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In an ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament, the government introduced the 127th Constitution Amendment Bill to clarify some provisions of the 102nd Constitutional Amendment Bill, restoring the power of the state to identify backward classes.
The Bill has been passed in the Lok Sabha with 385 members voting in support and no members opposing it.
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.
The 127th Amendment Bill paved the way to bypass the ruling of the Supreme Court in the Maratha Reservation case (Jaishri Laxmanrao Patil v. Union of India) that only the Central Government could notify socially and educationally backward classes, not the States.
The Bill received significant support from the opposition.
“All Opposition parties will support 127th Constitution Amendment Bill 2021 being introduced in Parliament today,” Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, said. Whereas members from the opposition demanded the removal of the 50% cap on the reservation.
