measure that reworked Tamil Nadu's Scheduled Castes list, bringing several separately listed communities together under the single entry Devendrakula Velalar.

Two filters settle the option set. The list being modified is of Scheduled Castes, which removes both Scheduled Tribes options at once. Of the two Scheduled Castes options, the Tamil Nadu change is the 2021 one — option (b).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order Amendment Act, 2013 — This one amends the Scheduled Tribes Order. The stem asks about a Scheduled Caste list, so the category is wrong before the year needs checking.
• (c)
  The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2019 — Again a Scheduled Tribes Order amendment, and dated 2019. Both the list it touches and the year are wrong for the Tamil Nadu revision.
• (d)
  The Constitution (Scheduled Caste) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2015 — The right list, the wrong year. The Tamil Nadu Scheduled Castes revision is the 2021 Bill, and a 2015 date is the near-miss this option is built on.

Under Article 341, the President specifies by public notification the castes deemed to be Scheduled Castes in relation to a State, after consulting the Governor.

Once that Order exists, only Parliament can include a community in it or exclude one from it, by law. That is why every change to a State's list reaches the newspapers as a Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order (Amendment) Bill and not as a government decision.

Article 342 carries the parallel provision for Scheduled Tribes, which is why the two families of Bills look so alike in an option list.

Key facts

• Article 341 empowers the President to notify the Scheduled Castes for a State, after consultation with the Governor.
• Once notified, a State's Scheduled Castes list can be changed only by an Act of Parliament.
• Article 342 is the corresponding provision for Scheduled Tribes.
• The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 is the parent Order that these amendment Bills alter.

Common traps

• Skipping over the Castes-versus-Tribes word and choosing on the year alone.
• Assuming a State government or the Union executive can revise the list. Only Parliament can.
• Confusing a Bill that modifies a list with a Constitutional Amendment that alters an Article.

No directly related past PYQ was found.