20-08-2021 | 17:17 PM
127th Constitution Amendment Bill
• The Lok Sabha passed the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty Seventh Amendment) Bill 2021 which offers the provision of restoring the power of states and UTs to make their own OBC lists.
• Bill was introduced by Union minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, Virendra Kumar.
• It was introduced in the Parliament to clarify some provisions of the 102nd Constitutional Amendment Bill, restoring the power of states to identify backward classes.
About 127th Constitution Amendment Bill
• The Amendment Bill will amend clauses 1 and 2 of Article 342A and will also introduce a new clause 3. It will also amend Articles 366 (26c) and 338B (9).
• The 127th Constitution Amendment Bill is designed to clarify that the State Governments can maintain the ‘state list’ of OBCs as was the system prior to SC judgment. Articles 366 (26c) define the socially and educationally backward classes.
• The latest ‘State List’ will be taken out completely of the ambit of the President and will be notified by the State Assembly as per the proposed bill.
Constitutional provisions:
• Articles 15 (4), 15 (5), and 16 (4) of the Indian constitution confer power on the State Government to declare and identify a list of socially and educationally backward classes. Central and state governments draw separate OBC lists as a practice.
About NCBC:
• The National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) was established under the National Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993.
• The Constitution 102nd Amendment Act, 2018 gave constitutional status to the NCBC, and empowered the President to notify the list of socially and educationally backward classes for any state or union territory for all purposes.
• Article 338B of the Constitution mandates the central and state governments to consult the NCBC on all major policy matters affecting the socially and educationally backward classes.
Background:
• On May 5, while scrapping a separate quota for the Maratha community in Maharashtra, the Supreme Court had ruled that after a 2018 amendment in the Constitution (102nd constitutional amendment), only the central government could notify socially and educationally backward classes (SEBCs), not the states.
