RAS question
Which Article empowers the President to appoint a commission to investigate conditions of backward classes?
Correct answer: (D) Article 340.
Article 340 of the Constitution empowers the President to appoint a commission to investigate the conditions of socially and educationally backward classes.
Explanation
Article 340 is the specific constitutional provision for appointing a commission on backward classes. The official Constitution text says the President may, by order, appoint a commission to investigate the conditions of socially and educationally backward classes within India, examine the difficulties under which they labour, and recommend steps that the Union or a State should take to remove those difficulties and improve their condition. It also requires the commission to present a report to the President, with facts and recommendations, after which the report and action-taken memorandum are laid before Parliament. This is why the Kaka Kalelkar Commission in 1953 and the Mandal Commission in 1979 are linked to Article 340.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Article 338 concerns the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, not the President's power to appoint a backward-classes inquiry commission.
- (B) Article 341 deals with specifying Scheduled Castes by public notification, so it is not the provision for investigating socially and educationally backward classes.
- (C) Article 342 deals with specifying Scheduled Tribes by public notification, whereas the backward-classes commission power is placed in Article 340.
Concept
This tests the Indian Constitution and Governance habit of matching Article numbers with social-justice institutions and powers. It recurs in RAS because such questions often turn on distinguishing Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, and backward-class provisions.