Reconstitution of National Integration Council | 07 Nov 2019

In the backdrop of due Ayodhya verdict, the reconstitution of the National Integration Council (NIC) has gained prominence.

It is an extra-constitutional body.
Chaired by: Prime Minister of India.
Composition: Council members include Cabinet ministers, Chief Ministers of states, political leaders, Chairman of the University Grants Commission, Commissioner for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, representatives of industry, business and trade unions.
Background: The NIC was constituted to combat the evils of communalism, casteism, regionalism, and linguism as a follow up of National Integration Conference held under the chairmanship of the then Prime Minister Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru in 1961.
- The main task of the council is to examine the problem of national integration in all its aspects and make necessary recommendations to deal with it.
Meetings: Sixteen meetings of NIC have been held till 2019.
- First meeting of NIC took place in 1962.
- The last meeting of the NIC took place in September 2013 which passed resolution on maintaining communal harmony and ending discrimination by condemning atrocities on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.