Society · 4 Aug 2026

85th Constitutional Amendment Article 16(4A)

Which one of the following statements correctly describes the effect of the 85th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2001?

AIt amended Article 16(4A), which had earlier been inserted by the 77th Amendment Act, to extend "consequential seniority" to SC/ST employees in matters of promotion
BIt inserted Article 16(4A) into the Constitution for the first time, providing reservation in promotion for SC/ST employees without any provision for seniority
CIt inserted Article 16(4B), removing the ceiling of 50 percent on carried-forward reserved vacancies in a given year
DIt amended Article 335 to relax the requirement of maintaining "efficiency of administration" while making appointments to services and posts
This question is based on: Why Punjab's Dalit Politics Runs Through Foreign Bank Accounts, Not Government Schemes
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About this question

Why in news

The article notes Punjab's SC community has waited over two decades for the 85th Amendment's promotion-seniority safeguard to be implemented, even as diaspora remittances have delivered faster socio-economic gains.

Why for UPSC

UPSC frequently tests the precise sequence of SC/ST-related constitutional amendments (77th, 81st, 82nd, 85th), since they cluster around similar provisions and are easy to confuse without careful reading.

Prelims summary

The 77th Amendment (1995) inserted Article 16(4A) for reservation in promotion; the 85th Amendment (2001) added "consequential seniority" to it. The 81st Amendment (2000) added Article 16(4B) on carried-forward vacancies and the 82nd Amendment (2000) relaxed Article 335's efficiency standard via lower qualifying marks.

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