THE
CONSTITUTION (NINETY-FOURTH AMENDMENT) BILL, 2002
a
BILL
further to amend the Constitution
of India.
Be it
enacted by Parliament in the Fifty-third Year of the Republic of India as follows:—
1. Short title
and commencement.-(1) This Act may be called the Constitution
(Ninety-fourth Amendment) Act, 2002.
(2)
It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by
notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.
2. Amendment of
article 338.-In article 338 of the Constitution, —
(a) for the marginal heading, the following
marginal heading shall be substituted, namely :—
“National Commission for Scheduled
Castes.”;
(b) for clauses (1) and (2), the following
clauses shall be substituted, namely :—
“(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.”;
(c)
in clauses (5), (9) and (10), the words “and Scheduled Tribes”, wherever
they occur, shall be omitted.
3. Insertion of article 338A.-After article
338 of the Constitution, the following article shall be inserted,
namely:—
“338A. National Commission for Scheduled Tribes.-(1)
There shall be a Commission for the Scheduled Tribes to be known as the
National Commission for the Scheduled Tribes.
(2) Subject to the provisions of any law made in this
behalf by Parliament, the Commission shall consist of a Chairperson and two
other Members and the conditions of service and tenure of office of the
Chairperson and other Members so
appointed shall be such as the President may
by rule determine.
(3) The 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—
(a) to investigate and monitor all matters
relating to the safeguards provided for the Scheduled Tribes 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;
(b) to inquire into specific complaints with
respect to the deprivation of rights and safeguards of the Scheduled
Tribes;
(c) to participate and advise on the planning
process of socio-economic development of the Scheduled Tribes and to evaluate
the progress of their development under the Union and any
State;
(d) to present to the President, annually and
at such other times as the Commission may deem fit, reports upon the working of
those safeguards;
(e) 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 Tribes;
and
(f) to
discharge such other functions in relation to the protection, welfare and
development and advancement of the Scheduled Tribes 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:—
(a) summoning and enforcing the attendance of
any person from any part of India and examining him on
oath;
(b) requiring the discovery and production of
any document;
(c) receiving evidence on
affidavits;
(d) requisitioning any public record or copy
thereof from any court or office;
(e) issuing commissions for the examination of
witnesses and documents;
(f) 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 Tribes.”.
STATEMENT OF OBJECTS
AND REASONS
The National Commission for the Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes came into being consequent upon passing of the Constitution
(Sixty-fifth Amendment) Act, 1990. The said Commission was constituted on
12.3.1992 replacing the Commission for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
set up under the Resolution of 1987. Under article 338 of the Constitution, the
National Commission for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes was
established with the objective of monitoring all the safeguards provided for the
Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes under the Constitution or other
laws.
2. Geographically and culturally, the Scheduled Tribes
are different from the Scheduled Castes and their problems are also different
from the Scheduled Castes. In October 1999, a new Ministry of Tribal Affairs was
created to provide a sharp focus to the welfare and development of the Scheduled
Tribes. It was felt necessary that the Ministry of Tribal Affairs should
co-ordinate all activities relating to the Scheduled Tribes as it would not be
administratively feasible for the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to
perform this role. Now, in order to safeguard the interests of the Scheduled
Tribes more effectively, it is proposed to also set up a separate National
Commission for the Scheduled Tribes by bifurcating the existing National
Commission for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The new Commission for
the Scheduled Tribes shall consist of a Chairperson and two other Members and
the National Commission for the Scheduled Castes shall consist of a Chairperson,
Vice-Chairperson and three other Members. Accordingly, article 338 of the
Constitution is required to be modified by amending articles 338 and inserting
new article 338A.
3. The Bill seeks to achieve the aforesaid
object.
New
Delhi; JUAL ORAM.
The 19th December, 2002.
FINANCIAL
MEMORANDUM
Clause 2 of the Bill seeks to amend article 338 of the
Constitution and clause 3 of the Bill provides for the setting up of a National
Commission for the Scheduled Tribes by bifurcating the existing National
Commission for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The staff of the
existing National Commission for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes would
also be deputed in the ratio of 2:1 to the National Commission for the Scheduled
Castes and to the National Commission for the Scheduled Tribes respectively. In
addition to the posts which will be transferred to the National Commission for
Scheduled Tribes from the existing Commission, 15 posts of different categories
have been proposed to be created as additional posts for the proposed National
Commission for the Scheduled Tribes including that of the Chairperson,
Secretary, Joint Secretary and other administrative and technical staff of the
Commission.
2. The expenditure which is likely to be incurred on the proposed National Commission for the Scheduled Tribes would be of the order of Rs. 3.16 crores out of which a sum of Rs. 2.36 crores would be met by transferring the budget provision of the existing National Commission for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to the proposed National Commission for the Scheduled Tribes. An additional amount of Rs. 80.00 lakhs is likely to be required to meet the recurring and non-recurring expenditure on account of salaries, office expenses, rent, etc. of the propsed National Commission for the Scheduled Tribes which, would be met from the Consolidated Fund of India.
3.
The provisions of the Bill do not involve any other expenditure of a recurring
or a non-recurring nature.
338. National
Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.-(1) There shall be a
Commission for the Scheduled Castes
and Scheduled Tribes to be known as the National Commission for the Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
(2) Subject
to the provisions of any law made in this behalf by Parliament, the Commission
shall consist of a Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and five 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.
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(5) It shall be the duty of the
Commission—
(a) to
investigate and monitor all matters relating to the safeguards provided for the
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes 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;
(b) to inquire
into specific complaints with respect to the deprivation of rights and
safeguards of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes;
(c) to participate and advise on the
planning process of socio-economic development of the Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes and to evaluate the progress of their development under the
Union and any State;
(d) to present to the President, annually and at
such other times as the Commission may deem fit, reports upon the working of
those safeguards;
(e) 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 and Scheduled
Tribes; and
(f) to discharge such other functions in relation
to the protection, welfare and development and advancement of the
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes as the President may, subject to the
provisions of any law made by Parliament, by rule,
specify.
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(9) The Union and every State Government
shall consult the Commission on all
major policy matters affecting Scheduled Castes and Scheduled
Tribes.
(10) In this article, references to the Scheduled Castes
and Scheduled Tribes shall be construed as including references to such other
backward classes as the President may, on receipt of the report of a Commission
appointed under clause (1) of article 340, by order, specify and also to the
Anglo-Indian community.
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