Article 340 — Article 340 — Appointment of a Commission to Investigate the Conditions of Backward Classes

(1) The President may by order appoint a Commission consisting of such persons as he thinks fit to investigate the conditions of socially and educationally backward classes within the territory of India and the difficulties under which they labour and to make recommendations as to the steps that should be taken by the Union or any State to remove such difficulties and to improve their conditions and as to the grants that should be made for the purpose by the Union or any State and the conditions subject to which such grants should be made, and the order appointing such Commission shall define the procedure to be followed by the Commission.

Source: Constitution of India, as published by the Ministry of Law and Justice.

Article 340 was used to constitute the First Backward Classes Commission (Kaka Kalelkar Commission, 1953) and the Second Backward Classes Commission (Mandal Commission, 1979). The Mandal Commission's recommendation of 27% reservation for Other Backward Classes in central government jobs, implemented in 1990 by Prime Minister V. P. Singh, triggered the most divisive political upheaval since the Emergency.

• Article 16
• Article 46
• Article 335

Last reviewed: 3 July 2026