CDS (II) 2020 General Knowledge · Question 24 of 120

Correct — B, the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes. Article 338A was inserted by the Constitution (Eighty-ninth Amendment) Act, 2003, with effect from 19 February 2004, and its first clause reads that there shall be a Commission for the Scheduled Tribes to be known as the National Commission for the Scheduled Tribes. The same amendment cut the words 'and Scheduled Tribes' out of Article 338, so that the older article now provides only for the National Commission for Scheduled Castes. Before 2004 the two communities shared a single constitutional commission; the Eighty-ninth Amendment split it into two, each with its own article, and both are constitutional bodies whose members are appointed by the President and whose reports are laid before Parliament.

• (a)The National Commission for Scheduled Castes — This body sits under Article 338, not 338A. The two articles are consecutive precisely because the Eighty-ninth Amendment carved the tribal commission out of the older combined one.
• (c)The National Commission for Backward Classes — It was given constitutional status only later, by the Constitution (One Hundred and Second Amendment) Act, 2018, which inserted Article 338B. Until then it was a statutory body under a 1993 Act.
• (d)The National Commission for Women — A statutory body created by the National Commission for Women Act, 1990. It has no article of its own and is not a constitutional commission.

A constitutional body owes its existence to the Constitution itself, so its composition and functions can be altered only by amendment; a statutory body owes its existence to an ordinary Act, which Parliament may amend or repeal by an ordinary majority. Among the commissions for disadvantaged groups the three constitutional ones are the National Commission for Scheduled Castes under Article 338, the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes under Article 338A and the National Commission for Backward Classes under Article 338B, together with the Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities under Article 350B. The National Commission for Women, the National Commission for Minorities and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights are statutory.

The whole item turns on one letter of the article number, and the reason for that letter is worth knowing rather than memorising. Article 338 was written in 1950 for a single commission covering both Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes; the argument that tribal concerns needed a dedicated body led to the Eighty-ninth Amendment in 2003, which created Article 338A for the tribes and left Article 338 to the castes. The later Article 338B for backward classes follows the same pattern of upgrading a statutory commission to constitutional status, this time in 2018. Once that sequence is clear, the numbering follows from the chronology and there is nothing left to confuse.

• Article 338A was inserted by the Constitution (Eighty-ninth Amendment) Act, 2003, with effect from 19 February 2004.
• The same amendment omitted the words 'and Scheduled Tribes' from Article 338, leaving that article to the Scheduled Castes alone.
• Article 338B, for the National Commission for Backward Classes, was inserted by the One Hundred and Second Amendment in 2018.
• The National Commission for Women is a statutory body created by an Act of 1990, not a constitutional one.
• The chairperson, vice-chairperson and members of the Scheduled Tribes commission are appointed by the President, and its reports are laid before Parliament.

• Reading 338A as a sub-clause of 338 rather than as a separate article inserted later.
• Assuming the National Commission for Women must be constitutional because it is well known. It is statutory.
• Forgetting that the Backward Classes commission became constitutional only in 2018, which changes the answer to any question set before that year.

As an article-to-commission matching item, or as a which-of-these-is-not-a-constitutional-body item.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The National Commission for Backward Classes was given constitutional status by which amendment?

  • (a)Eighty-ninth Amendment, 2003
  • (b)Ninety-seventh Amendment, 2011
  • (c)One Hundred and Second Amendment, 2018
  • (d)One Hundred and Third Amendment, 2019

  Answer(c) One Hundred and Second Amendment, 2018 — it inserted Article 338B; the Eighty-ninth Amendment of 2003 had earlier created Article 338A for the Scheduled Tribes.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which one of the following is NOT a constitutional body?

  • (a)National Commission for Scheduled Castes
  • (b)National Commission for Scheduled Tribes
  • (c)National Commission for Women
  • (d)Union Public Service Commission

  Answer(c) National Commission for Women — it is statutory, created by an Act of 1990, while the other three are provided for by the Constitution.