Constitutional Bodies in India- NCSC, NCST, NCBC and SOLM

National Commission for Scheduled Castes

• NCSC is an Indian constitutional agency tasked with protecting Scheduled Castes and Anglo-Indian groups from exploitation in order to advance and protect their social, educational, economic, and cultural interests. It is run by the Indian Government’s Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. The National Commission for Scheduled Castes is governed by Article 338 of the Indian Constitution
• It comprises a chairperson, a vice-chairperson, and three other members who are appointed by the President
• An annual report is provided by the Commission to the President

Functions and Power

• All issues relating to the Constitution’s safeguards for SCs are being monitored and investigated
• Questioning into complaints relating to the deprivation of the rights and safeguards of the Scheduled Castes
• Taking part in and advising the central or state governments with respect to the planning of socio-economic growth of the Scheduled Castes 
• Timely reporting to the President of India on the functioning of these safeguards
• Recommending steps to be taken to advance the socio-economic development and other welfare activities of the SCs
• Any other function regarding the welfare, protection, development and advancement of the SC community is proceeded 
• The Commission has the power of regulation of its own procedure 

The Commission works at:

• Bringing and forcing the participation of any individual from any part of India and looking at him as a promise
• Necessitating the discovery and production of any document
• Receiving evidence on affidavit
• Obtaining any public record from any official or court that has issued summons for the examination of witnesses and documents
• Any matter that the President of India may determine
• The Commission must likewise carry out comparable tasks in relation to the Anglo-Indian Community as it does with the SCs

National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST)

• The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCSTs) is also a Constitutional body in the sense that it is directly instituted by Article 338-A of the Constitution
• The Commission was instituted under Article 338 of the Constitution of India with the aim of monitoring all the safeguards provided for the SCs and STs under the Constitution or other laws
• It comprises a chairperson, a vice-chairperson, and three other members. They are appointed  by the President on a warrant
• Their conditions of service and term of office are also determined by the President
• The Commission offers an annual report to the President

Functions of the Commission

• Functions and powers of NCST are for STs and are the same as that NCSC has with respect to SCs
• Along with this, in 2005, the President specified some functions of the Commission with respect to the protection, development and welfare and advancement of the STs like
• Measures to be taken to provide full implementation of the Provisions of Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA Act) 
• Measures to be taken to diminish and ultimately abolish the practice of shifting cultivation by tribal communities that lead to their continuous disempowerment and degradation of land and the environment

National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC)

• The 102nd Amendment Act of 2018 conferred a Constitutional status on the NCBC (was a Statutory body before &  given the status of a Constitutional body). For this purpose, the amendment introduced a new Article 338-B in the Constitution of India
• It comprises a chairperson, a vice-chairperson, and 3 other members. They are selected by the President on a warrant. Their conditions of service and term of office are also determined by the President
• The President could detail the socially and educationally backward classes in the various states and Union Territories, according to the document. He may do so after consulting with the governor of the concerned  state. The President receives an annual report from the Commission

Functions and Power

• Functions and powers of NCBC are for BCs are the same as what NCSC have with respect to SCs, which are explained above

National Commission for Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities

• Initially, the Constitution of India did not make any terms with respect to the separate Officer to solve issues related to Linguistic Minorities
• Accordingly, the 7th Constitutional Amendment Act of 1956 introduced a new Article 350-B in Part XVII of the Constitution

  This article comprises the following provisions:

• There should be a Special Officer to  Linguistic Minorities. The officer is to be appointed by the President of India
• The Special Officer will be responsible for investigating all matters relating to the Constitutional safeguards for linguistic minorities
• He would report to the President upon those issues at such intervals as the President may direct. The President must place all such reports before each House of Parliament and send them to the governments of the states concerned
• The Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities’ qualifications, wages and benefits, tenure, service conditions, and procedure for removal are not specified in the Constitution
• In 1957, the Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities was established under the provisions of Article 350-B of the Constitution
• He is assigned as the Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities
• At the Central level, the Commissioner works under the Ministry of Minority Affairs

Functions of Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities

• To investigate all subjects with respect to safeguards provided to the linguistic minorities
• The officer should submit the reports on the status of performance of the Constitutional and the nationally agreed safeguards for the linguistic minorities to the President of India
• To monitor the implementation of safeguards through visits, questionnaires, seminars, meetings, and to review mechanisms, discussions, conferences, etc
• Through nodal offices nominated by the State Governments and Union Territories, he maintains interaction with them

Conclusion

Protected bodies are the bodies set up under the Constitution of India. These are the bodies that are referenced in the constitution of India and are considered as free and all the more remarkable. Since they get their power from the Indian Constitution, any adjustment of the instrument of the protected bodies would require a sacred change.

Protected bodies are not quite the same as legal bodies are made by the request for law and Constitutional bodies infer their powers and specialists from the Constitution of India.