Rajya Sabha is likely to pass OBC Commission Bill in Monsoon session

Sources say that the consensus has been reached with all parties

The Select Committee of Rajya Sabha will submit its report on National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) in first week of Monsoon session of Parliament.

According to the sources, the consensus has been reached with all parties and the Bill will be passed in the Rajya Sabha in upcoming monsoon session of the Parliament.

A Bill to accord constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes, popularly known as Other Backward Classes (OBC) Commission, was referred to the Select Committee of Upper House of the Parliament after the Opposition on April 11 blocked its consideration in the Rajya Sabha and insisted that it be sent to a Select Committee for proper scrutiny.

The Bill was passed with huge majority in the Lok Sabha on April 10. The OBC Parliamentary Committee made a recommendation in this regard. MPs from all parties had personally requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to amend the Constitution in this regard.

Once the Bill is passed in the Rajya Sabha, the OBC Commission will become as powerful as the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and National Commission for Schedule Tribes. Till date, the OBC Commission is simply a legal body, whose job is to advise the government regarding the inclusion or removal of caste/community lists.

But from now on, this commission can effectively work towards the welfare and upliftment of people belonging to the socially and educationally backward classes.

The proposed commission will hear the grievances of socially and educationally backward classes, a function discharged so far by the National Commission for Scheduled Castes.

It also seeks to insert a new Article 342A to provide that the President may, by public notification, specify the socially and educationally backward classes.