It is responsible to safeguard and protect the interests of minorities—Buddhists, Christians, Jains, Muslims, Sikhs, and Zoroastrians (Parsis).

[2] Original notification of 1993 was for five religious communities: Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis, Christians and Muslims; later in 2014, Jains were also added.

[4] The NCM adheres to the United Nations Declaration of 18 December 1992 which states that "States shall protect the existence of the National or Ethnic, Cultural, Religious and Linguistic identity of minorities within their respective territories and encourage conditions for the promotion of that identity.” [5] The Commission has the following functions:[6] The Commission has the following powers: The act states[7] that the Commission shall consist of: As per the Census 2011, the percentage of minorities in the country is about 19.3% of the total population of the country.

Recommendations contained in the Report of the High Level Committee on Social, Economic and Educational Status of the Muslim Community of India headed by Justice Rajindar Sachar (Retd.

): The Committee suggested that policies should “sharply focus on inclusive development and ‘mainstreaming’ of the Community while respecting diversity.”[10]