Structure of the Answer:

This question has been asked in the context of the recent proposed constitutional amendment to give NCBC a constitutional status. So your answer should give the significance of the proposal.

1. What is NCBC, its structure and (50 words)
2. Significance of giving NCBC a constitutional

Content Structure

• National Commission for Backward Classes is under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment established on 14 August It was constituted pursuant to the provisions of the National Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993.
• The Commission shall consist of five Members:
  • a Chairperson who is or has been a judge of the Supreme Court or of a High Court;
  • a social scientist;
  • two persons who have special knowledge in matters relating to backward classes;
  • and a Member-Secretary, who is or has been an officer of the Central Government in the rank of a Secretary to the Government of
• Their term is of Three years

Functions and power

• The commission considers inclusions in and exclusions from the lists of communities notified as backward for the purpose of job reservations and tenders the needful advice to the Central Government
• Similarly, the states have also constituted commissions for BC's.
• As of 24 July 2014 over two thousand groups have been listed as OBC's
• Both the National Commission for Backward Classes and National Commission for Scheduled Castes have the same powers as a Civil Court.

Article 338B of Indian Constitution

• The NCBC Bill, passed by Lok Sabha in 2017, will insert Article 338B into the Constitution after Articles 338 and 338A which deal with the National Commission for Scheduled Castes(SC) and National Commission for Scheduled Tribes(ST)
• The new Commission will exercise the function of hearing the complaints/grievances of socially and educationally backward classes. It will have the powers of a Civil Court for this purpose

The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Third Amendment) Bill, 2017

• The Constitution (123rd Amendment) Bill, 2017 was introduced in Lok Sabha by the Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, Mr. Thaawarchand Gehlot on April 5, 2017.
• It seeks to grant the National Commission on Backward Classes (NCBC) constitutional status, at par with the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes.
• Role of NCSC: Currently, under the Constitution the NCSC has the power to look into complaints and welfare measures with regard to Scheduled Castes, backward classes and Anglo-Indians. The Bill seeks to remove the power of the NCSC to examine matters related to backward classes.
• Constitutional status to National Commission for Backward Classes: The NCBC is a body set up under the National Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993. It has the power to examine complaints regarding inclusion or exclusion of groups within the list of backward classes, and advise the central government in this regard. The Bill seeks to establish the NCBC under the Constitution, and provide it the authority to examine complaints and welfare measures regarding socially and educationally backward classes.
• Note that this Bill was introduced alongside the National Commission for Backward Classes (Repeal) Bill, 2017 that seeks to repeal the National Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993.
• Backward classes: The Constitution Amendment Bill states that the President may specify the socially and educationally backward classes in the various states and union territories. He may do this in consultation with the Governor of the concerned state. However, a law of Parliament will be required if the list of backward classes is to be amended.
• Composition and service conditions: Under the Constitution Amendment Bill, the NCBC will comprise of five members appointed by the President. Their tenure and conditions of service will also be decided by the President through rules.
• Functions: Under the Constitution Amendment Bill, the duties of the NCBC will include:

1. 1. investigating and monitoring how safeguards provided to the backward classes under the Constitution and other laws are being implemented,
   2. inquiring into specific complaints regarding violation of rights, and
   3. advising and making recommendations on socio-economic development of such classes.

• The central and state governments will be required to consult with the NCBC on all major policy matters affecting the socially and educationally backward classes.
• The NCBC will be required to present annual reports to the President on working of the safeguards for backward classes. These reports will be tabled in Parliament, and in the state legislative assemblies of the concerned states.
• Powers of a civil court: Under the Constitution Amendment Bill, the NCBC will have the powers of a civil court while investigating or inquiring into any complaints. These powers include: (i) summoning people and examining them on oath, (ii) requiring production of any document or public record, and (iii) receiving

Significance of the amendment

• It will have the duty of advising of the socio economic development of the socially and educationally backward classes and evaluate the progress of their development, unlike the present Commission which does not have this
• In the case of Indra Sawhney versus Union of India, the Supreme Court in 1992 found that it was not invalid to identify a group by any criteria like occupation, social, educational or economic situations. However, it noted that social and educationally backward class under Article 340 had to be construed in a limited sense and did not have the wide sweep as under the fundamental right guaranteed to backward classes in Article 16(4). This provision empowers the government to make             reservations             in appointments in favour of “any backward class of citizens”The commission has powers to examine requests for inclusion of any community in the list of backward classes and hear complaints of over-inclusion or under-inclusion, following which it advises the Union government. In its new form, the constitutional authority could give it more teeth.
• This will bring the body, which looks after the interests of Other Backward Classes, on a par with that of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes Commission, and give powers to Parliament to designate castes as
• Under the NCBC Act, the Commission merely has the power to recommend inclusion or exclusion of communities in the OBC list. The new Bill, once passed by Parliament, will allow it to look into all matters regarding the welfare and development of backward classes, as well as to investigate

Criticism

• The Bill makes Parliament the final authority on inclusion of communities in the OBC list and, therefore, takes away the authority of states which can now send requests to the NCBC — which, however, may or may not forward them to the union government. Until now, the NCBC’s recommendations with regard to inclusions and exclusions in the list are binding on the
• The demands to allow the inclusion of Jats, Marathas, Patels, have intensified especially after 2010, when OBC reservation was introduced in educational institutions. In 2014, in the wake of an agitation by Jats in Haryana, Delhi and UP, the union government went against the NCBC decision and included the community for 9 states in the Central List of OBCs — but the Centre’s decision was quashed by the Supreme Court. Once Parliament gets the final authority to make changes to the OBC list, it is unlikely the NCBC would be able to take any call on the matter on its own.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF OBC RESERVATIONS

• The Kalelkar Commission, set up in 1953, was the first to identify backward classes other than the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes at the national level. Its conclusion that caste is an important measure of backwardness was rejected on the ground that it had failed to apply more objective criteria such as income and literacy to determine backwardness
• The Mandal Commission report of 1980 estimated the OBC population at 52% and classified 1,257 communities as It recommended increasing the existing quotas, which were only for SC/ST, from 22.5% to 49.5% to include the OBCs. A decade later, its recommendations were implemented in government jobs, a move that sparked major agitations.
• To assuage the anti-reservation protesters, the P V Narasimha Rao government in 1991 introduced a 10% quota for the “economically backward sections” among the forward The Supreme Court struck this down in the Indra Sawhney vs Union of India case, where it held that the Constitution recognised only social and educational — and not economic — backwardness.
• The apex court, however, held reservation for OBCs as valid and directed that the creamy layer of OBC (those earning over a specified income) should not avail reservation facilities. The overall reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs was capped at 50%. Based on the order, the central government reserved 27% of seats in union civil posts and services, to be filled through direct recruitment, for OBCs. The quotas were subsequently enforced in central government educational institutions.