Constitutional Safeguards for Weaker Sections and the Minorities in India

Backwardness in India had got institutionalised as a result of caste system. The problem is very complex as historical, sociological, political and economic considerations come into play. The Constitution provides for a number of safeguards for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Backward Classes and the Minorities which are one of its unique features. These safeguards have apparently helped these communities in protecting their legitimate interests and accelerated their socio-economic development. The credit for incorporating these safeguards in the Constitution of India goes to Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Constitution. It is but for him our Constitution would not have had this distinctive dimension. The founding fathers of the Constitution were men of vision, conscious of the historic but difficult task of carving an egalitarian society form out of a bewildering mass of religions, communities, castes, races, languages, beliefs and practices. They were well aware about the miserable and apathetic living conditions of miserable and apathetic living conditions of Backward Classes, besides the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Liberty, equality and fraternity was the battle-cry of the French Revolution. It is also the motto in Indian Constitution, with the concept of ‘Justice-Social, Economic and Political’ . Equality has been and is the craving of all human beings at all points of time which has been referred to in the preamble and the articles under the sub-heading “Right to Equality” (Article 14 and 18). In this book, an attempt has been made to put the safeguards provided in the Constitution for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Backward Classes and the Minorities at one place and also write a brief commentary on the working of some of them since the Constitution came into force on the 26th January,1950.