Centre amending Article 342A to restore state’s power to identify OBCs: Current Affairs Special Series

Team Adda247 and BankersAdda are here with a Current Affairs Special Series. In this series, candidates will be introduced to current affairs topics daily, which will not only improve their general awareness but also will ensure that the candidates do not lack in any current affairs topic. Today’s Current Affairs topic is the Centre amending Article 342A to restore the state’s power to identify OBCs.

Centre amending Article 342A to restore state’s power to identify OBCs

The centre has settled a constitutional amendment to reinstate the power of states to identify Other Backward Classes (OBCs), which had been struck down by the Supreme Court in May when it empowered the President to decide which communities that can be included as OBCs.
The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has formulated an amendment to Article 342A which clarifies that state government has the power to decide OBCs or socially and educationally backward classes to be involved on the respective state lists. According to people in the know, the amendment has been cared by the law ministry.
The amendment was asked after the Supreme Court in its May 5 ruling approved the 102nd constitutional amendment but said that the president would decide which communities would be included on the state OBC list, based on the recommendations of the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC). The ruling floored the Maratha government-a politically potent issue in the state.
The 102nd constitutional amendment, passed in 2018, had introduced Article 342A with two clauses after Article 342 which described that the President of India would specify the socially and educationally backward classes in consultation with the governor. The amendment introduces a third clause-Article 342A (3) in which it has been cleared that the power to notify OBCs on the state list would vest in the state governments, which has now been framed by the government.
A senior official at the Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry indicates that, Ministry is ready with the constitutional amendment at administration. The period of time to introduce and pass it would have to be taken by the political leadership. Thus we predict that the constitutional amendment has not been listed for introduction and passing the monsoon session of Parliament which is going to be start on Monday (i.e.19 July).