Commission to Investigate Backward Classes (Kalelkar Commission)

A backward classes commission is a body the President can set up under Article 340 of the Constitution to study the conditions of socially and educationally backward classes and suggest steps for their advancement — the constitutional route through which India's first such body, popularly remembered as the Kalelkar Commission, came into being. Article 340 remains the basis for such ad hoc inquiries, even as a separate, permanent constitutional commission has since been created for the same subject.

What Article 340 Actually Provides

Article 340(1) gives the President discretionary power to appoint a Commission "consisting of such persons as he thinks fit" for three linked purposes: to investigate the conditions of socially and educationally backward classes across India, to identify the difficulties they face, and to recommend the steps the Union or any State should take to remove those difficulties and improve their condition. The clause also covers the grants that should be made for this purpose and the conditions attached to such grants. The presidential order appointing the Commission must itself lay down the procedure it is to follow — Article 340 does not prescribe a fixed procedure the way some other special-provision articles do.

Under Article 340(2), the Commission must investigate the matters referred to it and present the President with a report setting out the facts as found and the recommendations it considers proper. Clause (3) then requires the President to have a copy of that report placed before Parliament, so the findings of a backward classes commission enter the public and legislative record rather than remaining an internal executive document.

Article 340 sits within Part XVI of the Constitution, "Special Provisions Relating to Certain Classes," alongside the reservation provisions for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in legislatures (Articles 330–334) and the National Commissions for SCs, STs, and Backward Classes (Articles 338, 338A, 338B). Its role is investigative: rather than itself granting reservation, Article 340 creates a fact-finding mechanism whose report becomes the evidentiary basis on which the Union or a State can frame policy — including reservation under Articles 15 and 16.

The Reservation Framework It Feeds Into

Article 16 guarantees equality of opportunity in public employment and bars discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, or residence, but it also carries built-in exceptions. Article 16(4) permits the State to reserve posts for backward classes it considers inadequately represented, and Article 16(4A) permits reservation in promotion for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

Article 15 follows a similar pattern in the field of education and public life. Clauses (3) to (6) allow the State to make special provisions for women and children, for backward classes and SCs/STs, and — more recently — for economically weaker sections:

The Case That Forced the First Amendment

Article 15(4) did not exist in the Constitution as originally adopted. It was inserted only after the Supreme Court, in Champakam Dorairajan v. State of Madras (1951), struck down a communal reservation scheme for college admissions as a violation of Article 15, holding that Directive Principles of State Policy could not override a Fundamental Right. To restore the State's ability to make caste-based provisions for backward classes, Parliament enacted the Constitution (First Amendment) Act, 1951 — the same amendment that also inserted the Ninth Schedule to shield land-reform laws from judicial review and added public-order and incitement grounds to the restrictions on free speech. This is why the fact-finding a commission produces under Article 340 matters constitutionally: it supplies the evidentiary justification the State needs before it can validly use the special-provision powers under Articles 15(4) and 16(4).

From an Ad Hoc Commission to a Permanent Constitutional Body

For decades, inquiry into backward classes remained the one-off exercise Article 340 contemplates — a commission appointed by presidential order for a specific investigation, with no continuing constitutional status. That changed with the Constitution (102nd Amendment) Act, 2018, which inserted Article 338B and created the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) as a standing constitutional body, on the same footing as the National Commissions for SCs (Article 338) and STs (Article 338A).

All three Commissions are appointed by the President by warrant, regulate their own procedure, and hold the powers of a civil court while investigating a matter or complaint — including summoning witnesses, requiring production of documents, receiving evidence on affidavit, and requisitioning public records. Each submits annual reports to the President, who lays them before Parliament with a memorandum on action taken and, where recommendations are not accepted, the reasons why. The Union and every State Government must consult the Commission on major policy matters affecting the class it represents.

The distinction worth holding onto: Article 340 is the power to appoint a one-time investigative commission by executive order — the footing on which the original backward classes commission was set up — while Article 338B is a permanent constitutional authority created decades later to institutionalise that same oversight. The National Commission for Backward Classes and the National Human Rights Commission are constitutional bodies in this sense; the Law Commission and Consumer Commission are not.

UPSC Relevance

Prelims

• Article 340 falls under Part XVI ("Special Provisions Relating to Certain Classes").
• The President appoints the Article 340 Commission; its report must be laid before Parliament.
• Article 15(4) and Article 16(4) were both responses to judicial invalidation of earlier reservation schemes.
• Article 338B (National Commission for Backward Classes) was inserted by the 102nd Amendment Act, 2018.
• 15(5) — 93rd Amendment, 2005; 15(6) — 103rd Amendment, 2019 (EWS, 10%).

Mains

• Trace how a single Supreme Court judgment (Champakam Dorairajan) triggered a constitutional amendment reshaping the reservation framework under Articles 15 and 16.
• Distinguish the investigative role of an Article 340 commission from the standing oversight role of Article 338B, and discuss why India moved from one model to the other.
• Assess whether civil-court powers strengthen the National Commission for Backward Classes' enforcement of safeguards for socially and educationally backward classes.

FAQ

Q1. What does Article 340 of the Constitution provide for? It empowers the President to appoint a Commission to investigate the conditions of socially and educationally backward classes, identify the difficulties they face, and recommend steps and grants for their advancement, with the report laid before Parliament.

Q2. Is the commission under Article 340 the same as the National Commission for Backward Classes? No. Article 340 authorises a one-time commission for a specific inquiry. The National Commission for Backward Classes is a separate, permanent constitutional body created later under Article 338B.

Q3. Why was Article 15(4) added to the Constitution? It was inserted by the Constitution (First Amendment) Act, 1951, after the Supreme Court in Champakam Dorairajan v. State of Madras (1951) held that a State could not reserve seats for backward classes without express constitutional authority.

Q4. What powers does the National Commission for Backward Classes have? Under Article 338B, it investigates and monitors safeguards for socially and educationally backward classes, inquires into complaints, advises on development measures, and holds the powers of a civil court.

Q5. When was Article 338B inserted into the Constitution? By the Constitution (102nd Amendment) Act, 2018, which gave the National Commission for Backward Classes constitutional status.

Quick Revision

• Article 340 — President may appoint a commission to investigate conditions of socially and educationally backward classes; report laid before Parliament.
• Champakam Dorairajan v. State of Madras (1951) — struck down communal reservation; DPSPs cannot override Fundamental Rights.
• Constitution (First Amendment) Act, 1951 — inserted Article 15(4); also added the Ninth Schedule and speech restrictions.
• Article 16(4) — reservation in public employment for backward classes; Article 16(4A) — reservation in promotion for SC/ST.
• Article 15(5) (93rd Amendment, 2005) — reservation in private unaided institutions.
• Article 15(6) (103rd Amendment, 2019) — 10% EWS reservation.
• Article 338B (102nd Amendment, 2018) — National Commission for Backward Classes as a permanent constitutional body, alongside Article 338 (SCs) and Article 338A (STs).

Sources

• Constitution of India — Article 340 (Ministry of Law and Justice, legislative.gov.in)
• Constitution of India — Articles 15, 16, 338, 338A, 338B (legislative.gov.in)
• Champakam Dorairajan v. State of Madras, 1951 — Supreme Court of India judgment record

Further Reference

For deeper reading on this topic and the wider polity syllabus, these standard works are recommended:

• M. Laxmikanth, Indian Polity (McGraw Hill) — the standard UPSC handbook.
• D.D. Basu, Introduction to the Constitution of India (LexisNexis) — authoritative constitutional-law treatment.
• The Constitution of India — Bare Act — the official text.

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