UPSC Mains 2022 GS Paper 2 Q5: model answer
Discuss the role of the National Commission for Backward Classes in the wake of its transformation from a statutory body to a constitutional body.
What the question wants
Discuss the NCBC's role now that it has moved from statutory to constitutional status.
How to structure it
Discuss the role ... in the wake of: before and after.
- Statutory phase
- What the 102nd Amendment changed
- The 105th correction
- Role now
How to think it through
Before 2018 the NCBC only advised on adding or removing castes from the central list. After 338B it became a full commission with grievance and monitoring powers. The Maratha case and the 105th Amendment are essential.
Model answer
Set up in 1993 after Indra Sawhney (1992), the NCBC could only advise on inclusion in the central OBC list. The 102nd Amendment (2018) made it a constitutional body under Article 338B.
What changed
- Powers to investigate and monitor safeguards for backward classes, and inquire into complaints.
- Civil-court powers to summon and examine.
- Mandatory consultation by the Union and States on major policy matters.
- Annual reports to the President, laid before Parliament.
The Maratha twist
- In Jaishri Patil (2021), the Supreme Court read Article 342A to mean that only the President could notify SEBCs, ending State lists.
- The 105th Amendment (2021) restored States' power to keep their own lists.
Role now
- Hearing grievances on reservation in jobs and admissions.
- Advising on creamy layer limits and sub- categorisation (Rohini Commission report, 2023).
- Monitoring central institutions' compliance.
Concerns
Its findings remain recommendatory, and it has worked without fresh caste data since 1931; the census of 2026–27 will count all castes for the first time since then. Used well, that data could make the NCBC an evidence-based watchdog rather than a forum for list politics.
Draw: A timeline: 1993 statutory → 2018 constitutional → 2021 Maratha case → 2021 105th Amendment.
Keywords, cases and data to drop in
Article 338B, 342A, 102nd Amendment 2018, 105th Amendment 2021, Indra Sawhney 1992, Jaishri Patil 2021, Rohini Commission, creamy layer, sub-categorisation.
Where most answers lose marks
- Saying the NCBC now decides the central list alone. Parliament and the President notify it.
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Question text as printed in the official UPSC Civil Services (Main) question paper. The model answer is original Battle IAS work; use it to learn structure, not to memorise.
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