India minority watchdogs left defunct as key bodies remain vacant
Key commissions mandated to protect religious minorities lack leadership or quorum, raising concerns over constitutional safeguards and accountability
NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — Several statutory institutions mandated to safeguard the rights of religious minorities in India have become defunct or severely weakened due to prolonged vacancies, missing leadership and administrative paralysis, prompting warnings that constitutional protections are being hollowed out.
According to Clarion India, key bodies including the National Commission for Minorities, the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions, the Central Waqf Council, the National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation, and the Hajj Committee of India are operating without full membership, quorum or transparency, limiting their ability to function as accountability mechanisms.
The most visible example is the National Commission for Minorities (NCM), established in 1978 and granted statutory status in 1992. Since April 2025, it has had no chairperson or members, despite the law requiring a seven-member panel. The commission has not been fully constituted since 2020, leaving it unable to intervene meaningfully even as communal violence and discrimination complaints increased.
A similar paralysis affects the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions, a quasi-judicial body responsible for enforcing Article 30 of the Constitution, which guarantees minorities the right to establish and administer educational institutions. With only one remaining member and key administrative posts vacant, the commission currently lacks a quorum to adjudicate disputes involving thousands of minority-run schools and colleges.
Oversight of religious endowments has also weakened. The Central Waqf Council has not been reconstituted for more than three years, raising concerns about supervision of waqf properties amid widespread encroachment and litigation.
Financial bodies show comparable gaps, with limited public disclosure by the National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation, while the Maulana Azad Education Foundation, once a major scholarship provider, was shut down in 2022.
The Hajj Committee of India, which manages pilgrimage arrangements for hundreds of thousands of Indian Muslims, has had no members since March 31, 2025, despite earlier Supreme Court directions to reconstitute it.
Minority leaders say the pattern reflects more than bureaucratic delay. Zafarul-Islam Khan, president of the All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat and a former chairperson of the Delhi Minorities Commission, described the situation as deliberate.
“Minority and human rights watchdogs are being emptied of their power, punch and reach,” Khan said. “Institutions are left leaderless so they cannot question or intervene.”
Author and rights activist John Dayal called the prolonged vacancies a constitutional failure. “These are not optional bodies,” he said. “Their absence leaves minority communities without institutional recourse.”
Legal observers warn that for more than one-fifth of India’s population, the paralysis of these institutions means grievances go undocumented and constitutional safeguards remain unenforced.
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