Article 338: National Commission for Scheduled Castes- Complete Notes for UPSC
Article 338 of Indian Constitution
Original text:
(1) There shall be a Commission for the Scheduled Castes to be known as the National Commission for the Scheduled Castes.
(2) Subject to the provisions of any law made in this behalf by Parliament, the Commission shall consist of a Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and three other Members and the conditions of service and tenure of office of the Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and other Members so appointed shall be such as the President may by rule determine.]
(3) The Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and other Members of the Commission shall be appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal.
(4) The Commission shall have the power to regulate its own procedure.
(5) It shall be the duty of the Commission—
- to investigate and monitor all matters relating to the safeguards provided for the Scheduled Castes 1*** under this Constitution or under any other law for the time being in force or under any order of the Government and to evaluate the working of such safeguards;
- to inquire into specific complaints with respect to the deprivation of rights and safeguards of the Scheduled Castes 1***;
- to participate and advise on the planning process of socio-economic development of the Scheduled Castes 1*** and to evaluate the progress of their development under the Union and any State;
- to present to the President, annually and at such other times as the Commission may deem fit, reports upon the working of those safeguards;
- to make in such reports recommendations as to the measures that should be taken by the Union or any State for the effective implementation of those safeguards and other measures for the protection, welfare and socio-economic development of the Scheduled Castes 1***; and
- to discharge such other functions in relation to the protection, welfare and development and advancement of the Scheduled Castes 1*** as the President may, subject to the provisions of any law made by Parliament, by rule specify.
(6) The President shall cause all such reports to be laid before each House of Parliament along with a memorandum explaining the action taken or proposed to be taken on the recommendations relating to the Union and the reasons for the non-acceptance, if any, of any of such recommendations.
(7) Where any such report, or any part thereof, relates to any matter with which any State Government is concerned, a copy of such report shall be forwarded to the Governor of the State who shall cause it to be laid before the Legislature of the State along with a memorandum explaining the action taken or proposed to be taken on the recommendations relating to the State and the reasons for the non-acceptance, if any, of any of such recommendations.
(8) The Commission shall, while investigating any matter referred to in sub-clause (a) or inquiring into any complaint referred to in sub-clause (b) of clause (5), have all the powers of a civil court trying a suit and in particular in respect of the following matters, namely:—
- summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person from any part of India and examining him on oath;
- requiring the discovery and production of any document;
- receiving evidence on affidavits;
- requisitioning any public record or copy thereof from any court or office;
- issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses and documents;
- any other matter which the President may, by rule, determine.
(9) The Union and every State Government shall consult the Commission on all major policy matters affecting Scheduled Castes 1***].
(10)] In this article, references to the Scheduled Castes 1*** shall be construed as including references 3*** to the Anglo-Indian community.
Explanation of Article 338 of Indian Constitution:
Originally, Article 338 of Indian Constitution provided only a single special officer, whereas over the years, it functions as a multi-member body:
- Appointment of a Special Officer: Originally, under Article 338 of Indian constitution, a special officer was appointed to investigate matters relating to the constitutional safeguards for the SCs and the STs. The special officer was designated as a commissioner of SC and ST.
- Non-Statutory Multi-Member Commission: A special officer was not enough to implement safeguard policies for the SC and STs. Therefore, a Non-Statutory multi-member commission was created by the Government by passing a resolution in 1978, whereas the office of commissioner for SCs and STs continued to exist.
- This was renamed the National Commission for SCs and STs, and the Government modified the function of the Commission by passing a resolution in
- 65th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1990: A high-level multi-member body for SCs and STs was established in place of a single special officer for SCs and STs. It abolished the Commissioner for SCs and STs as well as the Commission, which was set up under the resolution of 1987.
- 89th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2003: A single commission was inadequate to monitor the constitutional safeguards of SCs and STs, and therefore, this act divided the single National Commission for SCs and STs into two separate bodies, i.e.,
-
- National Commission for Schedule Caste under Article 338 and
- National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) under Article 338-A.
- In 2004, a separate First National Commission for SCs came into being (Article 338).
Article 338 (Present scenario):
- Composition of the National Commission for SCs: It includes a chairperson, a vice chairperson, and three other members.
- Appointment: the members are appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal.
- Condition of Service and Tenure of Office: The constitution empowers the President of India to determine the condition of services and tenure of the members.
- Term of office: The members of the Commission hold office for a term of three years, as per “The National Commission for Scheduled Castes Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and Members (Conditions of service and Tenure) Rules, 2004” made by the President.
- The members of the Commission can only be appointed for a maximum of two terms.
- Suraj Bhan was the First chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled castes. Until now, 6 National Commissions for scheduled Castes have been constituted.
Functions of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes:
Following functions have been enumerated under Article 338(5) of the constitution of India:
- Investigates matters related to safeguards: The Commission monitors and looks into issues relating to the protections outlined in the constitution for the schedule castes or under any government order to evaluate the workings of such safeguards.
- Inquiries into specific complaints: The Commission looks into the particular complaints related to the deprivation of rights and safeguards of the Scheduled castes (SCs).
- Evaluate Development Progress: The Commission reviews the progress of the Scheduled Caste development under the Union or a state, as well as participates in and provides input on the planning process for their development.
- Presents Annual Report to the President: The Commission may submit the report annually or at other times as the constitution may specify to the President on the working of the safeguards.
- Recommends Union or States: recommends Union or to any state regarding the effective implementation of the safeguards and the protection. Recommendations of the Commission are only advisory, not mandatory in nature.
- Consultation Function: Both the Union government and state governments should consult the Commission on all the related major policy matters that affect the schedule castes.
- Providing Constitutional Safeguard: The Commission also looks into the issues relating to the constitutional and other legal safeguards for the Anglo-Indian community and submits a report to the President on their workings.
- Other functions: Fulfills the functions related to the welfare, development advancement and protection of the Scheduled Castes as deemed fit by the President or any law.
Report of the National Commission for SCs:
It is the Commission’s responsibility to present a report to the President annually, and the Commission may also submit a report whenever it deems fit.
- The President places it in the parliament: All of these reports are presented to the parliament by the President together with a memorandum outlining the steps taken in response to the Commission’s recommendation.
- It must include the rationale for the rejection of every one of these recommendations.
- The President forwards it to the governor: It is also the President’s responsibility to forward any report of the Commission appropriated by the state government to the governor.
- The governor further places it before the state legislature, along with a memorandum of the action taken on the recommendations of the Commission.
- The memorandum also includes the rationale for the rejection of this recommendation.
Powers of the Commission:
Under Article 338(4) of the constitution, the Commission can regulate its own procedure for the purpose of investigation and enquiry into the working of the safeguards, and it has all the powers of a civil court.
The powers of the Commission are as follows:
- It can examine a person on oath.
- It can summon and enforce the attendance of any person and examine on oath
- It can discover and produce any documents and receive evidence on affidavits.
- Obtaining any public record from a court or office.
- It can issue summon for the examination of witnesses and documents
- Any other matter which the President may determine.
List of Amendment in Article 338 of Indian Constitution
| Amendments | Description |
| 65th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1990 | A high-level multi-member body for SCs and STs was established in place of a single special officer for SCs and STs. It abolished the Commissioner for SCs and STs as well as the Commission, which was set up under the resolution of 1987. |
| 89th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2003 |
A single commission was inadequate to monitor the constitutional safeguards of SCs and STs, and therefore, this act divided the single National Commission for SCs and STs into two separate bodies, i.e., · National Commission for Schedule Caste under Article 338 and · National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) under Article 338-A. The word “and schedule Tribes” was omitted. |
| 102nd Amendment Act 2018. | Until 2018, the Commission was responsible for discharging similar functions related to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs). The Commission was relieved from this responsibility by the 102nd Amendment Act 2018. |
For Further Reference:
- Read the constitution of India.
- Read the National Commission for Schedule Caste.
