MHA issues Advisory to States/UTS and Concerned Ministries/Departments to Check Crimes against SC/ST

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EQUALITY INDIA NEWS SERVICE / A SHAKTI VAHINI RESEARCH INITIATIVE

Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India has issued an advisory to the Chief Secretaries, Home Secretaries, Principal Secretaries of all State Governments and UT Administrations as well as informed for necessary action to concerned Ministries/Departments for curbing crime against Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes. This is in response to public demand. The Ministry has asked for issuance of suitable directions to all concerned for proper implementation and enforcement of the laws and has sought a report indicating the present status in regard to this issue within one month. The advisory is:

“Police’ and ‘Public Order‘ are State subjects under the Seventh Schedule (List-II) to the Constitution of India and, therefore, the State Governments and UT Administrations are primarily responsible for prevention, detection, registration, investigation and prosecution of all crimes within their jurisdiction including crimes against Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes. The Union Government, however, attaches the highest importance to matters relating to the prevention of crime; and therefore, the Union Government has been advising the State Governments/ UT Administrations from time to time to give more focused attention to the administration of the criminal justice system with emphasis on prevention and control of crime including crimes against Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes.

The Government of India have been advising the State Governments from time to time regarding the steps that need to be taken to afford a greater measure of protection to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The advisory issued earlier with particular reference to crimes against SCs/STs vide Letter No. 15011/48/2009-SC/ST-W, dated 1.4.2010 may be referred to in this regard.

It has been noted that manual scavenging still persists in India and despite being outlawed; almost no one has been punished in 17 years of the existence of the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993. The Government of India is deeply concerned on the continuance of this shameful practice which violates human dignity and Articles 14, 17, 21 and 23 of the Constitution and would therefore re-emphasize that urgent action should be taken by the State Governments and UT Administrations to completely eradicate this practice. Accordingly, it is advised that urgent action should be taken by the State Governments and UT Administrations on the following:-

• Vigorous and conscientious enforcement of the statutory provisions and the existing legislations relating to crimes against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes should be undertaken. It is reiterated that manual scavenging is punishable u/s 14, read with Section 3(1)(a), of the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines(Prohibition) Act,1993. However, the enforcement of the Act by State Governments/ UTs is generally lax.

• Further, in terms of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes ( POA) Act, 1989, any act done to violate the dignity of a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe by a non-Scheduled Caste or non-Scheduled Tribe person would amount to an offence under Section 3 (1) (iii) of the Act. It may be noted that engaging or employing a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe to clean, handle or carrying human excreta amounts to violating his or her dignity and therefore, may fall within the ambit of Clause (iii) of Sub Section (1) of Section 3 of the Act. Therefore, such cases of manual scavenging may be pursued under appropriate Sections of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989

They are requested to issue suitable directions to all concerned under intimation to Ministry of Home Affairs for the proper implementation and enforcement of the laws. It is further requested that action taken in this regard may be reviewed by the State Governments and UT administrations and a report indicating the present status of the crime may be sent to this Ministry within a month”.

Smt. Krishna Tirath chairs Conference of State Ministers in charge of Women & Child Development

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EQUALITY INDIA NEWS

A SHAKTI VAHINI RESEARCH INITIATIVE

The Ministry of Women & Child Development organised a conference of States / UTs Ministers in-charge of the Women & Child Development department, in New Delhi today. The discussions included primarily the implementation of ICDS Scheme in the States / UTs specially in the context of the directions given by the Prime Minister’s National Council on Nutrition Challenges regarding strengthening and re-structuring of ICDS, progress and implementation of the ICPS, the newly introduced Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls (RGSEAG) – ‘SABLA’ and Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY). The agenda also included a discussion on the status of two Bills viz. the Protection of Women against Sexual Harassment at Workplace Bill, 2010 and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Bill, 2011.

In her inaugural speech Smt. Krishna Tirath outlined the initiatives of the Ministry and the status of the implementation of various schemes. While speaking about ICDS, she mentioned the challenges in universalisation of ICDS, like shortfall in the operationalisation of Anganwadi Centres and Projects, filling up of vacancies and access to the vulnerable sections. She emphasised on the importance of pre-school education in the Anganwadi Centres and requested participation of States / UTs in consultations on Early Childhood Education ECE policy and curriculum. The Ministry is now considering the Annual Programme Implementation Plans for ICDS to be prepared by States / UTs which would improve their accountability and would be a precursor to bringing ICDS in a Mission Mode.

Smt. Krishna Tirath asked the States / UTs to diligently follow the norms of providing supplementary nutrition under ICDS and ensure supply without disruption. Since the food grains are provided at BPL rates, care should be taken that the requirement of food grains is projected according to the recipes given to the children. Keeping in view the NCEAR report, the feeding efficiency needs to be improved and monitoring to be strengthened for correct reporting. She emphasised on improvement of infrastructure at the Anganwadi Centres since the two new Schemes – SABLA and IGMSY, are also to be implemented from the same platform.

The WCD Minister inaugurated the Nutritional Resource Platform (NRP), based in NIPCCD by the click of a button. NRP is a strong ICT platform having digital library, knowledge management platform and mobile telephony based services like voice / SMS broadcast, inter – active voice response based data capturing for monitoring and toll free helpline. Test pilots in some of the select blocks and districts will commence in February 2011.

Smt. Krishna Tirath touched upon the two newly introduced schemes – SABLA and IGMSY which are being piloted in 200 and 52 districts respectively and emphasised the significance of undertaking Baseline Surveys for identification of beneficiaries and validation of data carefully so that only those who are eligible and deserving are included. It is also important to judge the efficacy of pilot schemes, before upsclaing them to cover the whole country.

The Union Minister exhorted the States / UTs to take advantage of ICPS and ensure a protective and caring environment for all the children so that no child is found on streets or begging or serving in a shop or factory. Talking about the Protection of Women against Sexual Harassment at Workplace Bill 2010 she shared that efforts are being made to get the Bill passed in the Parliament early. The suggestions given by the States / UTs would be incorporated in the Bill if found feasible.

In view of increasing incidence of child abuse in the country, Bill on Protection of Children from Sexual Offences has been prepared by the Ministry. It is a step towards developing child jurisprudence in the country. Smt. Krishna Tirath requested the State Governments to expedite the setting up of State Commissions for Protection of Child Rights which exists in eleven States / UTs only as of now. The Ministers of State Governments / UT Administrations highlighted the progress made by them under different Schemes and shared the best practices besides the local initiatives taken by them. They committed to operationalise the pending AWCs and Projects under the universalisation of ICDS. The Ministers and Secretaries of the States / UTs endorsed and complemented the conceptualisation of SABLA and IGMSY. They also supported the Protection of Women against Sexual Harassment at Workplace Bill 2010. Among issues of concern raised were like timely release of funds under ICDS including honorarium, requirement of funds for construction of AWCs, inadequacy of funds for uniforms, rent in urban areas and vehicles (for improving mobility), revision of cost norms which were revised in 2008, waiving of population norms for the mini-AWCs and cost norms for SNP. The States / UTs felt that the cost of implementation of Acts should be borne by Central Government and that the Kishori Shakti Yojana norms under “Sabla” may be improved. Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand demanded funding of ICDS in the same pattern as is available to the North – Eastern States.

The Ministers and Secretaries assured that they are committed to the cause of the welfare of children and empowerment of women and that the ongoing as well as new Schemes of the Ministry would all be implemented in true spirit as intended.

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Centre Keen on Every State Setting up SHRC

The Government of India and National Human Rights Commission(NHRC) are keen that every State sets up a State Human Rights Commission (SHRC). The Government and NHRC have been requesting all those States which have not yet constituted their State Commission to do so at the earliest. The following States have constituted State Human Rights Commission:-

1. Assam 2. Andhra Pradesh 3. Chhattisgarh 4. Himachal Pradesh 5. Jammu & Kashmir 6. Kerala 7. Madhya Pradesh 8. Maharashtra 9. Manipur 10. Orissa 11. Punjab 12. Rajasthan 13. Tamil Nadu 14. Uttar Pradesh 15. West Bengal 16. Karnataka 17. Bihar 18. Gujarat 19. Sikkim.

The following nine States have not constituted the State Human Rights Commissions:-

1. Arunachal Pradesh 2. Goa 3. Haryana 4. Jharkhand 5. Meghalaya 6. Mizoram 7. Nagaland 8. Tripura 9. Uttarakhand.

This was stated by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Shri Ajay Maken in written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.

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