The National Commission for Minorities in India – NCM

National Commission for Minorities in India (NCM) – राष्ट्रीय अल्पसंख्यक आयोग

The Indian Constitution does not offer a specific definition of the word- Minority. However, we use the word for a person based on two attributes- language and religion. For minorities, the Indian Constitution envisages multiple safeguards and rights in India. With an intent to provide equality to a great extent and to lessen the discrimination, the Constitution includes several provisions like Part III of Fundamental Rights, Part IV-A of Fundamental Duties and Directive Principles of State Policy’s Part IV. However, with rising conflicts, the Government of India (भारत सरकार) understood that mere laws are not enough for safeguarding the rights of the minority communities.

The Union Government came up with a plan of setting up a National Commission for Minorities, according to the provisions of the National Commission for Minorities Act of 1992.

Who are the Minorities in India?

The Union Government marked six different religious communities as ‘minorities’ in India. They are:

• Muslims
• Buddhists
• Christians
• Parsis
• Sikhs
• Jains

Ministry of Minority Affairs

The Indian Government (GOI) created the Ministry of Minority Affairs in 2006 to safeguard the rights of minorities in India. It administers the activities of NCM. The MMA is an apex body to regulatory & development programmes from the Central government for the minority communities in India.

UN Declaration

The NCM sticks to the 1992 United Nations Declaration which opines that the States must protect and preserve the existence of the Ethnic, National, Religious, Linguistic and Cultural identity of the minorities inside their territories and also to encourage conditions to promote that identity.

Powers and Functions of the National Commission for Minorities:

• Evaluation of growth of minority communities under the 29 States of India and the Centre
• Conducts research and analyzes issues related to the educational and socio-economic development of Minorities

• Suggest proper measures that the government should take for the benefit of any minority
• Investigate into complaints that deal with deprivation of rights of minorities
• Making sure that people show respect to the Constitution and the laws related to minorities

State Minority Commission

The Indian Government has also set up the State Minority Commission to make the Minorities feel safe and most importantly, make them think that they are an essential part of the state. Get the Schemes along with the Function of the State Minority Commission by following the below URL.

National Commission for Minorities Website: http://ncm.nic.in
Toll Free Number: 1800 110 088
Telephone Number: 011-24363821,011-24364816
Fax Number: 24363301
Address Info:
3rd Floor, Block 3,
CGO Complex,
New Delhi – 110003,
India.