National Knowledge Commission was an Indian think-tank charged with considering possible policies that might sharpen India's comparative advantage in the knowledge-intensive service sectors.
In particular, the Commission was to advise the Prime Minister's Office on policy related to education, research institutes and reforms needed to make India competitive in the knowledge economy.
The Commission was to recommend reform of the education sector, research labs, and intellectual property legislation; as well as consider whether the Government could itself upgrade its use of the latest techniques to make its workings more transparent.
It included recommendations submitted to the Prime Minister on issues such as libraries, E-governance, translation and languages and the National portal of India.
In May 2006 the Commission spoke out against the Human Resource Development Ministry's plans to increase quotas for backward castes in institutions such as the IITs.
Following Arjun Singh's subsequent remarks on their credentials, two of the members, Andre Beteille and Pratap Bhanu Mehta, sent letters of resignation to the Prime Minister.