 bill no  312  of  2015 the constitution (amendment) bill, 2015 byshri pp chaudhary, mp a billfurther to amend the constitution of indiabe  it enacted by parliament in the sixty-sixth year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the constitution (amendment)  act, 2015short title and commencement(2) it shall come into force on such date, as the central government may, by notificationin the official gazette, appoint3 in article 340 of the constitution,—amendment of article 340(i) in clause (1), after the words "steps that should be taken by the union or any state", the words "for the purposes of clauses (4) and (5) of article 15 and clause (4) of article 16" shall be inserted; and(ii) after clause (2), the following clauses shall be inserted, namely:—5"(2a) it shall be the duty of the commission to—(a) investigate and monitor all matters relating to the safeguards provided for the backward classes under the constitution or under any other law for the time being in force or under any order of the government of india or a state and to evaluate the working of such safeguards;10(b) inquire into specific complaints of deprivation of rights and safeguards of the backward classes;15(c) participate and advise on the planning process of socio-economic development of the backward classes and to evaluate the progress of their development under the union and any state;(d) present to the president, annually and at such other times, as the commission may deem fit, reports upon the working of those safeguards;20(e) make in such recommendations as to the measures that should be taken by the union or any state for the effective implementation of safeguards and other measures for the protection, welfare and socioeconomic development of the backward classes; and(f) discharge such other functions in relation to the protection, welfare, development and advancement of the backward classes as the president may, subject to the provisions of any law made by parliament, by rule specify25(2aa) the commission shall, while investigating any matter referred to in sub-clause (a) or inquiring into any complaint referred to in sub-clause (b) of clause (2a), have all the powers of a civil court trying a suit and in particular in respect of the following matters, namely:—30(a) summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person from any part of india and examining him on oath;(b) requiring the discovery and production of any document; (c) receiving evidence on affidavits;35(d) requisitioning any public record or copy thereof from any court or office;(e) issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses and documents;(f) any other matter which the president may, by rule, determine" statement of objects and reasonsarticle 340 of the constitution provides for the appointment of a commission to investigate the conditions of backward classes in the country the commission so appointed by the order of the president is constituted to investigate the conditions of socially and educationally backward classes and the difficulties under which they labour and 'to make recommendations as to the steps that should be taken by the union or any state' to remove such difficulties and to improve their conditionarticle 15(4), as an enabling provision, allows the state, as defined by the constitution, to make special provisions for the advancement of any 'socially and educationally' backward classes of citizens or for the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes article 15(5) allows the state to make special provisions in relation to their admission to educational institutions, including private and aided or unaided institutions other than minority institutions as referred to in article 30(1)article 16(4) allows the state to make any provisions for the reservation of appointments or posts in favour of any backward class of citizens, which in the opinion of the state, is not adequately represented in the services under the statethe constitution while allowing the state these special provisions for the advancement of backward classes does not clarify the limitations or the scope of the commission that is to be appointed under article 340 and hence it is important to ensure that the scope and constitutional limitations of the commission be specified in the article 340 itself this is to ensure the integrity and consistency of the constitution as a whole with respect to the intent of the framers of the constitutions regarding the advancement of the backward classes and to allow for the uniform interpretation and implementation of the objectives as enshrined in sovereign document as a wholethe constitution under articles 338 and 338a empowers the national commission for the scheduled castes and the national commission for scheduled tribes to look into the grievances of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes respectively however, similar powers have not been provided to the national commission for backward classes (ncbc) that draws its powers from article 340 of the constitution hence, it is important to ensure that the interests and grievances of all classes of citizens are represented and addressed, while ensuring equality of powers between the different arms of government that have been entrusted with similar duties hence, it is imperative that the amendments as proposed to empower the ncbc to look into the grievances of persons of other backward classes be undertakenhence this billnew delhi;pp chaudharynovember 13, 2015 annexure extract from the constitution of india      338 (1)     national commission for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes(10) in this article, references to the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes shall be construed as including references to such other backward classes as the president may, on receipt of the report of a commission appointed under clause (1) of article 340, by order specify and also to the anglo-indian communityappointment of a commission to investigate the conditions of backward classes340 (1) the president may by order appoint a commission consisting of such persons as he thinks fit to investigate the conditions of socially and educationally backward classes within the territory of india and the difficulties under which they labour and to make recommendations as to the steps that should be taken by the union or any state to remove such difficulties and to improve their condition and as to the grants that should be made for the purpose by the union or any state and the conditions subject to which such grants should be made, and the order appointing such commission shall define the procedure to be followed by the commission       lok  sabha———— a billfurther to amend the constitution of india————(shri pp chaudhary, mp)gmgipmrnd—2828ls(s-3)—08122015