82nd Constitutional Amendment Act 2000
Topic: Safeguards for Vulnerable Sections: SCs, STs, OBCs, Minorities, Women and Children · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 9 "Constitution as a Living Document"
Meaning
The 82nd Constitutional Amendment Act 2000 added a proviso (an extra clause) to Article 335. Article 335 says the claims of SCs and STs to government posts must be weighed against administrative efficiency, meaning how well the government runs. The proviso lets the state relax qualifying marks and lower evaluation standards for SCs and STs in reservation in promotions. Without it, a strict efficiency test could leave reserved promotion posts empty.
Example
In the M. Nagaraj case (2006), the Supreme Court upheld the 82nd Amendment along with the 77th, 81st and 85th Amendments. It called them enabling provisions: they allow the state to act but do not force it to. A state that uses them must show quantifiable data (data in numbers) on inadequate representation and overall efficiency.
Don't confuse with
- 81st Amendment (2000): this added Article 16(4B), which treats unfilled backlog vacancies as a separate class outside that year's 50% ceiling. It is about vacancies, not marks.
- 85th Amendment (2001): this gave consequential seniority in promotions. It did not relax standards.
Related concepts
- Reservation in promotion
- 77th Constitutional Amendment Act 1995
- Catch-up rule
- Consequential seniority
- Claims of SCs and STs to services
- M. Nagaraj case
- Jarnail Singh case
- E.V. Chinnaiah case
- Davinder Singh case
- Sub-classification of Scheduled Castes