SSC
Which Constitutional Amendment restored the power of the States and Union Territories to prepare their own lists of socially and educationally backward classes (SEBCs)?
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Answer: Option C — 105th Amendment Act, 2021
Detailed Solution
The 105th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2021, restored the power of the State governments and Union Territories to identify and specify the socially and educationally backward classes (SEBCs, or Other Backward Classes) for their own purposes.
Background:
In May 2021, in the Maratha reservation case (Jaishri Laxmanrao Patil v. Chief Minister of Maharashtra), the Supreme Court struck down the Maharashtra law that gave reservation to the Maratha community.
The Court also held, by a majority, that after an earlier constitutional amendment, only the President (on the advice of the Central government) could identify the SEBCs for each state, and that the states had lost this power.
This created confusion, because the states had always prepared their own lists of backward classes for state government jobs and educational institutions.
What the 105th Amendment did:
- It amended the relevant Articles of the Constitution.
- It clarified that the Central list of SEBCs (prepared by the President) is only for the purposes of the Central government.
- It allowed each state and Union Territory to prepare and maintain its own list of SEBCs for its own purposes.
- The state list may be different from the central list.
Passage of the Act:
The bill was passed unanimously by both Houses of Parliament in August 2021.
Importance:
- It restored the federal balance in the matter of identifying backward classes.
- It allowed states to continue their existing reservation policies for OBCs.
The 50 percent ceiling:
The amendment did not change the 50 percent ceiling on reservations laid down in the Indra Sawhney case, which continues to apply, except in extraordinary situations.
Why not the other options?
- ✗The 95th Amendment extended the reservation of seats in legislatures; the 96th changed "Oriya" to "Odia"; the 98th made special provisions for the Hyderabad-Karnataka region.
Quick tip
Remember: 105th Amendment (2021) = restored the power of states to make their own lists of SEBCs/OBCs (after the Maratha reservation judgment).
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Constitutional Amendments — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Constitutional Amendments, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers the procedure for amending the Constitution under Article 368 and the most important amendments, such as the 1st, 7th, 42nd, 44th, 52nd, 61st, 73rd, 74th, 86th, 101st and 103rd Amendments, along with the basic structure doctrine. Exams ask what a particular amendment did: the 61st lowered the voting age from 21 to 18, the 73rd and 74th gave constitutional status to panchayats and municipalities, the 86th made education a Fundamental Right, and the 101st introduced GST. The 42nd Amendment (1976) is often called the 'mini-Constitution' because of how much it changed. Practise the constitutional amendments questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.