India’s statutory mechanisms meant to protect minorities are quietly withering from within. Nearly half a dozen key institutions, including the NCM and Hajj Committee of India, are today operating without public representatives or are entirely defunct. This institutional paralysis raises serious questions about accountability, and governance. Many observers describe the situation as an existential crisis for minority governance in India.
BesidesNCM, National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions, and Hajj Committee, other crucial bodies lying affected include the Central Waqf Council, NCPUL, National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation, and Maulana Azad Education Foundation.
NCM: A Watchdog Without Teeth
The NCM,established in 1978, was later given statutory status under the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992. Its mandate is to ensure that minorities receive equal treatment and opportunities guaranteed under the Constitution. However, the Commission has failed to rise to the occasion, particularly amid the prevailing climate of hate, discrimination, and targeted violence against minorities. Attacks that once shocked public conscience have increasingly become routine, yet NCM has remained largely invisible and ineffective.
The Commission is meant to consist of a Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson, and five members – seven in total. As of today, however, the body is completely defunct. Following the completion of Sardar Iqbal Singh Lalpura’s tenure as Chairperson in April 2025, not a single member remains.
The NCM website offers a stark visual metaphor for this vacuum. Under the heading “Composition of the National Commission for Minorities,” visitors are greeted by a blank space.
Over the past decade of BJP rule, the Commission has not had a fully functional panel since 2020. Lalpura was the last remaining member of NCM, presiding over what was effectively a lame-duck commission with little authority or impact.
NCMEI Reduced to a Shell
A similar fate has befallen the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions, established under the NCMEI Act, 2004 to play a crucial role in protecting the rights of religious minorities, to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice, as guaranteed under Article 30 of the Constitution.
The NCMEI is a 4-member body. Since 30 September 2023, when Justice (Retd.) Narender Kumar Jain, the last Chairperson, completed his tenure, it has been effectively headless. Another member, Dr. Jaspal Singh, retired on June 14, 2023.At present, only one member, Dr. Shahid Akhtarremains. As a quasi-judicial body, NCMEI’sability to adjudicate disputes or protect minority educational institutions is severely compromised by this skeletal composition.
Central Waqf Council: Neglect and Administrative Drift
The Central Waqf Council (CWC), tasked with overseeing Waqf matters across the country, presents another troubling case. Chaired ex-officio by the Union Minister for Minority Affairs, the Council is supposed to have 20 members.
For the past three years, however, the Council has not been constituted. Even the position of Secretary has reportedly been handed to a non-Muslim officer with little familiarity with Waqf laws and practices.The Council’s website is non-functional, depriving the public of access to basic information about its operations.
NMDFC and Other Institutions in Limbo
The National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation, set up in 1994, serves as an apex financial body for minority welfare under National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992. Yet its website fails to disclose basic details such as the names of its Chairperson or board members, or even a transparent account of its performance.
Similarly, the Dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti at Ajmer, administered under Dargah Khwaja Saheb Act, 1955, has been left without leadership. After Syed Shahid Husain Rizvi’s tenure ended in June 2023, no new Chairperson or committee has been appointed. Its website’s “Who’s Who” section merely lists Ministry of Minority Affairs officials, including the Union Minister, instead of the statutory custodians of the shrine.
Hajj Committee of India
The situation of the Hajj Committee of India is perhaps the most alarming. A.P. Abdullakutty, former CPI(M) leader who later joined BJP, completed his tenure as Chairperson in March 2025. Even before his exit, the Committee was weakened by the retirement of two Vice-Chairpersons – Mafuja Khatun and S. Munawari Begum – in 2024.Since March 31, 2025, the 23-member Hajj Committee has been entirely vacant.
For six years, demands to constitute a full-fledged Committee under the Hajj Act, 2002 have gone unheeded, despite repeated judicial intervention. Critics argue that the delay is politically motivated.
This inaction culminated in contempt proceedings. Hafiz Naushad Ahmad Azmi, a prominent Hajj activist and former member of the Central Hajj Committee (who passed away recently), filed a PIL in the Supreme Court in October 2021. After nine hearings, the Court, then headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, directed the Ministry of Minority Affairs on March 27, 2023 to constitute the Committee within three months.
The order was ignored, leading to a contempt petition in October 2023. In an affidavit submitted in April 2024, the government admitted to serious lapses, including the failure of the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and the then Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar to nominate MPs, even though such nominations are mandatory under the Act.
Voices of Concern
Radiance spoke to several prominent figures on this issue.
Dr.Zafarul-Islam Khan, President of All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat and former Chairperson of Delhi Minority Commission, described the situation as deliberate and systematic.
“This is a well-laid-out plan of the Modi government to empty minority and human rights watchdogs of their power, punch, and reach,” he said. “Minority budgets and schemes have been consistently slashed, and even the reduced allocations are often returned unspent.”
Dr. Khan noted that earlier governments followed an unwritten but consistent policy of appointing Muslims as Chairpersons of minority institutions, given that Muslims constitute the largest religious minority. “This policy was abandoned under Modi. Now even Waqf institutions are being opened up to non-Muslim chairpersons and members, many of whom are sympathisers of the ruling party,” he said.
He also criticised the NCM’s lack of transparency and impact. “It has nothing to show except meaningless gestures. No one knows what it does with its large budget and staff.”
Echoing these concerns, noted activist and author Dr. John Dayal warned that the prolonged vacancies signal a dangerous erosion of constitutional safeguards.
“The prolonged vacancy in key institutions like the NCM and NCMEI raises serious doubts about the government’s commitment to minority rights,” he said. “Its (NCM’s) paralysis comes at a time when minorities face escalating violence, educational exclusion, and socio-economic marginalisation.”
Dr. Michael Williams, National President of United Christian Forum said the Modi government has not nominated a single Christian member to the Commission since 2019.
Dr.Dayal noted that NCMEI’s near-collapse has left thousands of minority educational institutions without effective legal recourse.
Dr Dayal said: “What is particularly distressing is the silence of elected representatives, including minority MPs. These vacancies have barely been raised in Parliament.”
Calling the situation a “systematic incapacitation” of minority institutions, he concluded: “In an era of rising communal tensions, functional minority commissions are not luxuries but constitutional necessities. Nearly 20 percent of India’s population deserves institutions that are empowered, operational, and credible. The current state of affairs borders on institutional betrayal.”