The Constitution (One Hundred and Fourth Amendment) Act, 2020 amended:
Article 334.
Its two principal effects were:
Extended reservation of seats for:
in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies for a further period of 10 years.
Ended the constitutional provision for:
104th Amendment → SC/ST Political Reservation Extended + Anglo-Indian Nominated Representation Ends + Article 334.
Article 334 deals with the:
Time limit for reservation of seats and special representation in legislatures.
The 104th Amendment changed the constitutional period applicable to:
Reservation of seats for SCs and STs.
When the Constitution was adopted, it recognised that:
Historical social discrimination and political under-representation
required special constitutional safeguards.
Therefore, seats were reserved for:
And special representation was provided for:
The Anglo-Indian community.
Under the original Constitution, political reservation/special representation was not intended to be permanent.
It was initially provided for:
10 years from the commencement of the Constitution.
Temporary special measures → Political empowerment → Eventual integration into ordinary democratic representation.
The period for SC/ST political reservation has been repeatedly extended through constitutional amendments.
1950 → Initial 10-year period.
1960 → Extension.
1970 → Further extension.
1980 → Further extension.
1990 → Further extension.
2000 → Further extension.
2010 → Further extension.
2020 → 104th Amendment.
The repeated extensions demonstrate that:
The Constitution retained political reservation because complete equality of representation had not yet been considered achieved.
The 104th Amendment extended SC/ST reservation in:
Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies
for:
Another 10 years.
The constitutional period was extended to:
The extension was:
2020 → 2030.
The amendment continued reservation of seats for:
Scheduled Castes.
and:
Scheduled Tribes.
This is:
Political reservation.
It is different from:
Reservation in education.
and:
Reservation in public employment.
→ Special provisions/reservation in certain educational contexts.
→ Reservation in public employment.
→ SC/ST reservation in Lok Sabha.
→ SC/ST reservation in State Legislative Assemblies.
→ Duration of legislative reservation/special representation.
Article 330 provides for:
Reservation of seats for SCs and STs in the House of the People.
Article 332 provides for:
Reservation of seats for SCs and STs in State Legislative Assemblies.
Article 334 provides the:
Time-limit framework
for the continued operation of these special constitutional provisions.
330 → Lok Sabha.
332 → State Assemblies.
334 → Duration.
The original Constitution provided for special representation of the:
Anglo-Indian community.
The President could nominate:
Up to two Anglo-Indian members
to the Lok Sabha if the community was not adequately represented.
Similarly, the Governor could nominate:
One Anglo-Indian member
to a State Legislative Assembly in the constitutionally specified circumstances.
Concerned:
Special representation of Anglo-Indians in the Lok Sabha.
Concerned:
Special representation of Anglo-Indians in State Legislative Assemblies.
Provided the:
Time limit
for this special representation.
The 104th Amendment did:
Not extend the Anglo-Indian nomination provision.
Therefore:
Special nominated representation of Anglo-Indians in Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies ceased after the constitutional period expired.
The 104th Amendment:
✅ Extended SC/ST political reservation.
❌ Did not extend Anglo-Indian nominated representation.
104th = SC/ST continue; Anglo-Indian nomination ends.
The amendment reflected the constitutional assessment that:
Continued special nominated representation of the Anglo-Indian community was no longer necessary.
The constitutional provision had been designed as:
A temporary protective mechanism.
This is a key distinction.
Reservation of elected seats.
Nominated representation.
These are:
Different constitutional mechanisms.
Candidates:
Contest elections in reserved constituencies.
Members:
Were nominated.
Anglo-Indian provision was:
Not an elected-seat reservation system identical to SC/ST reservation.
The number of SC/ST reserved seats is determined according to:
Constitutional and statutory delimitation/representation arrangements.
The 104th Amendment did not create:
A new fixed national number of reserved constituencies.
It extended the:
Existing constitutional framework.
Political reservation is linked to:
Delimitation and population-based allocation.
The number and distribution of reserved constituencies can change through:
Constitutional and statutory delimitation processes.
The amendment itself:
Primarily dealt with the duration under Article 334.
It did not fundamentally redesign:
The delimitation formula.
The constitutional rationale is linked to:
Reserved seats enable:
Representation of SC/ST communities
in the:
Political voice + Representation + Participation.
Political reservation seeks to ensure that:
Electoral democracy does not merely provide formal equality but also adequate representation for historically disadvantaged communities.
The amendment reflects:
Substantive equality.
Treating all groups identically:
May not correct historical exclusion.
Therefore:
Special representation may be constitutionally justified.
A central constitutional feature is:
The special representation was designed as temporary.
Repeated extensions show:
The temporary arrangement has been constitutionally prolonged.
The continuation reflects the view that:
Social and political inequalities had not disappeared sufficiently to justify ending SC/ST political reservation.
Articles:
330, 332.
Purpose:
Political representation.
Article:
16(4) and related provisions.
Purpose:
Representation in public employment.
104th Amendment:
Deals with political reservation, not public employment reservation.
→ Lok Sabha/State Assemblies.
→ Articles 15(4), 15(5), etc., subject to constitutional provisions.
104th Amendment:
Does not extend educational reservation.
→ Political reservation continues under the 104th Amendment.
→ Education/employment framework under 103rd Amendment.
These are separate constitutional mechanisms.
→ EWS reservation.
→ SC/ST political reservation extension + Anglo-Indian nomination ends.
→ SC/ST legislative reservation extension.
→ State/UT power to identify SEBCs.
→ SC/ST political reservation continued.
→ Women's reservation in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies.
The 106th Amendment created a different reservation framework from the SC/ST political reservation continued by the 104th.
The 104th Amendment did not provide:
Women's reservation in legislatures.
Women's reservation came later through:
106th Amendment, 2023.
The political reservation of SC/ST seats:
Does not mean a separate nationwide one-third reservation for SC/ST women under the 104th Amendment.
The 106th Amendment subsequently created:
One-third reservation for women within the legislative reservation framework, including within SC/ST reserved seats, subject to its constitutional conditions.
The amendment must be understood within the broader constitutional structure of:
The amendment:
Continued guaranteed political representation for SC/ST communities.
It recognises:
Persistent structural disadvantage.
It strengthens:
Inclusive representative democracy.
The amendment illustrates:
The Constitution's ability to continue transitional safeguards when social conditions warrant their extension.
Political reservation can help ensure that:
Legislatures reflect the diversity of Indian society.
One criticism is:
A provision originally intended to be temporary has been repeatedly extended.
Should political reservation remain:
Temporary,
or:
Continue until substantive equality is achieved?
Reserved representation alone does not guarantee:
Effective policy influence or independent political empowerment.
Political reservation operates through:
Reserved constituencies,
which raises debates concerning:
Political representation does not automatically eliminate:
Repeated extension may create concern that:
Temporary constitutional safeguards are becoming structurally permanent.
The continued extension can also be defended because:
Formal legal equality does not necessarily eliminate historical social disadvantage.
The Anglo-Indian community received special constitutional representation because of:
Its small population and concern about under-representation in legislatures.
The original Constitution attempted to balance:
Universal electoral democracy
with:
Protection for smaller communities with limited electoral strength.
Because an electoral reservation system could be:
Difficult to justify or implement for a very small dispersed community.
Therefore:
Nomination was used.
The 104th Amendment allowed this special arrangement to:
Expire rather than extend it for another period.
The end of Anglo-Indian nomination does not mean:
Anglo-Indian citizens lost citizenship or voting rights.
They retained:
Ordinary citizenship and electoral rights.
104th Amendment:
❌ Did not abolish the Anglo-Indian community.
✅ Ended the special constitutional nomination mechanism.
SC/ST reserved seats in Lok Sabha.
SC/ST reserved seats in State Assemblies.
Anglo-Indian representation in State Assemblies.
Duration of special representation.
Constitution comes into force.
SC/ST political reservation:
Initial 10-year period.
Anglo-Indian representation:
Temporary constitutional mechanism.
Extension.
Further extension.
Further extension.
Further extension.
Further extension.
Further extension.
104th Amendment:
SC/ST reservation extended to 2030.
Anglo-Indian nomination not extended.
The 104th Amendment extended the relevant period by:
10 years from 2020.
Therefore:
2030:
✅ New endpoint after 104th Amendment for SC/ST political reservation.
2030:
❌ Not a deadline for all forms of reservation in India.
The amendment modified:
Article 334
to distinguish the continued period for:
SC/ST reserved seats
from the expiry of:
Anglo-Indian special representation.
330 → Lok Sabha.
332 → State Legislative Assemblies.
334 → Duration.
Anglo-Indian representation in Lok Sabha.
Anglo-Indian representation in State Legislative Assemblies.
Their temporary special representation was not extended.
SC/ST reservation:
Elective.
Anglo-Indian representation:
Nominated.
The amendment is part of the broader constitutional effort to:
Correct political under-representation.
The amendment illustrates a central constitutional principle:
Formal equality may require temporary or targeted measures to create substantive political equality.
2020.
Article 334.
Extended by 10 years.
2030.
Lok Sabha + State Legislative Assemblies.
Not extended.
SC/ST seats in Lok Sabha.
SC/ST seats in State Assemblies.
Anglo-Indian representation in Lok Sabha.
Anglo-Indian representation in State Assemblies.
Duration of special representation/reservation.
Elected seats.
Nominated members.
EWS.
SC/ST political reservation extension.
State/UT SEBC identification.
Women's reservation.
The 104th Amendment extended Anglo-Indian representation.
❌ Wrong.
It:
Did not extend Anglo-Indian nomination.
The 104th Amendment abolished SC/ST political reservation.
❌ Wrong.
It:
Extended it by 10 years.
SC/ST reservation under the 104th Amendment is in public employment.
❌ Wrong.
It concerns:
Legislative seats.
Article 334 directly provides the number of reserved seats.
❌ Wrong.
It primarily concerns:
Duration of the special constitutional provisions.
Article 330 concerns State Legislative Assemblies.
❌ Wrong.
330:
Lok Sabha.
Article 332 concerns Lok Sabha.
❌ Wrong.
332:
State Legislative Assemblies.
Anglo-Indian representation was through reserved elected constituencies.
❌ Wrong.
It was:
Nomination.
The 104th Amendment changed the voting age.
❌ Wrong.
Voting age:
61st Amendment, 1988.
The 104th Amendment introduced EWS reservation.
❌ Wrong.
EWS:
103rd Amendment.
The 104th Amendment introduced women's reservation.
❌ Wrong.
Women's legislative reservation:
106th Amendment, 2023.
The 104th Amendment extended all reservations for another ten years.
❌ Wrong.
It specifically extended:
SC/ST political reservation.
It did not create a blanket ten-year extension for all forms of reservation.
The end of Anglo-Indian nomination removed the community's voting rights.
❌ Wrong.
It ended:
Special nominated representation,
not ordinary citizenship/electoral rights.
The 104th Amendment created Article 330.
❌ Wrong.
Article 330 was part of the original constitutional framework.
The 104th primarily changed:
Article 334.
The 104th Amendment extended SC/ST reservation until 2040.
❌ Wrong.
It extended the period to:
→ EWS.
→ Articles 15(6), 16(6).
→ SC/ST political reservation.
→ Article 334.
→ SC/ST legislative reservation.
→ State/UT SEBC identification.
→ Continue SC/ST political reservation.
→ One-third women's reservation in Lok Sabha/State Assemblies, subject to its implementation provisions.
→ Continued representation.
→ Inclusive legislatures.
→ Extended transitional safeguard.
→ Corrects historical political exclusion.
The 104th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2020 amended Article 334 to extend the reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies for another ten years, while allowing the special constitutional provision for Anglo-Indian nominated representation to cease.
The 104th Amendment reflects the Constitution's continuing commitment to substantive political equality. Its simultaneous continuation of SC/ST reservation and expiry of Anglo-Indian nomination demonstrates that constitutional affirmative-action measures can evolve differently according to changing social and representational conditions.
