BALAKRISHNAN COMMISSION

1. Why in news?

The central government has notified a Commission under former Chief Justice of India and former chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) K G Balakrishnan “to examine the matter of according Scheduled Caste status to new persons, who claim to historically have belonged to the Scheduled Castes, but have converted to religions other than those mentioned in the Presidential Orders issued from time to time under Article 341 of the Constitution”.

As of now, the benefits of reservation are available only to Dalit Hindus, Buddhists, and Sikhs. Several petitions are pending before the Supreme Court seeking reservation benefits for Dalits who converted to Christianity or Islam.

2. Key takeaways

2.1.Article 341: 

1. The rationale behind giving reservations to Scheduled Castes was that these sections had suffered from the social evil of untouchability, which was practised among Hindus. Under Article 341 of the Constitution, the President may “specify the castes, races or tribes or parts of or groups within castes, races or tribes which shall…be deemed to be Scheduled Castes”
2. The first order under this provision was issued in 1950 and covered only Hindus
3. Following demands from the Sikh community, an order was issued in 1956, including Sikhs of Dalit origin among the beneficiaries of the SC quota
4. In 1990, the government acceded to a similar demand from Buddhists of Dalit origin, and the order was revised to state: “No person who professes a religion different from the Hindu, the Sikh or the Buddhist religion shall be deemed to be a member of Scheduled Caste.”

2.2.Applicability of this religion-based bar

• The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) website states, “The rights of a person belonging to a Scheduled Tribe are independent of his/her religious faith.”
• Following the implementation of the Mandal Commission report, several Christian and Muslim communities have found a place in the Central and state lists of OBCs
• So, the religion-based bar does not apply to converted STs and OBCs as well

3. Efforts  made to include Muslims and Christians of the Dalit region among SCs

• After 1990, several Private Member Bills were brought in Parliament for this purpose. In 1996, a government Bill called The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Orders (Amendment) Bill was drafted, but given a divergence of opinions, the Bill was not introduced in Parliament
• The UPA government headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set up two important panels: the National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities, popularly known as the Ranganath Misra Commission, in October 2004; and a seven-member high-level committee headed by former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court Rajinder Sachar to study the social, economic, and educational condition of Muslims in March 2005
• The Sachar Commission Report observed that the social and economic situation of Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians did not improve after conversion.
• The Ranganath Misra Commission, which submitted its report in May 2007, recommended that SC status should be “completely de-linked from religion and Scheduled Castes [should be made] fully religion-neutral like Scheduled Tribes”
• The report was tabled in both Houses of Parliament on December 18, 2009, but its recommendation was not accepted given inadequate field data and corroboration with the actual situation on the ground.