Short Essay on the Minority Commission – Minority rights, in a nutshell, are there to make sure that those who are less in number are not subjected to any kind of discrimination on that account.
The rights of the minorities are internationally recognized and are prescribed by our domestic laws, but are yet to achieve their object fully.
Minorities continue to feel the pinching presence of inequality and discrimination. Minority Commission was, therefore, set up so that there was a dedicated body to enforce the equality guaranteed by the law. The Minorities Commission was constituted in 1978 to protect religious and linguistic minorities.
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Later, in 1992 Parliament gave the body a national character and gave it a statutory status with a fair measure of autonomy. Its composition, powers, and workings are now governed by the National Commission for Minorities Act of 1992 and the Rules and Regulations framed there under.
The Commission is there not just to protect the minorities but also to promote their social and economic development in the country. Equality and justice are two fundamental goals to be achieved in this area, and Minorities Commission is there to ensure the attainment of these twin objects.
However, no effective equality can be achieved without the empowerment of the minorities. Therefore, social environment conducive to the empowerment of minorities has to be created.
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State Minorities Commissions were first set up in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Bihar, in fact, has the distinction of being the first State to establish Minorities Commission.