Controversy and Buta Singh are old bedfellows. The latest incident in which his son Sarabjot Singh has been charged of demanding a hefty bribe — Rs 1 crore — exploiting the official position of his father, chairman, National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), has put the focus on the Constitutional body, set up with the objective of serving the cause of the Scheduled Castes.

The NCSC was set up in the year 1992 after a Constitutional amendment. Later, in 2004, it was bifurcated into two bodies to exclusively handle issues relating to the SCs and STs. Following the latest controversy, a look at the functioning of the Commission shows that over a period of time it has turned into a parking lot for politicians of the ruling parties.

Buta Singh, a Dalit leader of the Congress party, was made the chairman of the NCSC in May 2007, following his unceremonious exit as the governor of Bihar. He was compelled to step down after the Supreme Court indicted him of misleading the Union Cabinet to stop a particular party of forming a government in the state. Along with him, two other members of the Commission — Satya Bahin and Mahendra Bodh- too are Congress leaders.

The primary function of the NCSC is that of a watchdog, to monitor the implementation of the Constitutional safeguards extended to the Scheduled Castes and intervenes wherever it finds or receives complaints regarding violations of the rights of SCs. For the government too, it is mandatory to take the views of the Commission into account before formulating any programme or scheme for the SCs. The Commission also makes recommendations for improving the lot of the SCs through its Annual Reports to the President over which the government has to submit an Action Taken Report (ATR) before the Parliament.

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