The framers of the Constitution took note of the fact that certain castes, races or tribes in the country, who occupy the lowest rank in the ritual hierarchy of Indian society, were suffering from extreme social, educational and economic backwardness arising out of age-old practice of untouchability, lack of infrastructure facilities and geographical isolation, and who need special consideration for safeguarding their interests and for their accelerated socio-economic development. These communities were notified as Scheduled Castes as per provisions contained in Clause 1 of Articles 341 and 342 of the Constitution and have been defined under clause 24 of Article 366 of the Constitution of India. Since Independence, several strategies for sustainable development have been evolved and during last ten Five Years Plan several programmes and schemes have been implemented with a view to bring the Scheduled Castes in the mainstream of the Indian Society. The Scheduled Castes population, according to 2001 Census is 166.6 million constituting 16.23 per cent of the total population of India. Out of roughly 3000 castes estimated to exist in India, as many as 779 have been designated as Scheduled Castes. They are mainly concentrated in Uttar Pradesh (35.1 million), West Bengal (18.4 million), Andhra Pradesh (12.3 million), Tamil Nadu (11.8 million) and Bihar (11.3 million). While Uttar Pradesh has the highest concentration of Scheduled Castes population, Punjab with 28.9 per cent Scheduled Castes population occupies the first position in terms of percentage of SC to the state population. According to 2001 census, the literacy rate among SC population is 54.70 per cent as compared to 64.80 per cent among total population. Literacy among SC female in quite low i.e. 41.90 per cent against 53.70 per cent of general female, which is a cause of great concern. So for as economic conditions are concerned, it is reported that most of SC families are living below poverty line. In Rural India, Bihar and Orissa are some of the states where more than 50 per cent SC population is living below poverty line. More than 40 per cent of rural SC population in Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are living below poverty line. Most of the SC families are compelled to survival on manual labour as they have no viable economic resources for their livelihood. SC families living in urban area have also been reported in poor conditions and are subjected to exploitation.
1.2 With a view to provide safeguards against the exploitation of SCs and to promote and protect their social, educational, economic and cultural interests, special provisions have been made in the Constitution. Due to their social disability, educational and economic backwardness, they were grossly handicapped in getting reasonable share in elected offices, Government jobs and educational institutions and, therefore, it was considered necessary to follow a policy of reservations in their favour to ensure their equitable participation in governance. For effective implementation of various safeguards provided in the Constitution for the SCs and various other protective legislations, the Constitution provided for appointment of a Special Officer under Article 338 of the Constitution. The Special Officer who was called as Commissioner for SCs & STs was assigned the duty to monitor and investigate all matters relating to the safeguards for SCs and STs in various statutes and to report to the President upon the working of these safeguards. In order to facilitate effective functioning of the office of the Commissioner for SCs & STs 17 regional offices of the Commissioner were set up in different parts of the country.
1.3 On persistent demand of the Members of Parliament that the Office of the Commissioner for SCs & STs alone was not enough to monitor the implementation of Constitutional safeguards, a proposal was moved for amendment of Article 338 of the Constitution (46th Amendment) for replacing the arrangement of one Member system with a Multi-Member system while the amendment to Article 338 was still under consideration, the Government decided to set up a Multi-Member Commission through an administrative decision vide Ministry of Home Affairs’ Resolution No.13013/9/77-SCT(1) dated 21.7.1978. The first Commission for SCs & STs was, therefore, set up in August, 1978 with Shri Bhola Paswan Shastri as Chairman and other four Members. The field offices of the erstwhile Commissioner for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes which were transferred under the control of DG backward classes welfare in 1965 were brought back under the control of this Commission. The functions of the Commission for SCs & STs broadly corresponded with those of the Commissioner for SCs & STs.
1.4 The functions of the Multi-Member Commission set-up in 1978 were modified vide Ministry of Welfare’s Resolution No. BC-13015/12/86-SCD VI dated 1-9-1987 and the Commission for SCs & STs was renamed as the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. It was set up as a National Level Advisory Body to advise the Government on broad policy issues and levels of development of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
1.5 The statutory National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (hereinafter referred to as the Commission) came into being consequent upon passing of the Constitution (Sixty fifth Amendment) Bill, 1990 which was notified on 8-6-1990 (Annexure-I) and the Rules there under were notified on 3-11-1990. The first Commission under the Constitution (65th Amendment) Act was constituted on 12-3-1992 replacing the Commissioner for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and the Commission set up under the Ministry of Welfare’s Resolution of 1987. The first Commission consisted of Shri Ram Dhan as the Chair person, Shri Bandi Oraon as the Vice-Chairperson and Shri B. Sammaiah, Dr. Sarojini Mahishi, Choudhary Hari Singh, Shri N. Brahma and Shri Jina Bhai Darjee as Members.
1.6 The Second Commission was constituted on 5-10-1995 with Shri H. Hanumanthappa as Chair person and Smt. Omem Moyong Deori as Vice-Chairperson. The Members of the Commission were Shri N.C. Chaturvedi, Shri Anand Mohan Biswas, Ven. Lama Lobzang, Shri Nar Singh Baitha and Shri B. Yadaiah.
1.7 The Third Commission was constituted in December, 1998 vide Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment’s Notification No.5035(E) dated 27th January,1999 consisting of Shri Dileep Singh Bhuria as the Chair person, Shri Kameshwar Paswan as the Vice-Chair person and Shri Harinder Singh Khalsa, Ven. Lama Lobzang, Shri Chhotray Majhi and Shri M. Kannan as Members, Smt. Veena Nayyar, Member was also appointed as Member vide Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment'’ Notification No. S.O. 529 (E) dated 30th June, 1999. On the resignation of Shri M. Kannan, Shri C. Chellappan was appointed as Member vide Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment’s Notification No. S.O. 722 (E) dated 3-7-2000.
1.8 The Fourth Commission was constituted in March, 2002 vide Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment’s Notification No. S.O. 351 (E) dated 21-3-2002 consisting of Dr. Bizay Sonkar Shastri as the Chairperson, Ven. Lama Chosphel Zotpa, Vice-Chairperson and Shri Vijay Kumar Choudhary, Shri Narayan Singh Kesari and Shri Tapir Gao as Members, Smt. Veena Premkumar Sharma assumed office on 23-8-2002 as Member and Shri C. Chellappan as Member completed his tenure on 2nd July, 2003. Shri Sampath Kumar assumed office on 30-9-2003 in place of Sh. C. Chellappan.
1.9 Consequent upon the Constitution (Eighty-Ninth Amendment) Act, 2003 (Annexure-II) coming into force on 19-2-2004 vide Notification of that date (Annexure-III) the erstwhile National Commission for Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes has been replaced by (1) National Commission for Scheduled Castes, and (2) National Commission for Scheduled Tribes. The Rules of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes were notified on 20th February, 2004 by the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment (Annexure-IV).
The First National Commission for Scheduled Castes was constituted with S/Shri Suraj Bhan, Chairperson, Fakirbhai Vaghela, Vice-Chairperson, Phool Chand Verma, Member, V. Devendra, Member and Smt. Surekha Lambture as Members. Due to sudden and unexpected demise of Dr. Suraj Bhan, Chair person on 6.8.2006, the duties and function of the Chairperson were discharged by Shri Fakirbhai Vaghela, Vice-Chairperson of the Commission.
1.10 The Second National Commission for Scheduled Castes in series was constituted on 25.05.2007 vide Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment’s letter No.17016/21/2006-SCD-VI. Dr. Buta Singh as the Chairperson assumed office on 25.05.2007, Prof. Narendra M. Kamble, the Vice-Chairperson, Smt. Satya Bahin and Shri Mahendra Boddh as Members assumed office on 28.05.2007 and Shri Mrutyunjay Nayak Member on 29.05.2007 respectively.
Source: Official Website of NCSC Last Updated on 06 - 09 - 2024
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