National
Commission
for Backward
Classes, an
Indian
statutory
body, was
established
on 14 August
1993, under
the
provisions
of National
Commission
for Backward
Classes Act,
1993 (Act
No. 27 of
1993).
The
commission
was the
outcome of
the
direction of
the Supreme
Court in the
Mandal case
judgement
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)
respectively.
Background
- Two Backward Class Commissions were appointed in 1950s and 1970s under Kaka Kalelkar and B.P. Mandal respectively.
- In Indra Sawhney case of 1992, Supreme Court had directed the government to create a permanent body to entertain, examine and recommend the inclusion and exclusion of various Backward Classes for the purpose of benefits and protection.
- In pursuant to these directions parliament passed National Commission for Backward Classes Act in 1993 and constituted the NCBC.
- 123rd Constitution Amendment bill of 2017 was introduced in Parliament to safeguard the interests of backward classes more effectively.
- Parliament has also passed a separate bill to repeal the National Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993, thus 1993 act became irrelevant after passing the bill.
- The bill got the President assent in August 2018 and provided the constitutional status to NCBC.
Section 3 of
the Act
provides
that 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
GoI.
Their term
is of Three
years
Current
members (As
in April
2017)
Chairperson
Justice
Vangala
Eshwaraiah
Secretary -
A. K.
Mangotra
Member-
S.K.Kharventhan
Member - A.
K. Saini
Member -
Shakeel-uz-Zaman
Ansari
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