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Which Article of the Constitution of India allows the State to reserve appointments or posts for a backward class not adequately represented in its services?

  1. A.Article 14
  2. B.Article 15(4)
  3. C.Article 16(4)
  4. D.Article 19(1)(g)

Correct answer

C. Article 16(4)

Explanation

The correct answer is C, Article 16(4). It says that nothing in Article 16 shall prevent the State from making any provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favour of any backward class of citizens which, in the opinion of the State, is not adequately represented in the services under the State. Option A is wrong because Article 14 only guarantees equality before the law and the equal protection of the laws, without any provision for reservation. Option B is wrong because Article 15(4) deals with special provision for the advancement of backward classes, the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, which covers admissions and welfare measures, not appointments to posts. Option D is wrong because Article 19(1)(g) gives the freedom to practise any profession or to carry on any occupation, trade or business and has nothing to do with reservation in public employment.

Read the full article: Reservation in India: Articles, Commissions and Judgments

Practice Questions

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Q1.Indian PolityAsked in: SSC GD Constable · 15 Feb 2019, Shift 1Easy

The B.P. Mandal commission was set up to study the reasons of backwardness of the:

  1. A.scheduled tribes
  2. B.scheduled castes
  3. C.rural women and children
  4. D.socially and educationally backward classes
Show answer
Correct answer: D. socially and educationally backward classes

The Second Backward Classes Commission was appointed in 1979 under Article 340 of the Constitution, which empowers the President to appoint a commission to investigate the conditions of socially and educationally backward classes.

Q2.Indian PolityMedium

The Constitution (One Hundred and Third Amendment) Act, 2019 inserted which clauses to provide reservation for the economically weaker sections?

  1. A.Articles 15(5) and 16(5)
  2. B.Articles 15(6) and 16(6)
  3. C.Articles 16(4A) and 16(4B)
  4. D.Articles 338A and 338B
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Articles 15(6) and 16(6)

The 103rd Amendment Act of 2019 added clause (6) to Article 15 for reservation in admission to educational institutions and clause (6) to Article 16 for reservation in appointments, in each case up to ten per cent for the economically weaker sections of citizens who are not covered by the…

Q3.Indian PolityMedium

In Indra Sawhney v. Union of India (1992), the Supreme Court directed that which group be excluded from the benefit of reservation?

  1. A.The creamy layer among the backward classes
  2. B.All government employees
  3. C.Residents of metropolitan cities
  4. D.Candidates above forty years of age
Show answer
Correct answer: A. The creamy layer among the backward classes

The nine-judge bench in Indra Sawhney upheld the twenty-seven per cent quota for the Other Backward Classes but held that the socially advanced members of those classes, described as the creamy layer, must be excluded so that the benefit reaches the genuinely backward; the same judgment laid down the fifty…

Q4.Indian PolityMedium

Article 15(4) of the Constitution, allowing special provision for backward classes, was inserted by which Constitutional Amendment Act?

  1. A.The First Amendment Act, 1951
  2. B.The Seventh Amendment Act, 1956
  3. C.The Forty-second Amendment Act, 1976
  4. D.The Ninety-third Amendment Act, 2005
Show answer
Correct answer: A. The First Amendment Act, 1951

It was passed after the Supreme Court in State of Madras v. Champakam Dorairajan struck down a communal order reserving seats in colleges, holding that it offended Article 15(1); Parliament answered by adding clause (4) to Article 15, which permits special provision for the advancement of socially and educationally backward…

Q5.Indian PolityHard

Which Constitutional Amendment added consequential seniority to the reservation in promotion under Article 16(4A)?

  1. A.The Seventy-seventh Amendment Act, 1995
  2. B.The Eighty-first Amendment Act, 2000
  3. C.The Eighty-second Amendment Act, 2000
  4. D.The Eighty-fifth Amendment Act, 2001
Show answer
Correct answer: D. The Eighty-fifth Amendment Act, 2001

It amended Article 16(4A) so that a government servant of the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes promoted under the reservation also keeps the seniority of the promoted post, which is called consequential seniority, and the change was given effect from 1995.