After Jan 25, Minorities Commission will be left with just 2 members

NEW DELHI: The strength of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) will be reduced to just two as against the mandated seven after one more member completes his tenure next week, raising questions over its potential to do justice.

Captain Praveen Davar, appointed as a member during the Congress-led UPA-II government, will completes his three-year term on January 25. Four other members had retired between September 9, 2015 and December 1, 2016.

The Commission will now be left with a strength of two -- chairman Naseem Ahmad and member Dadi E Mistry.

Ahmad and Mistry will complete their tenures by March 3 and March 9 this year, respectively.

Asked whether the workload has increased with so many posts remaining vacant, Davar said, "The workload has definitely increased. When commitment is there, the efficiency doesn't go down. But yes, if the full strength is there, the efficiency increases. We can manage work with even five members. But with the strength coming down to three, we can't do justice as required."

Davar is at present handling flow of complaints from 20 states, besides those from the Union Territory (UT) of Delhi.

Ahmad is dealing with grievances coming from five states and two UTs, while Mistry has been allotted three states and as many UTs.

"When the Commission's strength is full, a member handles six-seven states/UTs each... After one of the members, Mabel Rebello's departure in December last, Davar is left with the job of looking into complaints from 20 states," a source said.

"Ideally, the chairperson does not deal with complaints from states directly. Now, the chairman too has allotted himself a set of states. In such a case, it has become difficult to do justice to the complaints which are piling up," the source said.

Sources said the Commission has handled around 1,500 grievances this financial year.

According to a January 17 statement issued by the Ministry of Minority Affairs, the NCM had received 1,288 petitions between April and December 2016.