Parliament passes Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2016

Parliament passed Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2016 to include certain communities in the list of Scheduled Castes (SC) from 4 states.
The bill seeks to amend Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 to include certain communities from Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Kerala and West Bengal in the list.
It also has provisions for exclusion of certain communities from Odisha and removal of area restriction in respect of certain communities.
Key facts

• The bill was introduced in the Parliament by Union Social Justice Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot as per the provisions of Article 341 of the Constitution.
• Chhattisgarh: Inclusion of Sais, Sahis, Sarathi, Soot-Sarathi, Thanwar communities in the list.
• Haryana: Inclusion of (i) Aheria, Aheri, Hari, Heri, Thori, Turi and (ii) Rai Sikh communities in the list.
• Kerala: Inclusion of Peruvannan community in the list and Modification in the area of specification of Malayan community.
• West Bengal: Removal of area restriction of Chain community. Odisha: Exclusion of Bariki and Kummari communities in the list.

Article 341: It empowers Parliament to include or exclude castes from the list of Scheduled Castes in the notification. It also empowers the President to specify castes which will be deemed as Scheduled Castes through a notification.

Month: Current Affairs - April, 2016