There was a rare display of unity in Lok Sabha as the 127th Constitution Amendment bill was passed on August 10. The bill was tabled in Rajya Sabha the next day where senior Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that the Bill was due for long. However, he pointed that "the government is only correcting its big mistake of 2018." Now, what is this 12th Consitution Amendment Bill and the mistake Singhvi is referring to?
What is this Bill?
The Supreme Court this year had said that only the President, in consultation with governors, can identify social and economically backward classes. The 127th Consitution Amendment Bill seeks to restore that power with the state governments instead. If this bill is passed in the Rajya Sabha with a special majority, and then signed by the President, states will be able to again decide upon which communities fall under the 'Other Backward Classes' category and allow them reservations in education and jobs. The special majority here means that majority of the total membership of both, Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, and by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members present and voting in each of the Houses.
What was the mistake and the U-turn?
Did you notice the words "restore" and "again" earlier? That is the mistake Singhvi was referring to. In 2018, the government had managed to pass a bill in both Houses, making it into the 102nd Constitution Amendment Act. According to this amendment, the president, in consultation with the governor, would specify the socially and educationally backward classes as opposed to earlier where the respective states decided upon which communities fall under this category and can avail reservations.
By introducing the bill, the government essentially tried to reverse what it pulled off in 2018. This bill ensures that the states get their decision-making powers back to maintain a 'state list' of OBCs, which became null and void after the Supreme Court's interpretation of the 2018 amendment. If this bill does not become an 'Act', then the state list gets abolished and hundreds of OBC communities may lose access to reservations in educational institutions and in appointments.
The 127th Amendment Bill will allow the states to maintain their own list of OBCs, which was the norm before the Supreme Court judgment — this also means that the president will no longer hold those powers but instead, state lists will be notified by the state Assembly.
