INDIAN CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS:

It has been seventy three years since India got independence and seventy years since India became a
republic enforcing its constitution and penal code. But can an economy with such a varied and diverse
population sustain with a preamble that was dictated down such a long ago? I am sure everyone
would protest this idea, and they should, because it would be perfectly absurd if someone would agree
to it.
With passing time, environment, situation, demography and most importantly, people tend to change
and in some cases it’s quite drastic. To cater to all such needs and demand, the constitution under
article 368 (1) grants constituent power to make formal amendments and empowers parliament to
amend the constitution by ways of addition, provision or repel any provision according to the
procedure laid down therein, which is different from the procedure of ordinary legislation. At first the
constitutional amendment had to be proposed and accepted in both the houses of the parliament,
thereafter the proposed amendment is sent to the states, if one-half of the states ratify it i.e. their
response is in favour of the proposed bill, it gets enforced (in case of third type amendments).
Indian the constitution as of now has gone through 104 amendments, both major and minor.

● The first ever amendment came in as the ‘First Amendment Act, 1951 which empowered the
state to make advancement of socially and economically backward classes. It added three
more grounds of restriction on freedom of speech and expression

● Constitutional (8th Amendment) Act, 1960:

It amended the article 334 and extended the period of reservation for the SCs and STs
in Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha till 1970.

● Constitutional (13th Amendment) Acr, 1963

Amendment of article 170 and formation of the state of Nagaland with special
protection under article 371A

● The Constitution (42nd Amendment) Act, 1976

It was enacted during the period of internal emergency and established beyond doubt
the supremacy of parliament over the other wings of the government and gave the
directive principles precedence over fundamental rights. The obnoxious provisions
of this reform was restored by The Constitution (43rd amendment) Act, 1978

● The Constitution (76th Amendment) Act, 1994

It related to the reservation of seats in educational institutions and appointment of
posts in gather services under the statement for OBCs, STs and SCs

● The Constitution (87th Amendment) Act, 2002

Provides for right to education until the age of 14 and early childhood care until the
age of 6.

● The Constitution ( 100th Amendment ) Act, 2015

The amendment provided detailed information regarding the land boundary
Agreement between India and Bangladesh
 ● The Constitution (101th Amendment ) Act, 2017
Introduced Goods and Services Tax in the country since July 1, 2017.

● The Constitution (103 Amendment) Act, 2019

Provided for a maximum of 10% reservation for Economically Weaker Sections.

● The Constitution (104th Amendment) Act, 2020

It extended the reservation of seats for SCs and STs in the Lok Sabha and State
assemblies.

Hence it is quite conspicuous that the provisions of the constitution have been changed several times
to ensure the integrity of the so-called ‘ world biggest democracy’. Some of these amendments,
according to me, must now be restored as it is causing distress among the common people. For
example, the provisions in regards to reservation policy could be considered, it haunts general
category people and many a times deprives them of the very opportunities they deserve. Hence, for
the conclusion, It could be stated that the amendments must be such which leaves none behind.