Dalit Movements — Key Changes

Entry	Year	Description	Impact
77th Amendment Act	1995	Inserted Article 16(4A) to enable the State to provide for reservation in matters of promotion to any class or classes of posts in the services under the State in favour of SCs/STs which are not adequately represented in the services.	This amendment was a direct response to the Supreme Court's judgment in Indra Sawhney case (1992) which had held that reservation in promotions was unconstitutional. It restored the provision for reservation in promotions for SCs/STs, ensuring their continued representation in higher posts.
81st Amendment Act	2000	Inserted Article 16(4B) to allow the State to treat unfilled reserved vacancies of a year as a separate class of vacancies to be filled in any succeeding year, thereby exempting them from the 50% ceiling on the reservation quota.	This amendment addressed the 'carry forward' rule for unfilled reserved vacancies, ensuring that such vacancies do not lapse and are not counted against the 50% reservation limit of the current year, thus protecting the backlog of reserved posts for SCs/STs.
85th Amendment Act	2001	Provided for 'consequential seniority' in the case of promotion by virtue of rule of reservation for the government servants belonging to the SCs/STs with retrospective effect from June 1995.	This amendment ensured that SC/ST employees promoted through reservation would retain their seniority over general category employees who were senior to them in the feeder cadre but promoted later. This was crucial for maintaining the benefits of reservation in promotions.
103rd Amendment Act	2019	Introduced 10% reservation for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in government jobs and educational institutions by amending Articles 15 and 16.	While not directly for Dalits, this amendment significantly altered the landscape of reservation policy [VY:POL-05-04] by introducing an economic criterion for reservation, a departure from the traditional caste-based approach. It has implications for the overall reservation pie and debates around social justice.