The Indian Constitution is the longest written constitution of any country in the world, containing 444 articles in 22 parts, 12 schedules and 124 amendments, with 146,385 words in its English language version. It is the supreme law of India and our country's fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental rights, directive principles, the duties of citizens and anything that you can imagine functions according to it.
But the constitution is just a document and needs periodic changes and revisions. It is because the needs and aspirations of the people change with time and some short comings to the constitution can be removed.
These changes made to the constitution are called 'amendments'. Here are 10 most important amendments made to the Indian Constitution.
Read about EWS Reservation Bill in detail here
1. The Constitution (26th Amendment) Act, 1976
The privy purse was granted to the former rulers of princely states. After India got independence, the British government gave a choice to the princely states to either join India or remain independent. After the inclusion of princely states, the Indian government granted special privileges to the former rulers of the princely states known as the Privy Purse. According to this a specified amount of money was paid to the rulers. Privy Purse was abolished under the 26th amendment by the government of India under Prime minister Indira Gandhi on the basis of equal rights. The amendment was passed on 31st July 1971. It omitted Article 291 and 362 and introduced Article 363A.2. The constitution (42nd Amendment) Act, 1976
The amendment was passed during emergency on 11th November 1976 in the Parliament and 18th December 1976 by the President. This established the supremacy of Parliament. It added new words to the Preamble, increased the term of Lok Sabha to 6 years, froze the seats in Lok Sabha, provided administration tribunal and added Fundamental Duties. According to the amendment the President was bound by the Council of Ministers, the Directive Principles were made more important than the Fundamental Rights and the provision of questioning the constitutional amendment were taken away. According to the statement of objectives it was implemented because a constitution needs to keep going.3. The constitution (43rd and 44th Amendment) Act, 1978
The 43rd as well as the 44th amendments were passed to undo the changes done by the 42nd Amendment during the emergency. The amendment was passed in 1978 by Janata Dal. It repealed the 42nd Amendment Act and restored civil liberties. The amendment restored the President’s power and the legislative power of the states. It also restored the tenure of Lok Sabha and jurisdiction of Supreme Court and High Court. The right to property was removed from fundamental right and fundamental rights of all citizens were restored. This amendment repealed Article 131A, 32A, 31D, 144A, 228A, 226A.4. The constitution (52nd Amendment) Act, 1976
the 52nd amendment was brought to stop the defection of people to different parties and is generally known as Anti- Defection law. This amendment changed Article 101, 102, 190 and 191. It also added the 10th schedule which meant disqualification on the grounds of defection. Defection takes place when a person joins another party after election. There are certain exemptions like in case of merger or as being elected as the presiding officer. The jurisdiction of matters related to disqualification is not with the courts. According to this a person will be disqualified as a Member of Parliament or a member of Legislative Assembly under the 10th Schedule.5. The constitution (61st Amendment) Act, 1988
According to Article 326 people can take part in the election of House of People and Legislative Assembly as per the Universal Adult Suffrage which was 21. The age was set by keeping in mind literacy, political awareness and enlightenment. This amendment changed the age from 21 to 18. It was introduced by B. Shankaranad on 20th December 1988 and was ratified by more than fifty percent of the state legislatures.
6. The constitution (73rdAmendment) Act, 1992
This amendment took place to introduce direct elections in Panchayat with reservation of SC, ST according to the population and 1/3rd for women. Part IX was added to the Constitution which organised the village Panchayat and compelled the states to give political, administrative and geographical powers to these Panchayats. It introduced the 3 tiers of the Panchayat and the process and term of the Panchayats. The Panchayats were elected for 5 years and the chairperson of the Panchayats were known as Sarpanch.7. The constitution (74thAmendment) Act, 1992
The amendment introduced direct elections to Nagarpalikas and Municipalities. The Governor of each state has to define the area into constituencies known as ward. There was direct election for some seats and some were nominated to the people with knowledge. There was reservation for SC and ST as well as for women.8. The constitution (86th Amendment) Act, 2002
According to this amendment Right to Education was included in the Fundamental Rights. Article 21A was introduced which made Right to education a fundamental right under Part 3 of the constitution which included children between the age of 6 to 14. Article 45 was substituted and Article 51A was changed. Early childhood education care under the age of 6 was included in Directive Principle of State Policy.
9. The constitution (101st Amendment) Act, 2016
The amendment was passed on 8th September 2016 to make changes for implantation of GST. The state and centre were responsible for laws with respect to good and services and inter-state trade. Article 279A provided the provision for the establishment of a GST council by the President. The Union Finance Minister would take the place of the chairman, the Union Minister of States would have the responsibility of finance and one nominated member would be in charge of tax. The council would deal with tax, cess, surcharge and will have the power to decide which goods are subject to the tax and which goods are exempted from it. According to this amendment the Central Government will provide compensation to the states to cover up the loses that occur while implementing GST.10. The constitution (103rd Amendment) Act, 2019
This is a recent amendment which was passed on 8th January 2019. It provided 10% quota for economically weaker sections of the society. It was introduced under President Ramnath Kovind and it changed the fundamental rights 15 and 16 to fulfil Directive Principle of State Policy under Article 46.Read about EWS Reservation Bill in detail here
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Hey, I am Srijoni and I am pursuing Philosophy (hons) from LSR, University of Delhi. I am passionate about learning new things and exploring new places.
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