National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities

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National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities, also called Ranganath Misra Commission, was constituted by Government of India on 29 October 2004 to look into various issues related to Linguistic and Religious minorities in India. It was chaired by former Chief Justice of India Justice Ranganath Misra, member of Rajya Sabha from 1998 to 2004. [1] [2] The commission submitted the report to the Government on 21 May 2007. [3]

Contents

Terms of reference

Initially, the commission was entrusted with the following terms of reference: [1]

  1. To suggest criteria for identification of socially and economically backward sections among religious and linguistic minorities;
  2. To recommend measures for welfare of socially and economically backward sections among religious and linguistic minorities, including reservation in education and government employment; and
  3. To suggest the constitutional, legal and administrative modalities required for the implementation of its recommendations.

After nearly five months of its work the Commission’s Terms of Reference were modified so as to add the following: [1]

  1. To give its recommendations on the issues raised in WPs 180/04 and 94/05 filed in the Supreme Court of India, and in certain High Courts, relating to Para 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order 1950 in the context of the ceiling of 50 percent on reservations, as also the modalities for inclusion in the list of Scheduled Castes.

Main recommendations

Leaked

TwoCircles.net, an online Indian news organization has started publishing excerpts from this report since June 2009. [6]

Criticism

Since the submission India's national party, BJP has been opposing the Ranganath Misra's recommendation fiercely. In 2010, BJP's senior official and CM of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chouhan stated "prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru had opposed reservation for converted SCs and STs". [7] In 2011, The BJP decided to file a PIL against a report recommending Scheduled Caste quotas for all minorities that could lead to Dalit Christians and Muslims coming within its ambit. [8] On 9 February 2014, Narendra Modi during his prime-ministerial campaign in Kerala he critisised Mishra's report for creating "insecurities of the Dalit communities". [9]

On 7 December 2023, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta submitted before a three-judge Bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul Supreme Court of India that the Ranganath Misra Commission's report was flawed and hence was rejected by the Government of India. He said, "It was written within the four walls of a room. There was no field study done. The Commission (Misra) took a myopic view of the social milieu in India.” [10]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Report of the National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities (Ranganath Misra Commission Report)
  2. ↑ "Alphabetical List Of All Members Of Rajya Sabha Since 1952" . Retrieved 30 December 2012. Misra Shri Ranganath Odisha INC 02/07/1998 01/07/2004
  3. ↑ Plea to table Ranganath Mishra Commission report
  4. ↑ "BJP to question quota". www.telegraphindia.com. Archived from the original on 23 February 2014.
  5. ↑ Para 3 of the Constitutional (Scheduled Caste)
  6. ↑ Misra Commission report excerpts
  7. ↑ BJP slams against Ranganath Mishra commission report
  8. ↑ BJP to question quota
  9. ↑ "Modi pitches BJP as 'third alternative' in Kerala". The Hindu. 9 February 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  10. ↑ Rajagopal, Krishnadas (7 December 2022). "J. Ranganath Misra Commission report to allow Dalit Christians avail SC quota benefits written "within four corners of a room", Centre to apex court". The Hindu. Retrieved 6 August 2025.

Bibliography

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