HRM-9204

Siddhi Rajendra Chavan

》SYBMS
FOUNDATION COURSE PROJECT

30th November, 2020

HUMAN RIGHTS, VIOLATION &

REDRESSAL MECHANISM OF SC &
ST
 Sr. No. Particulars Page No.

1. INTRODUCTION - Schedule Cast & Schedule Tribe 3

2. INFORMATION - Human Rights in India, History, 4

Redressal Mechanism, Government Initiatives for
SSCs and STs & National Commissions

3. CASE STUDY - Schedule Cast & Schedule Tribe 10

4. CONCLUSION 12

5. STATISTICAL DATA 13

6. REFRENCES 14

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INTRODUCTION

What is SC (Schedule Caste) & ST (Schedule

Tribe) ?

The Scheduled Caste (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are

officially designated groups of people in India. The terms are
recognised in the Constitution of India and the groups are
designated in one or other of the categories. For much of the
period of British rule in the Indian subcontinent, they were
known as the Depressed Classes.

Since the independence of India, the Scheduled Castes and

Scheduled Tribes were given Reservation status,
guaranteeing political representation. The Constitution lays

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down the general principles of positive discrimination for SCs
and STs.

INFORMATION

Human Rights in India

Human rights in India is an issue complicated by the

country's large size and population, widespread poverty, lack
of proper education, as well as its diverse culture, despite its
status as the world's largest sovereign, secular, democratic
republic. The Constitution of India provides for Fundamental
rights, which include freedom of religion. Clauses also
provide for freedom of speech, as well as separation of
executive and judiciary and freedom of movement within the
country and abroad. The country also has an independent
judiciary as well as bodies to look into issues of human rights .

Contemporary India, however, has seen the influence of caste

start to decline. This is partly due to the spread of education
to all castes which has had a democratising effect on the
political system. However, this "equalising" of the playing
field has not been without controversy. The Mandal
Commission and its quotas system has been a particularly
sensitive issue. It has been argued by Professor Dipankar

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Gupta that the role of castes in Indian elections have been
overplayed.

History

The evolution of low castes to modern-day Scheduled Castes

is complex. The CASTE SYSTEM as a stratification of classes in
India originated about 2,000 years ago, and has been
influenced by dynasties and ruling elites including the
Mughal Empire and the British Raj. The Hindu concept
of VARNA HISTORICALLY incorporated occupation based
communities. Some low-caste groups, such as those formerly
called "UNTOUCHABLES" who constitute modern-day
Scheduled Castes, were considered outside the Varna
system. It has also been argued that, under the Mughal
Empire, persecution by Muslims reduced settled agriculturists
and feudal lords to the conditions of nomads and forest-
dwellers, and they formed the origins of people who would
become categorized as Scheduled Castes and Scheduled
Tribes in the modern period.

Since the 1850s these communities were loosely referred to

as Depressed Classes, with the Schedule Caste and Scheduled
Tribes. The early 20th century saw a flurry of activity in
the BRITISH AUTHORITIES assessing the feasibility of
responsible self-government for India.

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Furthermore, independent India's quest for inclusivity was
incident through the appointment of B. R. AMBEDKAR as the
chair of the drafting committee for the Constitution.
Ambedkar was a scheduled caste constitutional lawyer, a
member of the low cast.

Redressal Mechanism for SC & ST

Grievances Redressal Committee for SC/ST is formed in GIET,

in order to claim accountability, responsiveness, user-
friendliness and healthy working atmosphere amongst staff,
students & parents. This Committee helps Students as well as
employees to record their complaints and solve their
problems related to academics, resources and personal
grievances. Ragging Complaints will be handled as per the
anti-ragging rules of Govt. of India Guidelines. Woman
harassment complaints handled as per government
guidelines by respective section.

Assistance is provided to States/ UTs for implementation of

Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955. Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989:
Assistance is provided to States/ UTs for implementation
of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of
Atrocities) Act, 1989.

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Government initiative to improve the situation of
SCs and STs

Parliament of India

The Constitution provides a three-pronged strategy to

improve the situation of SCs and STs:
 Protective arrangements: Such measures as are required to
enforce equality, to provide punitive measures for
transgressions, and to eliminate established practices that
perpetuate inequities. A number of laws were enacted to
implement the provisions in the Constitution. Examples of
such laws include the Untouchability Practices Act,
1955, SCHEDULED CASTE AND SCHEDULED TRIBE
(PREVENTION OF ATROCITIES) ACT, 1989, The
Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of
Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993, etc. Despite legislation,

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 social discrimination and atrocities against the backward
castes continued to persist.

 Affirmative action: Provide positive treatment in allotment

of jobs and access to higher education as a means to
accelerate the integration of the SCs and STs with
mainstream society. Affirmative action is popularly known
as reservation. Article 16 of the Constitution states
"nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making
any provisions for the reservation of appointments or
posts in favor of any backward class of citizens, which, in
the opinion of the state, is not adequately represented in
the services under the State". The Supreme Court upheld
the legality of affirmative action and the Mandal
Commission (a report that recommended that affirmative
action not only apply to the Untouchables, but the other
backward castes as well). However, the reservations from
affirmative action were only allotted in the public sector,
not the private.

 Development: Provide resources and benefits to bridge the

socioeconomic gap between the SCs and STs and other
communities. Major part played by the Hidayatullah
National Law University. Legislation to improve the
socioeconomic situation of SCs and STs because twenty-
seven percent of SC and thirty-seven percent of ST
households lived below the poverty line, compared to the

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 mere eleven percent among other households.
Additionally, the backward castes were poorer than other
groups in Indian society, and they suffered from higher
morbidity and mortality rates.

NATIONAL COMMISSIONS
To effectively implement the safeguards built into the
Constitution and other legislation, the Constitution under
Articles 338 and 338A provides for two statutory
commissions: the National Commission for Scheduled
Castes, and the National Commission for Scheduled
Tribes. The chairpersons of both commissions sit ex officio on
the National Human Rights Commission. Scheduled Castes in
India.

On the 89th Amendment of the Constitution coming into

force on 19 February 2003, the National Commission for
scheduled Tribes has been set up under Article 338A on
bifurcation of erstwhile National Commission for Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes to oversee the implementation
of various safeguards provided to Scheduled Tribes under the
Constitution.
With this amendment, the erstwhile National Commission for
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes was replaced by two
separate Commissions namely-
(i) The National Commission for Scheduled
Castes (NCSC), and
(ii) (ii) The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes
(NCST).

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CASE STUDY
The  Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of
Atrocities) Act, 1989  is an  Act  of the  Parliament of
India  enacted to prevent atrocities against  scheduled castes
and scheduled tribes. The Act is popularly known as  the
SC/ST Act, POA, the Prevention of Atrocities Act, or simply the
Atrocities Act

The purpose of the Act was to help the social inclusion

of Dalits into Indian society, but the Act has failed to live up
to its expectations admitted by the Union Minister for Home
Affairs in parliament on 30 August 2010 (quoted below).[3]
A number of cases of misuse of this Act has been reported
from different parts of the country as mentioned in the
Supreme Court verdict of 20 March 2018. In this verdict, the
Supreme Court of India banned immediate arrest of a person
accused of insulting or injuring a Scheduled Caste/Scheduled
Tribe member to protect innocents from arbitrary arrest.

In August, 2018, the parliament of India passed the

Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of
Atrocities) Amendment Bill, 2018, to bypass the ruling of the
Supreme Court of India laying down procedures for arrests
under the Act. The bill inserts section 18A (1) (a) in the 1989
Act, that says a "preliminary enquiry shall not be required for
registration of an FIR against any person". The Bill also inserts
Section 18A (1) (b), which says "the investigating officer shall

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not require approval for the arrest, if necessary, of any person
against whom an accusation of having committed an offence
under this Act has been made and no procedure, other than
that provided under this Act or the Code, shall apply". The
amendments rule out any provision for anticipatory bail for a
person accused of atrocities against SC/STs, notwithstanding
any court order.

“Verdict on SC /ST Atrocities Act”

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CONCLUSION
Castes and Scheduled Tribes continued to face the same
social stigma, poverty and humiliation which they had been
subjected to for centuries.

Several died in ensuing protests and property worth crores of

rupees was destroyed. The government reacted by filing a
review petition in the Supreme Court and subsequently
amended the 1989 Act back into its original form.

Several petitions were filed challenging the 2018 Amendment

Act. The lead petitioner, advocate Prithvi Raj Chauhan, had
even called the amendments a “blunder” and a violation of
the fundamental right to equality and personal liberty. The
Supreme Court, however, had refused to stay the
implementation of the amendments.

The government had responded that there was no decrease

in the atrocities committed on members of SC/ST
communities despite the laws meant to protect their civil
rights.

“The SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989 is the least

which the country owes to this section of the society who

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have been denied several civil rights since generations and
have been subjected to indignities, humiliations and
harassment,” the government had argued.

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Statistical Data Representation of SC /ST crime records in
respective states.

》 STATE RECORDS OF INDIA

REFRENCES
1. THE STATEMENT OF THE OBJECT AND REASONS FOR
SC/ST(POA)ACT 1989

2. ^ "Archived copy". ARCHIVED FROM the original ON 19

SEPTEMBER 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2019.

3. ^ NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR SCS, FIRST REPORT

2004-05, NEW DELHI, 2006, PP.222-3.

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 4. ^ NHRC, REPORT ON PREVENTION OF ATROCITIES
AGAINST SCS, NEW DELHI, 2004, PP.14-15.

5. ^ CLARIFICATION FROM MINISTRY OF HOME

AFFAIRS.

6. ^ NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR SCS, FIRST REPORT

2004- 05,NEW DELHI, 2006, P.223.

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