BILL
further to amend the Constitution of India.
BE it enacted by Parliament in the Seventieth Year of the Republic of India as follows:—
1. Short title and commencement. (1) This Act may be called the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2019.
(2) It shall come into force on the 25th day of January, 2020.
2. Amendment of article 334. In article 334 of the Constitution,—
(a) for the marginal heading, the following marginal heading shall be substituted, namely:—
“Reservation of seats and special representation to cease after certain period”;
(b) in the long line, after clauses (a) and (b), for the words “seventy years”, the words “eighty years in respect of clause (a) and seventy years in respect of clause (b)” shall be substituted.
STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND REASONS
Article 334 of the Constitution lays down that the provisions of the Constitution relating to the reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes and the representation of the Anglo-Indian community by nomination in the House of the People and Legislative Assemblies of the States shall cease to have effect on the expiration of the period of 70 years from the commencement of the Constitution. In other words, these provisions will cease to have effect on the 25th January, 2020, if not extended further.
2. Although the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes have made considerable progress in the last 70 years, the reasons which weighed with the Constituent Assembly in making provisions with regard to the aforesaid reservation of seats have not yet ceased to exist. Therefore, with a view to retaining the inclusive character as envisioned by the founding fathers of the Constitution, it is proposed to continue the reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes for another ten years i.e. up to 25th January, 2030.
3. The Bill seeks to achieve the above objects.
RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD.
NEW DELHI;
The 4th December, 2019.
ANNEXURE
EXTRACT FROM THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA
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334. Reservation of seats and special representation to cease after seventy years. Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this Part, the provisions of this Constitution relating to—
(a) the reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in the House of the People and in the Legislative Assemblies of the States; and
(b) the representation of the Anglo-Indian community in the House of the People and in the Legislative Assemblies of the States by nomination, shall cease to have effect on the expiration of a period of seventy years from the commencement of this Constitution:
Provided that nothing in this article shall affect any representation in the House of the People or in the Legislative Assembly of a State until the dissolution of the then existing House or Assembly, as the case may be.
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