List of 100^th  to 105^th  Constitutional Amendment Act:

Recently, Parliament of India amended the various articles
and added new articles. It includes especially:

• 100^th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2014
• 101^st Constitutional Amendment Act, 2017
• 102^nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 2018
• 103^rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 2019
• 104^th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2019
• 105^th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2019

What did say Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in the Constituent Assembly on Constitutional Amendment? 

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru said in the Constituent Assembly, ‘While we want this Constitution to be as solid and permanent as we can make it, there is no permanence in a Constitution. There should be a certain flexibility. If you make any Constitution rigid and permanent, you stop the nation’s growth, the growth of a living, vital, organic people’.

 Latest Indian Constitutional Amendment Acts:

100^th Constitution Amendment Act, 2014:

• Gave effect to the acquiring of certain territories by India
  and transfer of certain other territories to Bangladesh (through the exchange
  of enclaves and retention of adverse possessions) in pursuance of the Land
  Boundary Agreement of 1974 and its Protocol of 2011.
• For this purpose, this amendment act amended the provisions
  relating to the territories of four states (Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya and
  Tripura) in the First Schedule of the Constitution.
• Its 119^th Constitutional Amendment Bill.

101^st Constitution Amendment Act, 2017:

• It is Goods and Services Tax (GST).
• Goods and Services Tax (GST) is an indirect tax (or
  consumption tax) used in India on the supply of goods and services. It is a
  comprehensive, multistage, destination-based tax: comprehensive because it has
  subsumed almost all the indirect taxes except a few state taxes.
• Its 122^nd Constitutional Amendment Bill.

102^nd Constitution Amendment Act, 2018:

• Its provided Constitutional status to the National
  Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) under India’s Ministry of Social Justice
  and Empowerment.
• Added a new Article 338B into the Constitution after
  Articles 338 and 338A which deal with the National Commission for Scheduled
  Castes (SC) and National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (ST) respectively.
• Its 123^rd Constitutional Amendment Bill.

103^rd Constitution Amendment Act, 2019:

• It introduced 10% reservations for Economic Weaker Section (EWS)
  for the first time in independent India.
• Amendment in Article 15 and Article 16 allows a 10%
  reservation to EWS in public employment.
• Its 124^th Constitutional Amendment Bill.

104^th Constitution Amendment Act, 2019:

•  This Act ceased the reservation of seats for Anglo-Indians in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative assemblies and extended reservations for SCs and STs for up to ten years (25 January, 2030).
• This has amended Article 334.
• Its 126th Constitutional Amendment Bill.

 105th Constitution Amendment Act, 2019:

• To restores the power of the State Governments and Union Territories to identify and specify Socially and Economically Backward Classes (SEBCs).
• It amend clauses 1 and 2 of Article 342A and also introduce a new clause 3. The bill will also amend the Articles 366 (26c) and 338B (9). 
• Its 127th Constitutional Amendment Bill.

About Constitutional Amendment:

 

Constitutional amendment by Two Types :

1. Amendment by Simple Majority of the Parliament

2. Amendment by Article 368 (in Part XX of the Constitution) in two ways –

       a. By a Special Majority of Parliament

       b. By Special Majority of Parliament and  Consent of States

1. Amendment by Simple Majority of the Parliament :

A number of provisions in the Constitution can be amended by a simple majority of the two Houses of Parliament without use of Article 368. These provisions include :

• Admission or establishment of new States

• Formation of new States and alteration of areas, boundaries or names of existing States.

• Abolition or creation of legislative council in States

• Second Schedule – emoluments, allowances, privileges and so on the president, the governors, the speakers, judges, etc.

• Quorum in Parliament

• Salaries and allowances of the members of Parliament

• Rule of Procedure in Parliament

• Privileges of the Parliament, its members and its Committees

• Use of English language in Parliament

• Number of puisne judges in the Supreme Court

• Use of Official Language

• Citizenship – acquisition and termination.

• Elections to Parliament and State legislatures

• Delimitation of Constituencies

• Union Territories

• Fifth Schedule – administration of scheduled areas and scheduled Tribes.

2. Amendment by Article 368 :

a. By Special Majority of Parliament :

• The majority of the provisions in the Constitution need to be amended by a special majority of the Parliament, that is, a majority (that is, more than 50 percent) of the total membership of each House and a majority of two-thirds of the members of each House present and voting. The expression ‘total membership’ means the total number of members comprising the House irrespective of the fact whether there are vacancies or absentees.

• The special majority is required only for voting at the third reading stage of the bill but by way of abundant caution, the requirement for the special majority has been provided for in the rules of the Houses in respect of all the effective stages of the bill.

• The provisions which can be amended by this way include: (i) Fundamental Rights; (ii) Directive Principles of State Policy; and (iii) All other provisions which are not covered by the first and third categories.

b. By Special Majority of the Parliament and the ratification of half of the State Legislature :

 The amendment related to the Federal Structure of the polity can be amended by a Special Majority of the Parliament and also with the consent of half of the State legislatures by a simple majority. (Consent of the states is the formality to maintain federal structure).