Report of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, for the year 2018

FOCUS

This report was released by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India in 2019. The 1990 edition of the Report of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 was the first in the series. The present is the 25th instalment.

It uses data provided by the National Crime Records Bureau to publish state-wise numbers of cases registered under the PoA Act between 2016 and 2018. Furthermore, the report uses information submitted by each state and union territory to review the steps taken to minimise atrocities against Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs). In accordance with the provisions set out under Section 21(4) of the PoA Act, the annual report is presented to the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 aims to prevent specific atrocities against marginalised communities in India. It makes various offences against these communities punishable and provides for relief and rehabilitation to the victims. The Act was amended in 2015 and 2018. The report notes that the responsibility of implementing the PoA act is vested with the governments of the states and union territories, who may constitute special committees and SC/ST protection cells.

The 131-page report contains five chapters and four annexures: Introduction (Chapter 1); Structures and mechanisms established for implementation of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (Chapter 2); Action by the police and the courts in cases registered under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 during 2018 (Chapter 3); Measures taken by the Government of India (Chapter 4); and Measures taken by the state governments and union territory administrations (Chapter 5).

The annexures include Extract of Section 3 of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (Annexure I); State-wise number of cases registered with police and their disposal during the year, 2018 (Annexure II); State-wise number of cases with courts and their disposal during the year, 2018 (Annexure III); and Details of central assistance released to states/union territory administrations during 2018-19.

    FACTOIDS

  1. The report underlines the duties and responsibilities of the central and state governments to ensure the implementation of the Act. Such measures include provisions for legal aid to the victims of atrocities, provisions for travel and stays of witnesses, social and economic rehabilitation of victims of atrocities, periodic surveys to determine the efficacy of the act, and the identification of areas where members of SC and ST communities are particularly vulnerable to atrocities.

  2. Section 14 of the PoA Act provides for Special Courts for the speedy trial of cases of atrocities against SCs and STs. For this purpose, 26 states and five union territories have designated specific district session courts as Special Courts. As many as 170 districts in 12 states (Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Rajasthan among others) have Exclusive Special Courts to try cases under this Act.

  3. The states of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh have set up special police stations for registration of complaints and investigating atrocities against SCs and STs. Their total number increased to 143 in 2018.

  4. In 2018, 44,505 cases of atrocities against SCs and STs were registered under the PoA Act. In the same year, 92.5 per cent of such cases were pending in court and 29 per cent had ended in conviction. Of the 44,505 cases registered, 38,327 were cases of atrocities against SCs and 6,178 cases were cases of atrocities against STs.

  5. In 2018, the most cases of atrocities against SCs and STs were registered (under the PoA Act in conjunction with the Indian Penal Code) in the state of Uttar Pradesh (9,458) with 9,327 cases of atrocities against SCs and 131 cases of atrocities against STs. Bihar (6,927) had the second highest figures with 6,863 and 64 cases concerning SCs and STs respectively. Madhya Pradesh (6,608) was a close third with 4,741 and 1,867 cases.

  6. According to the report, 11 states accounted for 93.5 per cent of all cases of atrocities against members of Scheduled Castes registered in India in 2018. They are Uttar Pradesh (9,327), Bihar (6,863), Madhya Pradesh (4,741), Rajasthan (4,490), Maharashtra (1,807), Odisha (1,747), Andhra Pradesh (1,632), Telangana (1,337), Tamil Nadu (1,331), Gujarat (1,321) and Karnataka (1,226).

  7. Additionally, 11 states together accounted for 95.2 per cent of the total cases of atrocities against members of Scheduled Tribes. These are Madhya Pradesh (1,867), Rajasthan (1,073), Odisha (552), Maharashtra (507), Chhattisgarh (386), Telangana (383), Andhra Pradesh (303), Karnataka (302), Gujarat (299), Kerala (126) and Jharkhand (81).

  8. Total cases of atrocities against SCs and STs investigated by the police in 2018 numbered 51,384 and 8,284 respectively. Of these, 31,256 and 5,366 had charge-sheets filed in courts. As many as 6,666 and 907 had ‘final reports’ submitted indicating false cases, mistakes or insufficient evidence. The report notes that 13,326 and 1,995 cases of atrocities against SCs and STs respectively were pending with the police at the end of the year.

  9. In 2018, the courts disposed of 10,185 of the 139,473 cases of atrocities against people from Scheduled Castes and 1,983 of the 23,723 cases of atrocities against people from Scheduled Tribes. The number of acquittals (7,153 and 1,484) were higher than the number of convictions (3,032 and 499) in both instances.

  10. Under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme for implementation of the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 and the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, the central government provided financial assistance of Rs. 405.7 crores to 18 states and three union territories during 2018-2019.


    Focus and Factoids by Bhavani Vaidyanathan.

AUTHOR

Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India

COPYRIGHT

Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India

PUBLICATION DATE

2019

TAGS

#marginalised-communities #scheduled-tribes #act #prevention-of-atrocities #scheduled-castes

SHARE