Shyam Sood
Rajouri, October 27: On Thursday a meeting of the concerned officers/ other non-official members was chaired by the District Development Commissioner (DDC), Vikas Kundal to review the implementation of the Scheduled caste and scheduled tribe (Prevention of atrocities) act 1989 in the district.
Officers present in the meeting were Block Development Chairman, Rajouri, Darbar Chowdhary; CPO, Mohammad Khurshid; District Social Welfare Officer, Wakeel Ahmed Bhatt; BDO Qila Darhal, Manmeet, and other non-official members.
The meeting held detailed deliberations on the issues regarding the socio-economic development of people belonging to SC/ST, assistance/ maintenance expenses provided to victims of atrocities, and the constitution of the ‘District level vigilance and monitoring Committee’ for reviewing the implementation of the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act 1989.
“The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 was enacted by the Parliament of India to prevent atrocities and hate crimes against the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes,” said DDC, Vikas Kundal.
The DDC also stressed upon the officers to educate the masses about various provisions of the act and ensure that the act is implemented in letter and spirit in the district.
Taking stock of the Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana (PMAGY), the DDC was informed that it is a rural development program launched by the Central Government for the development of villages with more than 50% of the population belonging to the scheduled castes through the convergence of central and state schemes and the allocation of financial funding on a per village basis.
The DDC took stock of the developmental works being carried out under PMAGY and Special Central Assistance to Scheduled Castes Sub Plan (SCA to SCSP) and asked the concerned officers to ensure that the works being carried out under these schemes are completed at the earliest so that necessary benefits are provided to the targeted population
It is pertinent to mention here that as the then-existing (before 1989) laws, including the Protection of Civil Rights Act 1955 and the Indian Penal Code, were not sufficient to check the atrocities perpetrated against the Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes, the Parliament, in recognition of the existing problems, passed the Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989 and its Rules in 1995.India
It was extended to the whole of India except the state of Jammu & Kashmir (due to its special status under Article 370).
