National Commission for Scheduled Castes

Also called: NCSC, Article 338 · Topic: Constitutional Bodies: UPSC, CAG, Finance Commission and Others · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 2 "Rights in the Indian Constitution"

Meaning

The National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) is a constitutional body under Article 338. It watches over all the protections given to Scheduled Castes, looks into their complaints and advises the government on their welfare. It also covers the Anglo-Indian community [6].

It matters because SC safeguards, such as reservation and the laws against untouchability and atrocities, are only as strong as their enforcement. The NCSC is the body the Constitution sets up to check that enforcement and to report on it to the President and Parliament.

Explanation

What the NCSC is and how it came about

• Constitutional body means the Constitution itself creates it. Only a constitutional amendment can abolish it or change its basic design. An ordinary law or a government order cannot.
• Scheduled Castes (SCs) are the castes the President lists by order under Art. 341.
• Safeguards are the protections SCs get under the Constitution, under laws and under government orders. Examples are reservation in jobs, seats and education, and laws against untouchability and atrocities.
• How it evolved:
• 1950: the original Art. 338 provided for a Special Officer, the Commissioner for SCs and STs. This was one person appointed by the President [3].
• 1978: a Commission for SCs and STs was set up by government resolution. It was non-statutory, which means no law created it.
• 1987: it was renamed the National Commission for SCs and STs.
• 1990: the 65th Amendment made it a constitutional, multi-member National Commission for SCs and STs.
• 2003–04: the 89th Amendment (2003) split the joint body. The NCSC stayed under Art. 338. The NCST was created under Art. 338A, which came into force on 19 February 2004 [2].

• 2018: the 102nd Amendment took backward classes out of Art. 338. A separate NCBC was created under Art. 338B [3][8].

• Why the split happened:

• Tribal problems, such as land, forests and displacement, are different from SC problems.
• A joint body could not give tribal issues enough attention.

Composition and appointment

• Members: a Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson and three other Members. Art. 338(2) fixes this number [3]. Parliament may make a law on the details.
• Appointment: by the President, by warrant under his hand and seal, which is a formal signed and sealed order [2][4].
• Tenure and service conditions are not in the Constitution. The President sets them by rules. The tenure is three years.
• Exam trap: the number of members is in the Constitution, but the tenure is only in the rules.

Functions — Art. 338(5)

• (a) Investigate and monitor all SC safeguards under the Constitution, laws and government orders, and judge how well they work [2][6].
• (b) Inquire into specific complaints that SCs were denied their rights and safeguards.
• (c) Take part in and advise on planning for the socio-economic development of SCs, and check progress in the Union and in every state.
• (d) Report to the President every year, and at other times if the Commission thinks fit.
• (e) Recommend measures in those reports, so that the Union and the states put the safeguards into effect.
• (f) Any other functions that the President specifies by rule, subject to any law made by Parliament.

Powers and their limits

• Civil-court powers — Art. 338(8):
• These apply only while the Commission investigates under 5(a) or inquires into a complaint under 5(b).

• During that work, it has the powers of a civil court trying a suit [2]. It can:

  • summon any person and make them attend;
  • examine people on oath;
  • order documents to be found and produced;
  • take evidence on affidavit (a written statement sworn as true);
  • ask any court or office for public records;
  • issue commissions to examine witnesses and documents.

• Must be consulted — Art. 338(9): the Union and every state government must consult the NCSC on all major policy matters affecting SCs [2].

• Reporting chain — Art. 338(6), (7):
• Step 1: the Commission sends its report to the President.
• Step 2: the President has it laid before each House of Parliament.
• Step 3: a memorandum (an explanatory note) goes with it. The memorandum says what action was taken on each recommendation and gives reasons for any recommendation that was not accepted [2].

• State matters: if a report concerns a state, a copy goes to the Governor. The Governor lays it before the state legislature with a similar memorandum [2].

• Limit: the Commission is a watchdog and adviser, not a court.

• Its findings are recommendations. They do not bind the government the way a court decree does.
• If a recommendation is ignored, its strongest tool is to make the matter public in Parliament through its report.

In the Constitution and practice

• Where it sits:
• Art. 338 is in Part XVI of the Constitution, which contains special provisions for certain classes.

• It was shaped by the 65th Amendment (1990), the 89th Amendment (2003) and the 102nd Amendment (2018) [3].

• Art. 338(10): in this article, references to SCs include the Anglo-Indian community. So the NCSC also protects Anglo-Indians [3].

• Before 2018, Art. 338(10) also covered backward classes. The 102nd Amendment (2018) removed that reference [3].

• The new NCBC was set up "in the same manner" as the SC and ST commissions [8].

• Landmark case: All India Indian Overseas Bank SC and ST Employees' Welfare Assn. v. Union of India (1996). The Supreme Court held that:

• the civil-court powers in Art. 338(8) are only for investigation and inquiry;

• the Commission cannot grant injunctions, which are court orders that stop an action such as a transfer or a promotion.

• Typical cases the NCSC handles:

• service grievances of SC employees, such as promotion, seniority and harassment;
• reservation-roster complaints (a roster is the register that tracks which post goes to which reserved category);

• atrocity cases, such as police delay, failure to register an FIR, or relief that was not paid.

• Laws it monitors:

• the Protection of Civil Rights Act 1955, which punishes the practice of untouchability;

• the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989, which covers crimes against SCs and STs and provides special courts.

• Reports often cover several years at once:

• the NCSC's Annual Report covered 2018-19 and 2019-20 together [9];
• its Annual Report for 2020-21 and 2021-22 was submitted to the President together [7].

Don't confuse with

• National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST): it is under Art. 338A, not Art. 338, and it has existed since 2004 [2]. It also has extra duties under the 2005 Rules, such as giving STs ownership rights over minor forest produce [5]. The NCSC has no such forest-related mandate.
• National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC): it is under Art. 338B, added by the 102nd Amendment (2018). Since 2018, OBCs are no longer covered by the NCSC [3][8].
• Commissioner for SCs and STs (Special Officer): this was the one-person office under the original Art. 338 of 1950 [3]. The 65th Amendment (1990) replaced it with a multi-member commission.
• A civil court: the NCSC has civil-court powers only to investigate and inquire. It cannot grant injunctions or pass binding decrees (All India IOB SC/ST Employees' Welfare Assn., 1996).

Prelims Hooks

• Art. 338 → NCSC. Art. 338A → NCST. Art. 338B → NCBC (102nd Amendment, 2018).
• The 65th Amendment (1990) created a multi-member constitutional commission for SCs and STs. The 89th Amendment (2003) split it into the NCSC and the NCST.
• Composition (Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and 3 Members) is fixed in Art. 338(2). Tenure (3 years) is set only by Presidential rules.
• Reports go to the President, not straight to Parliament. Reports about a state go to the Governor [2].
• Trap: the NCSC also covers Anglo-Indians under Art. 338(10). It no longer covers OBCs after 2018 [3].
• Under Art. 338(9), the Union and every state must consult the NCSC on all major policy matters affecting SCs [2].

Mains Points

• A watchdog without teeth:
• The NCSC has civil-court powers to investigate, but its findings are not binding, and it cannot grant injunctions (1996 ruling).
• The government only has to give reasons when it rejects a recommendation.

• Reform ideas: fixed deadlines for laying reports and action-taken memoranda in Parliament, and a fixed time within which governments must act on recommendations.

• Independence and capacity:

• Chairpersons and members are often former party office-bearers, which raises doubts about independence.
• The Parliamentary Committee on the Welfare of SCs and STs found that member posts in the sister body, the NCST, stayed vacant for long periods [10][4].

• Reform ideas: a selection committee that includes the Leader of the Opposition, as for the NHRC and the CIC, and tenure and qualifications written into a law instead of rules.

• Delays weaken Parliament's oversight:

• NCSC reports often cover several years at once [7][9]. The NCST's action-taken report on its 2006-07 report was laid only on 26 April 2013 [11].
• As a result, Parliament ends up reviewing old problems.
• The NCSC's work also overlaps with the courts, the NHRC and state SC commissions, so complainants often take the same case to several bodies. Reports laid on time and a single complaint portal with clear referral rules would make Art. 338 a stronger tool of accountability.

Related concepts

• National Commission for Scheduled Tribes

Read more

• National Commissions for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes