National Commission for Minorities: Political Science YouTube Lecture Handouts
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- National Commission for Minorities is a setup to safeguard the rights of Minorities.
- It is a statutory body.
- It gives shape to the abstract rights in the constitution.
- It evaluates and strengthens the system of the country
- It adheres to the UN Declaration of 18 December 1992 which held that States shall protect the identity of minorities
- The Indian Constitution does not define the word “Minorities” .
- To provide equality provisions for Minorities are in Fundamental rights, Directive principles of state policy and Fundamental duties.
Rights and Safeguards of Minorities
Under Part III Fundamental Rights
- Article 29 - Protecting of interests of Minorities
- Article 30 - Rights of Minorities to establish and administer educational institutions
Under Part XVII Official Language
- Article 347 - Rights of any section of population for language spoken by them
- Article 350 A - Provision for facilities of instruction in mother tongue
- Article 350 B - Provisioning a special officer for linguistic Minorities and defining his duties
Establishment of the Commission
- In 1960 Minorities Commission was established in Lucknow.
- In 1977 Janata Government headed by Moraji desai decided to set up the Commission for protecting the interests of Minorities
- In 1978, Minorities commission was setup by an executive resolution of the Government of India.
- It was given statutory status by National Commission for minorities Act 1992.
- In 1993 the National Commission for Minorities and first statutory commission was constituted
- The act defines Muslims, Christian, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis as Minorities
- In 2014 Jain community was added.
Composition of the Commission
- It consists of a Chairperson, Vice Chairperson and five members
- They are nominated by the Central Government
- They must belong to a minority community
- Their Salaries and allowances are prescribed by the Central Government
- Their office tenure is three years
- The Chairperson or members can be removed by the Central government
- The Chairman of the Commission is also the Ex Officio Member of National Human Rights Commission.
Functions of the Commission
- To evaluate progress of Minorities
- To monitor the working of safeguards for Minorities
- To make effective implementation of safeguards
- To look into complaints by minorities
- Recommend measures for removal of discrimination
- To look into educational development of Minorities
- To suggest measures to the Government
- To make reports on difficulties faced by Minorities
- To look into matter referred by the Central Government
- The National Commission for Minorities has the power of a civil court as it can summon or enforce any person for examination and look public records from any office
- It presents Annual Report to the Central Government
- The central Government place the Commission reports before the Parliament՚s both houses.
- When required the Commission also submits a copy of the report to the State Government
- The State Government place the report before the concerned State Legislature
- The Commission depends on the Government for its recommendations to get implemented
- The Commission functions to with a limited role
✍ Mayank