Which of the following statements about National Commission for Women are correct? 1. It is a statutory body. 2. It has the mandate to review the constitutional and legal safeguards for women. 3. It has the mandate to advise the Government on all policy matters affecting women. Select the answer using the code given below:

Correct — D, 1, 2 and 3. Statements 2 and 3 are not paraphrases at all; they are lifted almost word for word from the Commission's own statement of its mandate, which runs that it exists to review the constitutional and legal safeguards for women, to recommend remedial legislative measures, to facilitate the redressal of grievances and to advise the Government on all policy matters affecting women. Statement 1 is the one that has to be reasoned rather than recognised, and it holds too. The Commission was set up in January 1992 under the National Commission for Women Act, 1990 — an ordinary Act of Parliament, not an article of the Constitution — which makes it a statutory body. That distinction carries real weight in this family of questions, because three of its sister commissions are constitutional: 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, added by the 102nd Amendment in 2018. The Commission for Women has never been given that status, and demands that it should be are raised periodically.

• (a)1 and 2 only — Drops statement 3, which is part of the Commission's own published mandate — advising the Government on all policy matters affecting women sits in the same sentence as reviewing the safeguards.
• (b)2 and 3 only — Drops the statutory character, presumably on the view that the Commission is constitutional or merely executive. It is neither: the National Commission for Women Act, 1990 created it.
• (c)1 and 3 only — Drops the review function, which is the first thing the Act gives the Commission — section 10 opens by empowering it to investigate and examine all matters relating to the safeguards provided for women under the Constitution and other laws.

The National Commission for Women was recommended by the Committee on the Status of Women in India and by successive national plans, and was finally created by the National Commission for Women Act, 1990, with the Commission constituted in January 1992. It consists of a Chairperson, five Members and a Member-Secretary nominated by the Central Government, with at least one Member each from the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. When investigating a matter it has the powers of a civil court — summoning witnesses, requiring documents, receiving evidence on affidavit. What it does not have is enforcement power: its findings and recommendations are advisory, and the government of the day is free to act on them or not.

Statement-set questions about a commission almost always hide the trap in whether it is constitutional or statutory, so it pays to hold the list. Constitutional commissions include the Election Commission under Article 324, the Finance Commission under Article 280, the Union and State Public Service Commissions, and the three social-justice commissions of Articles 338, 338A and 338B. Statutory bodies include the National Human Rights Commission under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, the Central Vigilance Commission under its 2003 Act, and the National Commission for Women. One useful cross-check on the Commission's standing is that Parliament has expressly declared its Chairperson's office not to disqualify a Member of Parliament, under the Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1959 — a statute would not need to say so if the office were constitutional. As of the April 2025 exam the Chairperson was Vijaya Kishore Rahatkar, who took office in October 2024 and holds it still.

• The National Commission for Women was created by the National Commission for Women Act, 1990 and constituted in January 1992 — a statutory body.
• Its published mandate is to review the constitutional and legal safeguards for women, recommend remedial legislative measures, facilitate redressal of grievances and advise the Government on all policy matters affecting women.
• It comprises a Chairperson, five Members and a Member-Secretary nominated by the Central Government, with at least one Member each from the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
• While inquiring into a matter it has the powers of a civil court, but its recommendations are not binding on the government.
• The commissions for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes are constitutional, under Articles 338, 338A and 338B; the Commission for Women is not.

• Assuming the Commission is constitutional because its siblings for Scheduled Castes and Tribes are.
• Assuming any 'advise the Government' clause must be an overreach. It is written into the Commission's mandate.
• Confusing the National Commission for Women with the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, which is a separate statutory body under a 2005 Act.

As a statements set on mandate and status like this one, as a constitutional-versus-statutory sorting item, or through the article number attached to a sister commission.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The National Commission for Women was constituted under an Act of Parliament passed in which year?

  • (a)1976
  • (b)1990
  • (c)1993
  • (d)2005

  Answer(b) 1990 — the National Commission for Women Act, 1990, with the Commission itself constituted in January 1992. The 1993 Act created the National Human Rights Commission.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which one of the following national commissions is NOT a constitutional body?

  • (a)National Commission for Scheduled Castes
  • (b)National Commission for Scheduled Tribes
  • (c)National Commission for Backward Classes
  • (d)National Commission for Women

  Answer(d) National Commission for Women — it rests on the 1990 Act. The other three are under Articles 338, 338A and 338B respectively.