Constitutional Amendments of India for UPSC Polity

PROTEACHER • UPSC INDIAN POLITY

Constitutional Amendments of India

Article 368 • Amendment Procedure • Important Amendment Acts • Basic Structure • Recent Developments

📘 UPSC Prelims ⚖️ GS-II Mains 🏛 State PCS 🧠 Interactive Study

Learning objective: Understand how India’s Constitution is amended, remember important amendment Acts and their years, distinguish amendments from ordinary laws, and solve conceptual questions on constitutional change.

Page 1 Learn • Recall • Apply

01 • INTRODUCTION

Why Does the Constitution Need Amendments?

A Constitution must provide stability while remaining capable of responding to changing social, economic and political circumstances.

India’s Constitution provides an amendment mechanism under Article 368.

368Key Article

1951First Amendment

106thLatest verified Act

Core concept: India’s Constitution is neither as rigid as some federal constitutions nor as flexible as a system permitting every constitutional change through ordinary legislation.

Why is an amendment procedure necessary?

It allows constitutional adaptation while protecting important constitutional principles from casual alteration.

02 • ARTICLE 368

Power and Procedure of Amendment

Article 368 deals with Parliament’s constituent power to amend the Constitution and the prescribed procedure.

Steps in the procedure

A Constitutional Amendment Bill may be introduced in either House of Parliament.
It may be introduced by a minister or private member.
Prior presidential recommendation is not required.
Each House must pass it separately by the required special majority.
Specified federal changes also require ratification by at least half the State Legislatures.
The Bill is presented to the President for assent.
The President must give assent to a duly passed Constitutional Amendment Bill.

UPSC trap: There is no joint sitting of Parliament for a Constitutional Amendment Bill.

Can a Constitutional Amendment Bill originate in a State Legislature?

No. A Bill under Article 368 originates in either House of Parliament.

03 • TYPES OF AMENDMENT

Three Ways of Changing Constitutional Provisions

Method	Requirement	Example
Simple majority	Ordinary legislative majority, outside Article 368	Formation or alteration of States under Articles 3–4
Special majority	Majority of total membership and at least two-thirds present and voting in each House	Many Fundamental Rights provisions
Special majority + State ratification	Special majority in Parliament plus ratification by at least half of State Legislatures	Specified federal provisions

Important: Changes by simple majority outside Article 368 are not treated as constitutional amendments for the purposes of Article 368.

Is a two-thirds majority of the total membership required in every case under Article 368?

No. The special majority combines a majority of the total membership with at least two-thirds of members present and voting.

04 • FEDERAL PROVISIONS

When Must States Ratify an Amendment?

Some constitutional changes affect the federal balance. They require ratification by at least half the States.

Election of the President and its manner.
Extent of Union and State executive powers.
Supreme Court and High Court provisions specified in Article 368.
Distribution of legislative powers.
Seventh Schedule lists.
Representation of States in Parliament.
Article 368 itself.

Must all States unanimously approve such amendments?

No. Ratification by at least half the State Legislatures is required, not unanimity.

05 • EARLY AMENDMENTS

Important Amendments: 1951–1956

Amendment	Year	Major significance
1st	1951	Added Articles 31A, 31B and Ninth Schedule; addressed land reforms and reasonable restrictions on speech
2nd	1952	Modified population-related representation provisions for the Lok Sabha
3rd	1954	Changed Entry 33 of the Concurrent List concerning essential commodities
4th	1955	Modified property-related provisions and protections for certain laws
7th	1956	Reorganisation of States; abolished Part A, B, C and D classification

Memory pair: 1st Amendment — Ninth Schedule; 7th Amendment — States Reorganisation.

Which amendment is associated with the major reorganisation of States in 1956?

The 7th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1956.

06 • AMENDMENTS OF THE 1960s

Territory, Language and Reservation

Amendment	Year	Significance
9th	1960	Territorial adjustment connected with the India–Pakistan agreement
10th	1961	Incorporated Dadra and Nagar Haveli as a Union Territory
12th	1962	Incorporated Goa, Daman and Diu as a Union Territory
13th	1962	Special constitutional provision for Nagaland, Article 371A
14th	1962	Incorporated Puducherry; enabled legislatures and councils of ministers for certain UTs
16th	1963	Introduced sovereignty and integrity-related changes
17th	1964	Expanded land reform protections
21st	1967	Added Sindhi to the Eighth Schedule

Which amendment added Sindhi to the Eighth Schedule?

The 21st Amendment Act, 1967.

07 • 1971 AMENDMENTS

Parliamentary Power and Property

Amendment	Year	Significance
24th	1971	Affirmed Parliament’s amending power; presidential assent made obligatory
25th	1971	Introduced Article 31C concerning laws implementing Article 39(b) and (c)
26th	1971	Abolished privy purses and recognition of former rulers

The 24th Amendment followed the constitutional dispute arising from the Golaknath judgment.

Which amendment inserted Article 31C?

The 25th Amendment Act, 1971.

08 • 42ND AMENDMENT, 1976

The Mini-Constitution

The 42nd Amendment Act, 1976, is frequently called the Mini-Constitution because of its extensive changes.

Major changes

Added Socialist, Secular and Integrity to the Preamble.
Inserted Part IV-A on Fundamental Duties.
Inserted Articles 39A, 43A and 48A.
Modified several provisions concerning the judiciary and Centre–State relations.
Attempted to enlarge Parliament’s amendment power and restrict judicial review.
Added tribunals-related provisions.

Important qualification: Some changes made by the 42nd Amendment were subsequently reversed or declared unconstitutional.

Which amendment inserted Fundamental Duties?

The 42nd Amendment Act, 1976.

09 • 44TH AMENDMENT, 1978

Restoring Constitutional Safeguards

Removed the Right to Property from the Fundamental Rights chapter.
Introduced Article 300A as a constitutional legal right to property.
Replaced internal disturbance with armed rebellion as a ground for National Emergency.
Strengthened safeguards for Emergency proclamations.
Protected Articles 20 and 21 against suspension of enforcement during Emergency.
Restored the ordinary five-year duration of Lok Sabha and State Assemblies.
Added Article 38(2) concerning inequalities.

Did the 44th Amendment completely abolish the constitutional right to property?

No. Property ceased to be a Fundamental Right, but Article 300A provides constitutional protection against deprivation except by authority of law.

10 • 1980s

Defection, Voting Age and Language

Amendment	Year	Significance
52nd	1985	Anti-defection law; Tenth Schedule
53rd	1986	Special provision for Mizoram, Article 371G
55th	1986	Special provision for Arunachal Pradesh, Article 371H
58th	1987	Authoritative Hindi text of the Constitution
61st	1988	Reduced voting age from 21 to 18 years

Year trap: The 61st Amendment Act is dated 1988, although its electoral effect is commonly associated with 1989.

Which amendment introduced the Tenth Schedule?

The 52nd Amendment Act, 1985.

11 • 1990s

Local Democracy and Social Justice

Amendment	Year	Significance
65th	1990	National Commission for SCs and STs
69th	1991	National Capital Territory of Delhi and Article 239AA
71st	1992	Added Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali to Eighth Schedule
73rd	1992	Constitutional status for Panchayats; Part IX and Eleventh Schedule
74th	1992	Constitutional status for Municipalities; Part IX-A and Twelfth Schedule
77th	1995	Reservation in promotions for SCs and STs under Article 16(4A)
81st	2000	Carry-forward of unfilled reserved vacancies

Remember: 73rd and 74th are Acts of 1992, but their major provisions came into force in 1993.

Which Schedule lists subjects relating to municipalities?

The Twelfth Schedule, added by the 74th Amendment.

12 • COMPARISON

73rd and 74th Amendments

Feature	73rd	74th
Act year	1992	1992
Commencement	1993	1993
Institutions	Panchayats	Municipalities
Constitutional Part	IX	IX-A
Schedule	Eleventh	Twelfth
Subjects listed	29	18

Which amendment concerns urban local bodies?

The 74th Amendment Act, 1992.

13 • EARLY 2000s

Education, Representation and Defection

Amendment	Year	Significance
82nd	2000	Relaxation of qualifying marks or standards for SC/ST promotion reservations
83rd	2000	Exception concerning SC reservation in Arunachal Pradesh Panchayats
84th	2001	Extended freeze on readjustment of parliamentary and assembly seats until the first census after 2026
86th	2002	Article 21A, revised Article 45 and added Article 51A(k)
87th	2003	Enabled delimitation using 2001 Census figures without changing seat allocations
89th	2003	Separate National Commissions for SCs and STs
91st	2003	Limited size of Councils of Ministers and strengthened anti-defection provisions
92nd	2003	Added Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santali to Eighth Schedule
93rd	2005	Inserted Article 15(5) concerning educational admissions

Which amendment inserted Article 21A?

The 86th Amendment Act, 2002.

14 • LATER 2000s

Tribal Areas, Language and Cooperatives

Amendment	Year	Significance
94th	2006	Updated requirement for Ministers in charge of tribal welfare in specified States
95th	2009	Extended SC/ST legislative reservation and Anglo-Indian nomination arrangements for ten years
96th	2011	Changed Oriya to Odia in the Eighth Schedule
97th	2011	Constitutional provisions concerning cooperative societies, including Article 43B
98th	2012	Special provision for Hyderabad–Karnataka region under Article 371J

Judicial qualification: In 2021, the Supreme Court invalidated the 97th Amendment’s Part IX-B application to State cooperatives for want of State ratification, while retaining its application to multi-State cooperative societies.

Which amendment changed the constitutional language name from Oriya to Odia?

The 96th Amendment Act, 2011.

15 • 2014–2016

NJAC, Boundary Agreement and GST

Amendment	Year	Significance
99th	2014	Provided for National Judicial Appointments Commission; struck down in 2015
100th	2015	India–Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement implementation
101st	2016	Constitutional framework for Goods and Services Tax

GST-related constitutional provisions

Article 246A — Legislative power over GST.
Article 269A — GST on inter-State supplies.
Article 279A — GST Council.

Which amendment created the constitutional framework for GST?

The 101st Amendment Act, 2016.

16 • 2018–2019

Backward Classes and EWS Reservation

102nd Amendment Act, 2018

Conferred constitutional status on the National Commission for Backward Classes and inserted Articles 338B and 342A.

103rd Amendment Act, 2019

Inserted Articles 15(6) and 16(6), enabling reservation for Economically Weaker Sections, subject to constitutional conditions.

Judgment: The Supreme Court upheld the 103rd Amendment by a 3:2 majority in Janhit Abhiyan v. Union of India (2022).

Which amendment introduced constitutional provisions for EWS reservation?

The 103rd Amendment Act, 2019.

17 • 2019–2021

Representation and State OBC Lists

104th Amendment Act, 2019

Extended SC/ST seat reservation in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies until 2030.
Did not similarly extend the constitutional provision for Anglo-Indian nomination.

105th Amendment Act, 2021

Restored and clarified the constitutional power of States and Union Territories to identify socially and educationally backward classes for their respective purposes.

Which amendment concerns the power of States to identify their own SEBC lists?

The 105th Amendment Act, 2021.

18 • LATEST VERIFIED AMENDMENT

106th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2023

Known as the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, the 106th Amendment provides for approximately one-third reservation for women in:

Lok Sabha.
State Legislative Assemblies.
Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi.

Important constitutional changes

Provision	Subject
Article 239AA	Delhi Legislative Assembly
Article 330A	Reservation for women in Lok Sabha
Article 332A	Reservation for women in State Assemblies
Article 334A	Commencement of reservation arrangement, duration and rotation

UPSC distinction: Enactment, commencement and actual implementation of seat reservations are not necessarily the same event. The reservation arrangements depend on the constitutionally prescribed census and delimitation process.

Does the 106th Amendment reserve one-third of Rajya Sabha seats for women?

No. Its seat-reservation scheme concerns the Lok Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies and Delhi Assembly, not the Rajya Sabha.

19 • CURRENT AFFAIRS CHECK

Latest Enacted Amendment or Merely a Bill?

For constitutional current affairs, distinguish:

Term	Meaning
Amendment Bill	A proposed change that has not necessarily become law
Amendment Act	A Bill duly passed and assented to
Commencement	Date on which relevant legal provisions take effect
Implementation	Practical operation of the constitutional change

Verified position for this edition: The 106th Amendment Act, 2023 is the latest enacted constitutional amendment confirmed in the official materials checked for this study book (October 2026). Do not treat a numbered Amendment Bill as an enacted Amendment Act.

Does a Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill automatically mean India has enacted 129 Constitutional Amendment Acts?

No. Bill numbering and enacted Amendment Act numbering must be distinguished. A Bill may remain pending, lapse or fail to become law.

20 • BASIC STRUCTURE DOCTRINE

Can Parliament Amend Every Part of the Constitution?

Parliament has broad constitutional amendment power, but it cannot destroy the Constitution’s basic structure.

Important judgments

Case	Year	Significance
Shankari Prasad	1951	Upheld power to amend Fundamental Rights
Sajjan Singh	1965	Reaffirmed amendment power
Golaknath	1967	Held Fundamental Rights could not be amended
Kesavananda Bharati	1973	Established basic structure doctrine
Indira Nehru Gandhi	1975	Applied basic structure limits
Minerva Mills	1980	Reaffirmed limited amendment power and judicial review
Waman Rao	1980	Clarified relevance of 24 April 1973 for Ninth Schedule review
I. R. Coelho	2007	Further clarified judicial review of Ninth Schedule protections

Which judgment established the basic structure doctrine?

Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala, 1973.

21 • CONSTITUTIONAL LIMITATIONS

What Forms Part of the Basic Structure?

The Supreme Court has not issued one exhaustive, closed list. Judicial decisions have identified features such as:

Supremacy of the Constitution.
Republican and democratic government.
Secular character.
Federal character.
Judicial review.
Independence of the judiciary.
Separation of powers.
Rule of law.
Free and fair elections.
Limited power of constitutional amendment.
Harmony between Fundamental Rights and DPSPs.

Is the basic structure doctrine expressly enumerated as a fixed list in Article 368?

No. It is a judicial doctrine developed through constitutional interpretation.

22 • HIGH-YIELD COMPARISONS

Amendments Commonly Confused in UPSC

Pair	Distinction
24th / 25th	Amending power / Article 31C
42nd / 44th	Extensive Emergency-era changes / restoration of safeguards
52nd / 91st	Anti-defection introduced / strengthened
73rd / 74th	Panchayats / Municipalities
86th / 93rd	Right to education / educational admission provisions
97th / 101st	Cooperatives / GST
102nd / 105th	NCBC and SEBC provisions / State SEBC identification power
103rd / 106th	EWS reservation / women’s legislative reservation

Which two amendments are associated with anti-defection provisions?

The 52nd Amendment, 1985 and the 91st Amendment, 2003.

23 • CHRONOLOGICAL REVISION

Memorise the Major Amendment Years

Year	Amendment	Memory cue
1951	1st	Ninth Schedule
1956	7th	State reorganisation
1971	24th, 25th, 26th	Amending power, Article 31C, privy purses
1976	42nd	Mini-Constitution
1978	44th	Property and Emergency safeguards
1985	52nd	Anti-defection
1988	61st	Voting age
1992	73rd, 74th	Local government
2002	86th	Education
2003	91st, 92nd	Ministry size, languages
2011	97th	Cooperatives
2014	99th	NJAC
2015	100th	India–Bangladesh boundary
2016	101st	GST
2018	102nd	NCBC
2019	103rd, 104th	EWS, legislative representation
2021	105th	State SEBC lists
2023	106th	Women’s legislative reservation

Recall the amendment numbers for GST, EWS and women’s legislative reservation.

101st (2016), 103rd (2019), and 106th (2023).

24 • UPSC PRELIMS PRACTICE

Test Your Constitutional Knowledge

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25 • UPSC MAINS PRACTICE

GS-II Analytical Questions

Question 1 • 150 words

Explain why India’s constitutional amendment procedure is described as a combination of rigidity and flexibility.

Question 2 • 250 words

Discuss the evolution of Parliament’s amendment power with reference to Golaknath, Kesavananda Bharati and Minerva Mills.

Question 3 • 150 words

Compare the constitutional significance of the 73rd and 74th Amendment Acts.

Question 4 • 250 words

Evaluate the constitutional significance and implementation challenges of the 106th Amendment Act, 2023.

What should a strong answer on constitutional amendments include?

The constitutional provision, historical context, relevant Amendment Acts and years, judicial interpretation, institutional implications and a balanced conclusion.