Question

Q25. Consider the following statements about National Commission for Minorities:

1. It is a statutory body set up under the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992.

2. It looks into complaints from members of five religious communities — Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Zoroastrians (Parsis).

Which of the above statements are correct?

• A. a) 1 only
• B. b) 2 only
• C. c) Both 1 and 2
• D. d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer 1

The correct option is C

c) Both 1 and 2

National Commission for Minorities

• It is a statutory body set up under the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992.
• The commission is made up of :
  • a Chairperson,
  • a Vice Chairperson and
  • five members.
• Unlike other bodies like NCSC and NCST, NCM has no constitutional backing or status
• It works under the Ministry of Minority Affairs, and before the formation of this ministry it came under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
• It looks into complaints from members of five religious communities — Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Zoroastrians (Parsis). Jain community was notified as a minority community in 2014.
• Some state viz. Andhra Pradesh, Assam , Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi , Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have also set up State Minorities Commissions.
• There’s no prescribed selection process for making appointments with the Cabinet Appointments Committee arbitrarily picking up names from a list suggested by the “nodal” ministry.