New Delhi: A Bill on setting up a new commission for OBCs with constitutional status will be tabled next week in the Lok Sabha.
Seen as a move by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to boost the BJP's image among the politically crucial other backward castes, who had backed the party in the recent Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, the proposed commission will have judicial powers at a par with SC and ST commissions.
Last month, the Cabinet had approved the setting up of a National Commission for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes with constitutional status, bowing to the demand from OBCs for an entity for them which is on par with the panels for SCs and STs.
According to Lok Sabha bulletin, the Constitution (One hundred and Twenty Third Amendment) Bill, 2017 is listed for consideration and passage in Lok Sabha next week.
The Cabinet had also cleared a proposal for dissolving the National Commission for Backward Classes and repealing the law under which it was established.
National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) was set up as a statutory body under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on August 14, 1993.
Another legislation, National Commission for Backward Classes (Repeal) Bill, will also be taken up for consideration and passage in the Lok Sabha.
The Commission will comprise a Chairperson, a Vice- Chairperson and three other members.
