Cases of Atrocities Against SCS
Article 17 of the Constitution of India has abolished ‘untouchability’ forbade its practice and made enforcement of any disability arising therefrom as an offence punishable in accordance with law. An Act of Parliament namely, the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 prescribes punishment for enforcement of any disability arising from practice of untouchability. Likewise, another Act of Parliament namely, the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) {PoA} Act, 1989, which also falls within the provisions of Article 17 of the Constitution, is an Act of Parliament to prevent commission of offences of atrocities against members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The PoA Act as amended by the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2015(No. 1 0f 2016) and enforced with effect from 26.01.2016, iter-alia, prescribes punishment for obstructing or preventing a member of Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe in any manner, with regard to using common property resources of an area, or burial or cremation ground equally with others.
As per the latest data of the National Crime Records Bureau(NCRB) , Ministry of Home Affairs, for the calendar year 2014, the State/ Union Territory wise number of cases related to atrocities against members of Scheduled Castes, as registered under the PoA Act in conjunction with the IPC, is given in the statement annexed. The NCRB has not yet generated the similar data for the calendar year 2015.
| S. No. | States/UT | Number of cases of offences of atrocities against members of Scheduled Castes registered under PoA Act in conjunction with the IPC, during 2014. |
| 1 | 2 | |
| 1. | Andhra Pradesh | 2104 |
| 2. | Arunachal Pradesh | 0 |
| 3. | Assam | 2 |
| 4. | Bihar | 7874 |
| 5. | Chhattisgarh | 359 |
| 6. | Goa | 12 |
| 7. | Gujarat | 1075 |
| 8. | Haryana | 444 |
| 9. | Himachal Pradesh | 113 |
| 10. | Jharkhand | 903 |
| 11. | Karnataka | 1865 |
| 12. | Kerala | 712 |
| 13. | Madhya Pradesh | 3294 |
| 14. | Maharashtra | 1763 |
| 15. | Manipur | 1 |
| 16. | Meghalaya | 0 |
| 17. | Mizoram | 0 |
| 18. | Nagaland | 0 |
| 19. | Odisha | 1657 |
| 20. | Punjab | 123 |
| 21. | Rajasthan | 6734 |
| 22. | Sikkim | 3 |
| 23. | Tamil Nadu | 1486 |
| 24. | Telangana | 1427 |
| 25. | Tripura | 1 |
| 26. | Uttar Pradesh | 8066 |
| 27. | Uttarakhand | 60 |
| 28. | West Bengal | 130 |
| 29. | A & N Islands | 0 |
| 30. | Chandigarh | 1 |
| 31. | D. & N. Haveli | 0 |
| 32. | Daman & Diu | 0 |
| 33. | Delhi | 86 |
| 34. | Lakshadweep | 0 |
| 35. | Puducherry | 5 |
| Total | 40300 |
Note:- (i) The PoA Act does not extend to State of Jammu & Kashmir.
Source: – National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs
As the PoA Act is implemented by the respective State Governments and Union Territory Administrations, therefore, with a view to ensure its effective implementation, due central assistance is provided to them mainly for strengthening of the enforcement and judicial machinery, inter-caste marriages, awareness generation, and relief and rehabilitation of the affected persons. They are also addressed from time to time to implement provisions of the Act in letter and spirit. The implementation status of the Act in various States and Union Territories is also reviewed by a Committee headed by Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment. The Committee constituted in the year 2006, with members drawn from Ministries of Home Affairs, Social Justice and Empowerment, Tribal Affairs, Law and Justice, National Commission for Scheduled Castes, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes and three non-official members, has so far held twenty two meetings wherein implementation of the two Acts in 24 States and 4 Union Territories has been reviewed.
This information was given by the Minister of State, Social Justice & Empowerment, Shri Vijay Sampla in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha here today.