What is the National Commission for Minorities?

By Asra Mujtaba 9 Minutes Read

The word ‘minority’^[1] is not defined anywhere in the constitution of India but there is the use of it considering religion and language of a person. The Constitution of India aims at providing the equality and removing the barrier of discrimination and to achieve the aforesaid goal, it provides a various number of rights and safeguards to the minorities or the minor sections of the society. These provisions are spelled out under various circumstances in the fundamental rights, Directive Principle of State Policies and the fundamental duties.

With the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992 coming into existence, the union government had set up the national commission for the minor or the trampled sections of the society. The object of the commission is protection, prevention, and development of the minorities in a particular state. The act considers basically six religious communities as the minorities by notification in the official gazette from the union government including the Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Zoroastrians or Parsi, and Jains.

The United Nations declaration^[2] also puts some obligation and duties to protect the minorities. The Declaration also stated that the states shall protect the existence of national, ethnic, cultural, and the religious identity of the minorities within its territory and in the jurisdiction. This also provides various types of measures and methods for their protection as well as their growth.

Composition of the National Commission for Minorities:

Section 3 of The National Commission for Minorities Act 1992^[3] deals with the composition of the commission as follows:

The central government has the power to establish a commission to be known as the national commission for minorities to perform the functions and responsibilities established by the law for the welfare of the minorities.

The community must comprise the following members.

1. The Chairperson
2. The Vice-chairperson
3. Five members who are nominated by the central government amongst the person who is amongst the persons of great eminence, ability, and integrity.

The chairperson of the commission must be from the minority’s community.

The term of office for the chairperson and all the members is 3 years from the date they assume office. If any member wants to resign from the office then he/she can give in writing under his/her own hand, addressing the central government. If a person becomes undischarged insolvent, of unsound mind, refuses to act, becomes incapable of acting under any scenario or is absent from three consecutive meetings without taking a leave of absence from the commission, then the central government has the power to remove the particular member from the commission and this is provided under Section 4 of the National Commission for Minorities’ Act 1992^[4].

Functions and Powers of The National Commission for Minorities:

Section 9 of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992^[5] deals with the functions and powers which are embedded under the national commission for minorities according to the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992.

The Functions of the Commission are as follows:

1. Evaluate the advancement and the development of minorities under the state and union territory.
2. Safeguarding interests, which are provided under the constitution and other laws for the protection of the interests of the minorities.
3. Make a recommendation for the effective execution of the safeguard measures.
4. Looking into the complaint which is related to the violation of the rights of the minorities and takes these complaints to the authority.
5. Discrimination against minorities creates a delinquent, the commission studies these problems and make a recommendation on the solution to these problems.
6. The study, research, and analysis on the issues which are related to the socio-economic development of the minorities.
7. Suggesting the measures to be taken into consideration by the central government as well as the state government for the welfare of the minorities.
8. Make a periodic or special report to the central government on any matter about minorities and in particular the difficulties confronted by them.
9. Any other function is referred to as the central government.

The National Commission for Minorities has the following powers^[6].

1. Summoning the witness and attendance of any person from any part of India and examining him under an oath.
2. Discovery of the documents and the production of documents.
3. Receiving pieces of evidence on affidavit.
4. Requisitioning any public record or copy thereof from any court or office.

Rights and the Safeguards provided to the Minorities:

Although the Indian Constitution does not define the word ‘minority’, it has provided some constitutional safeguards and fundamental rights to minorities:

Under ‘The Fundamental Rights’ of Part III of the Indian Constitution^[7]:

The Indian state is committed to the administering of these rights which can be enforced by the judiciary

• The Right of any segment of the citizens to conserve its distinct language, script or culture
• The Right of all the religious and linguistic minorities to establish and administer the educational institutions of their choice.
• Freedom of Minorities for the educational institutions which are being managed by them, against any form of discrimination in the matter of receiving aid from the State.

Under Part XVII, the official language of The Indian Constitution^[8]

• Rights for any section of the population for the language spoken by them. 
• Provision for facilities of instruction in the mother tongue that is familiar to them. 
• Provisioning a special officer for linguistic minorities and defining his/her duties.

These are some rudimentary opinions in kith and kin to the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992 those fundamentally aimed at the amelioration of the minorities. There are many international covenants and declarations of rah protection fettle rights of minorities besides legislation in India. The interest of minorities should be protected in order to invigorate democratization in the country and allow them to have their own cultural identity.  

[1] Source Link.
[2] 18^th December 1992
[3] Source Link.
[4] Source Link.
[5] Source Link.
[6]Source Link.
[7] Source Link.
[8] Source Link.

Asra Mujtaba