Indian Polity & Governance·Amendments
Right to Equality — Amendments
Constitution VerifiedUPSC Verified
Version 1Updated 5 Mar 2026
| Amendment | Year | Description | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Amendment | 1951 | Added Article 15(4) to permit special provisions for socially and educationally backward classes and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. This amendment was necessitated by the Champakam Dorairajan case which struck down reservation policies as violative of equality. | Provided constitutional foundation for India's affirmative action policy, enabling reservations in education and employment for disadvantaged groups while maintaining the principle of equality |
| 7th Amendment | 1956 | Modified Article 16(3) to allow Parliament to prescribe residence requirements for employment in states and union territories, recognizing regional considerations in public employment. | Balanced national integration with regional employment needs, allowing states to give preference to local candidates in certain government positions |
| 77th Amendment | 1995 | Added Article 16(4A) to permit reservations in promotions for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in government services, overturning the Indra Sawhney judgment's restriction on promotional reservations. | Ensured continued representation of SC/ST communities in higher levels of government service, addressing concerns about their adequate representation in senior positions |
| 81st Amendment | 2000 | Added proviso to Article 16(4A) allowing the state to consider unfilled reserved vacancies as a separate class for determining adequacy of representation, enabling carry-forward of reserved vacancies. | Strengthened reservation policy by ensuring that unfilled reserved positions don't lapse and can be carried forward to subsequent years |
| 82nd Amendment | 2000 | Added Article 16(4B) to permit relaxation of qualifying marks and standards of evaluation for SC/ST candidates in promotions, ensuring effective implementation of promotional reservations. | Made promotional reservations more effective by allowing reasonable relaxation in standards while maintaining basic competency requirements |
| 93rd Amendment | 2005 | Added Article 15(5) to enable reservations for socially and educationally backward classes in educational institutions, including private institutions, overriding the fundamental right to establish and administer educational institutions. | Expanded scope of educational reservations to private institutions, significantly increasing access to higher education for backward classes |
| 103rd Amendment | 2019 | Added Articles 15(6) and 16(6) to provide 10% reservation for economically weaker sections among forward castes in education and employment, introducing economic criteria for affirmative action. | Extended affirmative action beyond caste-based criteria to include economic disadvantage, potentially benefiting economically weak forward caste individuals while raising questions about the 50% reservation ceiling |
| 128th Amendment | 2023 | Added provisions for 33% reservation for women in Lok Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies, and Delhi Legislative Assembly, significantly expanding women's political representation. | Promises to transform India's political landscape by ensuring substantial women's representation, though implementation is delayed until post-2031 census delimitation |