K.G. Balakrishnan Commission
Topic: Safeguards for Vulnerable Sections: SCs, STs, OBCs, Minorities, Women and Children · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The K.G. Balakrishnan Commission was set up in October 2022 under former Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan. It is examining whether Dalits who have converted to other religions should get Scheduled Caste status. This matters because para 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order 1950 gives SC status only to Hindus, Sikhs (added 1956) and Buddhists (added 1990).
Example
Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims are left out of the SC list today, even when they face similar caste discrimination. Petitions on this are pending in the Supreme Court, and the commission is looking at the same question.
Don't confuse with
- Ranganath Misra Commission (2007): it already recommended delinking SC status from religion, along with minority reservation. Its report was not implemented.
Related concepts
- Scheduled Castes
- Scheduled Tribes
- Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order 1950
- Lokur Committee (1965)
- Commission on Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes
- Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups
- PM-JANMAN
- Tribal Sub-Plan
- Xaxa Committee (2014)
- Denotified tribes