Overhauling Equality

First Amendment (1951)

The first constitutional amendment added the ninth schedule,and was intended to restructure Indian agriculture through land reforms. It was mainly intended to keep a check over the powers of the judiciary. And while the debate over the powers of the judiciary and the parliament still rages on,the amendment provided significant benefits to the landless farmers,who were struggling during the early days of the newly founded democracy.

Seventh Amendment (1956)

Another significant amendment that was made was the seventh amendment,which reorganised the nation and arranged the same on the basis of language. The amendment came into being as the demand for separate states was vociferous in regions across the nation. Debates do continue even today regarding this reorganisation but it cannot be denied that it has strengthened the nation and its people,providing consensus to the theory of unity with legitimate diversity. It also decreased the perceived distance between the administration and people for obvious reasons.

25th Amendment (1971) and 42nd Amendment (1976)

The 25th and 42nd amendments sought to accord a higher status to the Directive Principles of State Polices over Fundamental Rights of Individuals through positive discrimination by providing reservations to the socially and educationally backward classes. They were landmark decisions as they eventually culminated in abolition of Right to Property by the 44th Amendment Act.

61st Amendment (1988)

The 61st Amendment Act increased the electorate by decreasing the minimum prescribed age limit from 21 years to 18 years,which was done to increase the participation of the youth in the political process of the country.

73rd Amendment and

74th Amendment (1992)

The two amendments were also important because they accorded constitutional status to the local self-government. The participation of women,scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in the Panchayat Raj and municipal governments are what these amendments laid emphasis on,which in turn led to deepening of democracy at the grass root level.

86th Amendment (2002)

The 86th amendment made the Right to Education a fundamental right,which eventually worked towards fulfilling a promise made by the founding fathers sixty years ago. The impact of the above amendment on literacy,educational quality and employability of youth remains predicated on the implementation of the recently passed Right to Education Act.