RAS question
The 101st Amendment Act, 2016 introduced:
Correct answer: (A) Goods and Services Tax (GST).
The Constitution (One Hundred and First Amendment) Act, 2016 introduced Goods and Services Tax by inserting the constitutional framework for GST, including Articles 246A, 269A and 279A.
Explanation
The 101st Amendment is tied to GST because it inserted the core constitutional machinery for that tax. Article 246A gives Parliament and, subject to the constitutional limits, State Legislatures power to make laws on goods and services tax. Article 269A deals with the levy and collection of GST on supplies in the course of inter-State trade or commerce, with apportionment between the Union and the States. Article 279A creates the Goods and Services Tax Council, whose recommendations cover matters such as taxes to be subsumed, GST laws, rates, exemptions and inter-State apportionment principles. That is why the amendment is remembered as the constitutional basis of a unified indirect tax system.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) The National Commission for Backward Classes is not introduced by the 101st Amendment provisions here; they concern GST powers, inter-State GST and the GST Council.
- (C) EWS reservation does not match these amendment provisions, which insert GST-related Articles 246A, 269A and 279A.
- (D) Abolition of Anglo-Indian nomination is outside the subject of the 101st Amendment provisions, which establish the constitutional framework for Goods and Services Tax.
Concept
This tests constitutional amendments linked to fiscal federalism, especially how GST changed the Union-State tax framework. RAS repeats this area because Article 246A, Article 269A and the GST Council connect polity, governance and public finance in one exam theme.