​Constitutional Bodies

At central and state levels, administrative agencies gain whatever power they have by delegation-that is to say, that they don’t have inherent, constitutionally mandated power to act. An agency may only exercise authority within the delegation of authority provided for in its enabling legislation, or subsequent legislation granting specific additional power. Constitutional, Legal and Administrative Bodies are different in deriving their sources of power.

Constitutional Bodies

Constitutional Bodies are formed by the Constitution which helps the Government to run properly. Each of these permanent or semi-permanent organizations is responsible for the administration of specific functions. Some additional bodies help them by providing advisory functions.

Finance Commission

• The Finance Commission of India came into existence in 1951.
• It was established under Article 280 of the Indian Constitution by the President of India.
• It was formed to define the financial relations between the centre and the state.
• The Finance Commission Act of 1951 states the terms of qualification, appointment and disqualification, the term, eligibility and powers of the Finance Commission.
• As per the Constitution, the commission is appointed every five years and consists of a chairman and four other members. Since the institution of the first finance commission, stark changes have occurred in the Indian economy causing changes in the macroeconomic scenario.
• The Finance Commission of India has a Chairman along with four other members and a Secretary.

Functions of Finance Commission

• The distribution between the Union and the States of the net proceeds of taxes and the allocation between the States of the respective shares of such proceeds;
• The principles which should govern the grants in aid of the revenues of the States out of the Consolidated Fund of India;
• Any other matter referred to the Commission by the President in the interests of sound finance.

Union Public Service Commission

• The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is under Article 315 which is the India's central agency authorized to conduct competitive examinations for central level.
• The agency's charter is granted by the Constitution of India. Articles 315 to 323 of Part XIV of the constitution, titled as Services under the Union and the States, provide for a Public Service Commission for the Union and for each state.
• The Commission consists of a Chairman and ten Members. The terms and conditions of service of Chairman and Members of the Commission are governed by the Union Public Service Commission (Members) Regulations, 1969.
• The Chairman and other members of the UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) are appointed by the President of India. At least half of the members of the Commission are Civil Servants (working or retired) with minimum ten years of experience either in Central or State service.

Functions of the Union Public Service Commission

• Conducts examinations for appointment to the services of the Union.
• Direct recruitment by selection through interviews.
• Appointment of officers on promotion / deputation / absorption.
• Framing and Amendment of Recruitment Rules for various services and posts under the Government.
• Disciplinary cases relating to different Civil Services.
• Advising the Government on any matter referred to the Commission by the President of India.

State Public Service Commission

• The Public Service Commission is a body created by the Constitution of India.
• The provisions relating to Public Service Commission have been laid down in Chapter-II of Part-XIV of the Constitution.
• The provisions in the Constitution ensure the competence of the Commission to deal with matter relating to the State Service and enable them to discharge their duties in a fair and impartial manner free from influence from any quarter.
• The Chairman and Members of the Commission are appointed by the Governor of the State. The Chairman or any other Member of the Commission can hold office for a period of six years or till he/she attains the age of 62 years whichever is earlier.
• Each state has its own Public Service Commission with functions similar to the UPSC. The State Public Service Commissions were constituted under the provisions of the Constitution of India.

Election Commission of India

• Under Article 324(1) of the Constitution of India, the Election Commission of India, inter alia, is vested with the power of superintendence, direction and control of conducting the elections to the offices of the President and Vice-President of India.
• Detailed provisions are made under the Presidential and Vice Presidential Elections Act, 1952 and the rules made thereunder.
• The same Article 324 also vests in the Commission the powers of superintendence, direction and control of the elections to both Houses of Parliament.
• The State Election Commissions constituted under the Constitution (73rd & 74th) Amendments Act, 1992 for each State / Union Territory are vested with the powers of conduct of elections to the Corporations, Municipalities, Zilla Parishads, District Panchayats, Panchayat Samitis, Gram Panchayats and other local bodies. They are independent of the Election Commission of India.
• At present, the Election Commission of India is a three-member body, with one Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners.
• It was not a multi-member body from the beginning. It was a single-member body when it was first set up in 1950 and up to 15th October, 1989 with only the Chief Election Commissioner.
• From 16th October, 1989 up to the 1st January, 1990, it became a three-member body with R.V.S. Peri Sastri (C.E.C) and S.S. Dhanoa and V.S. Seigell as Election Commissioners. From 2nd January, 1990 to 30th September, 1993, it was a single-member Commission and again from 1st October, 1993 it has become a three-member Commission.
• The Chief Election Commissioner and the two Election Commissioners draw salaries and allowances at par with those of the Judges of the Supreme Court of India as provided for by the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Conditions of Service) Rules, 1992. Though, ECI has “functional autonomy”, the funds are disbursed by the Ministry of Law and Justice.
• The Chief Election Commissioner or an Election Commissioner holds office for a term of six years from the date on which he assumes his office.

Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG)

• Article 148 (1) states that there shall be a Comptroller and Auditor-General of India who shall be appointed by the President (for a full term of 6 years or 65 years of age whichever comes earlier) and shall only be removed from office in like manner and on like grounds as a Judge of the Supreme Court.
• Article 149 defines the duties and powers of the Comptroller and Auditor-General.
• He can be removed by the President on the basis of a resolution passed in the both Houses of the Parliament with special majority, either on the ground of proved misbehavior or incapacity.

Functions of CAG

• CAG audits the accounts related to all expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India, consolidated fund of each state and consolidated fund of each union territory having Legislative Assembly.
• He audits all expenditure from the Contingency Fund of India and the Public Account of India in both Central and State level.
• He advices the President with regard to the prescription of the form in which the accounts of the center and the states shall be kept.
• Some of the types of audits CAG performs are- Regulatory Audit, Supplementary Audit, Propriety Audit, Efficiency Audit, Performance Audit, Environmental Audit, etc.

National Commission for Scheduled Castes

• The National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) is a constitutional body in the sense that it is directly established by Article 338 of the Constitution.
• The National Commission for Scheduled Castes, a Constitutional body monitors the safeguards provided for Scheduled Castes and also reviews issues concerning their welfare.
• The SCs constitute 16.6% of India's population spread all over the country, with 80% of them living in the rural areas. They constitute more than a fifth of the population of UP, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and WB. Punjab has the highest proportion of SCs to the State population. More than half of the SC population is concentrated in the five States of Uttar Pradesh (20.5%), West Bengal (10.7%), Tamil Nadu (7.2%) and Bihar (8.2%).
• Due to their social disability and economic backwardness, they were grossly handicapped in getting reasonable share in elected offices, Government jobs and educational institutions and, therefore, it was considered necessary to follow a policy of reservations in their favour to ensure their equitable participation in governance.

National Commission for Scheduled Tribe

Like the National Commission for Schedules Castes (NCSC), the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) is also a constitutional body in the sense that it is directly established by Article 338-A of the Constitution.

• The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes was first formed by the Government of India in 1978 as a Non-statutory Multi-Member Commission. Initially, the Commission was set up through a resolution for both the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
• The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) was established by amending Article 338 and inserting a new Article 338A in the Constitution through the Constitution (89th Amendment) Act, 2003.
• By this amendment, the erstwhile National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes was replaced by two separate Commissions namely-
  1. the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), and
  2. the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) in 2004.
• NCST is the body to investigate and monitor all matters relating to the constitutional and other legal safeguards for the STs and to evaluate their working.
• The Central government and the state governments are required to consult the Commission on all major policy matters affecting the STs.

National Commission for Backward Classes

• National Commission for Backward Classes is a constitutional body (earlier it was a statuary body that got constitutional status after passing of 123rd constitutional amendment bill 2018, in August 2018) under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment established on 14 August 1993.
• It was constituted pursuant to the provisions of the National Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993.
• The NCBC is a body set up under the National Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993.
• NCBC has the power to examine complaints regarding inclusion or exclusion of groups within the list of backward classes, and advise the central government in this regard.
• The function of NCBC includes investigating and monitoring how safeguards provided to the backward classes under the Constitution and other laws are being implemented,