Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes — Amendments

Amendment	Year	Description	Impact
1st Amendment Act	1951	Added Article 15(4), enabling the State to make special provisions for the advancement of socially and educationally backward classes, SCs, and STs. This was in response to the Champakam Dorairajan case.	Provided the constitutional basis for affirmative action and reservations for disadvantaged groups, including SCs and STs, in educational institutions.
77th Amendment Act	1995	Inserted Article 16(4A), allowing the State to make provisions for reservation in matters of promotion to any class or classes of posts in the services under the State in favour of SCs and STs.	Overturned the Supreme Court's ruling in the Indra Sawhney case (1992) that reservation in promotions was unconstitutional, thereby restoring reservation in promotions for SCs and STs.
81st Amendment Act	2000	Inserted Article 16(4B), allowing the State to treat unfilled reserved vacancies of a year as a separate class of vacancies to be filled in any succeeding year, thus exempting them from the 50% ceiling rule.	Enabled the 'carry forward' rule for backlog vacancies of SCs and STs, preventing them from lapsing and ensuring that the 50% reservation ceiling applies only to current year vacancies.
82nd Amendment Act	2000	Inserted a proviso to Article 335, allowing the State to make any provision in favour of the members of SCs and STs for relaxation in qualifying marks or standards of evaluation in any examination or for lowering the standards of evaluation for reservation in matters of promotion.	Permitted relaxation of qualifying marks or standards for SC/ST candidates in promotions, addressing concerns about their representation and ensuring their advancement.
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 and STs.	Ensured that SC/ST employees promoted on reservation would retain their seniority over general category employees promoted later, addressing a key demand of these communities.
89th Amendment Act	2003	Bifurcated the erstwhile National Commission for SCs and STs into two separate bodies: the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) under Article 338 and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) under Article 338A.	Recognized the distinct issues and needs of SCs and STs, leading to more focused attention and specialized mechanisms for their protection and development.
104th Amendment Act	2019	Extended the reservation of seats for SCs and STs in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies for another ten years (until January 25, 2030). It also removed the reservation for Anglo-Indians.	Ensured continued political representation for SCs and STs in legislative bodies, reflecting the ongoing need for affirmative action to achieve their full integration and empowerment.