National Commission for Scheduled Castes

The National Commission for Scheduled Castes has been constituted under Article 338 of the Constitution of Indiaas amended by the Constitution (Eighty-Ninth Amendment) Act, in the year 2003. The Commission shall consist of a Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson and three other Members.

The National Commission for Scheduled Castes is an Indian constitutional body under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India established with a view to provide safeguards against the exploitation of Scheduled Castes and Anglo Indian communities to promote and protect their social, educational, economic and cultural interests, special provisions were made in the Constitution.[1] Article 338 of the Indian constitution deals with National Commission for Scheduled Castes. Article 338 A deals with National Commission for Scheduled tribes.

Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
The first Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes was set up in August 1978 with Bhola Paswan Shastri as chairman and other four members. Members of the commission includes a chairman, a vice chairman and four other members.[2] 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. The president of India appoints the chairman of commission. The fifth schedule of Indian constitution deals with the administration and control of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Service condition and tenure is determined by president of India. Article 341 deals with notification of Scheduled Castes and Article 342 deals with notification of Scheduled Tribes.

The first Commission was constituted in 1992 with S. H. Ramdhan as chairman.

The second Commission was constituted in October 1995 with H. Hanumanthappa as chairman.

The third Commission was constituted in December 1998 with Dileep Singh Bhuria as the chairman.

The fourth Commission was constituted in March 2002 with Dr. Bizay Sonkar Shastri as the chairperson.

Consequent upon the Constitution (Eighty-Ninth Amendment) Act, 2003 the erstwhile National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes has been replaced by

(1) National Commission for Scheduled Castes and

(2) National Commission for Scheduled Tribes.