Important Acts That Transformed India Must Read For UPSC IAS

The book ‘Important Acts that Transformed India’ deals with 100 must-know acts enacted by the Indian Parliament. The book is already a best-seller on Amazon. Important Acts That Transformed India

We, knowingly or unknowingly, are bound by so many legislation. In our day to day life, we come across different laws.

Even a common man is now aware of many Bills, Acts, Rules and Regulations. Remember the nation-wide protests regarding the ‘Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)?

As far as a UPSC aspirant is concerned, ‘important acts’ is a high-priority topic from which a lot of questions are asked in both Prelims and Mains.

Didn’t you know many provisions of The Citizenship Act, The Right to Information Act, The Income Tax Act, The Goods and Service Tax Act, The Motor Vehicles Act, The Food Safety Standards Act, or The Consumer Protection Act?

When Budget is presented, we hear about The FRBM Act, The SARFAESI Act, or The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

When there is a crime, we read about the sections of IPC and CrPC on newspapers.

When it comes to the protection of the environment, we know that there are several laws such as The Environment Protection Act and The Wildlife Protection Act.

Even during a crisis time like the COVID-19, there is no escape from laws; we are then controlled by laws such as The Epidemic Disease Act and The Disaster Management Act.

As future Civil Servants, UPSC expects IAS/IPS aspirants to be knowledgeable about all the important Acts/Bills/Rules etc.

Last year, from this topic, UPSC had asked 22 marks worth questions in Prelims and 65 marks worth questions in Mains.

Part I – Historical Acts: Modern Indian History and Freedom Struggle (GS I) 1

The Regulating Act, 1773
The Charter Act, 1833
The Government of India Act, 1858
The Government of India Act, 1909
The Government of India Act, 1919
The Government of India Act, 1935
The Indian Independence Act, 1947

Part II – Acts for Consolidations and Reorganisations within the Country (GS I)

The States Reorganisation Act, 1956
The Northeastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971
The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019

Part III – Acts for Meeting the Needs of Indian Societal Structure and Preserving Heritage (GS I)

The Citizenship Act, 1955
The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989
The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006
The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006
The Special Marriage Act, 1954
The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958

Part IV – Acts for Welfare and Empowerment of Women (GS I)

The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961
The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005
The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013
The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019
The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986

The Representation of the People Act, 1950
The Representation of the People Act, 1951
The Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1959
The Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA), 1996
The Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985
The Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996
The Gram Nyayalayas Act, 2008
The Contempt of Courts Act, 1971
The Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971
The National Judicial Appointments Commission Act, 2014

Part VI – Acts for Vulnerable Sections of Populations, Health, Education and Human Resource (GS II)

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015
The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012
The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016
The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019
The National Food Security Act, 2013
The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016
The Mental Healthcare Act, 2017
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009
The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947
The Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972
The Unorganized Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008
The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961
The Code on Wages, 2019
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005
The Bonded Labor System (Abolition) Act, 1976
The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013
The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013

Part VII – Acts Promoting Transparency in Governance (GS II and GS IV)

The Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988
The Central Vigilance Commission Act, 2003
The Right to Information Act, 2005
The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013
The Whistle Blowers Protection Act, 2014

Part VIII – Acts Addressing Issues Arising out of Economy (GS III)

The Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2003
The Comptroller Auditor-General’s (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service) Act, 1971
The Income Tax Act, 1961
The Goods and Services Tax Legislation, 2017
The Companies Act, 2013
The Competition Act, 2002
The Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interests (SARFAESI) Act, 2002
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016
The Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018
The Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002
The Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999
The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010
The Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934
The Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992
The Essential Commodities Act, 1955
The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006
The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957
The Motor Vehicles Act, 1988
The Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003
The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985
The Consumer Protection Act, 2019

Part IX – Acts Addressing Issues Arising out of Technology (GS III)

The Information Technology Act, 2000
The Telegraph Act, 1885

Part X – Acts Dealing with Intellectual Property Rights (GS III)

The Copyright Act, 1957
The Patents Act, 1970
The Trade Marks Act, 1999
The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999

Part XI – Acts Protecting Environment and Biodiversity (GS III)

The Indian Forest Act, 1927
The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972
The Environment Protection Act, 1986
The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974
The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981
The National Green Tribunal Act, 2010
The Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001
The Biological Diversity Act, 2002

Part XII – Acts Dealing with Security and Disaster Management (GS III)

The Indian Penal Code, 1860
The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908
The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973
The Indian Evidence Act, 1872
The Arms Act, 1959
The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967
The National Security Act, 1980
The Official Secrets Act, 1923
The National Investigation Agency Act, 2008
The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958
The Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897
The Disaster Management Act, 2005

Really a Big Time-Saver! Important Acts That Transformed India

One can imagine the time saved by this concise book.

Before the book ‘Important Acts that transformed India’ was available in the market, aspirants had to google hundreds of Acts, refer multiple sources, and prepare notes. Even then, aspirants mostly get only the text of bare acts (which is difficult to understand).

This book not only presents the provisions of each Act in a layman’s language but also covers the background and critical analysis of each Act which will be extremely useful in the UPSC Mains Exam (written).

The Return on Investment (RoI) from this book is clearly very high! Important Acts of India

About the book: Important Acts that Transformed India

Apart from the 100 Must-Know Acts, The “Important Acts” book also covers:

UPSC Prelims Questions from the topic.
UPSC Mains Questions from the topic.
Meaning of Important Legislative and Judicial Terms.
Related bills, rules, regulations, judgments, current affairs etc in box format.

Bonus: Online Learning Materials (for those who order the book)