Lok Sabha passed Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2016

Lok Sabha on 15 March 2016 passed Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2016. The bill seeks to amend the Constitution Scheduled Castes Order 1950.

The bill was passed on proposals of five states, namely Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Kerala, Odisha and West Bengal, to modify the list of Scheduled Castes in their states.

The proposal relates to the inclusion of certain communities, modification and removal of area restriction in respect of certain communities and exclusion of certain communities in the case of State of Odisha.

Following castes/ communities have been included/excluded/modified in the list of Scheduled Castes:

The Registrar General of India (RGI) and the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) has already conveyed their concurrence to the modifications.

The amendment to the Constitution Schedule Caste Order 1950 was done in accordance with the clause (2) of Article 341 of the Indian Constitution. Clause (2) of the aforesaid article empowers the Parliament to modify 1950 order from time to time.

Earlier on 27 November 2014, Lok Sabha passed the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Orders Amendment Bill, 2014 to include more castes under Scheduled Castes category in four states namely Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Tripura; and exclude Majhi (Nepali) community from it in Sikkim.

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