Background:
- Status: Following the Supreme Court judgement (Indra Sawhney vs. Union of India in 1992), the NCBC was constituted in 1993 under the NCBC Act, 1993, thus making it a statutory Body.
- Functions: Its functions were limited to:
- examining the requests for inclusion under list of backward class and
- hearing complaints of over-inclusion/under-inclusion of any backward class in such lists.
Constitution (123rd Amendment) Bill:
- Articles inserted: It inserts Article 338B, Article 342A and Clause 26C in Article 366.
- Status:
- It accords constitutional status to the NCBC by inserting Article 338B into the Constitution. By this it repeals the 1993 Act.
- Thus status of NCBC is at par with the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST)
- Composition: It will consist a Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and three other members, all of whom shall be appointed by the President of India.
- Functions (under Article 338B):
- To monitor all matters relating to the safeguards provided for the backward classes by constitution or law and to handle their grievances.
- While inquiring into any complaint, it will have all the powers of a civil court (It will be able to summon any person, ask for a document and receive evidence on affidavits).
- Article 342A: According to it, any addition to the Central list of OBCs will need to be cleared by Parliament.
- Clause 26C in Article 366: It states that "socially and educationally backward classes" means the backward classes as are so deemed under article 342A for the purposes of this Constitution.
