Question : Crime Against Scheduled Castes

(a) whether the Government has details of the number of crimes committed against persons of scheduled castes particularly in the States of Rajasthan and Jharkhand during the last three years, district-wise;

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) the details of the number of crimes committed against women belonging to scheduled caste during the said period;

(d) whether crimes against persons belonging to scheduled castes have been increasing during the said period;

(e) if so, details of the percentage increase for each year and the action taken thereon for the prevention of the same?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

(SHRI AJAY KUMAR MISHRA)

(a) and (b): National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) compiles and publishes statistical data on crimes in its publication “Crime in India”. The published reports are available till the year 2019.




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Details of district-wise cases registered for crimes against Scheduled Castes (SCs) in Rajasthan and Jharkhand during the years 2017-2019 are at Annexure-I and Annexure-II respectively.
(c) to (e): As per data published by NCRB, the total number of female victims in the cases registered in the last three years in the country for crimes against Scheduled Castes, is as below:-
Year Total number of Female Victims in cases registered for crimes against SCs
2017 10735
2018 10880
2019 12330







‘Police’ and ‘Public Order’ are State subjects under the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India. The responsibilities to maintain law and order, protection of life and property of the citizens including investigation and prosecution of crime including crime against members of Scheduled Castes rest with the respective State Governments. The State Governments are competent to deal with such offences under the extant provisions of laws.



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However, the Government of India is committed to ensure protection of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (PoA Act) has been amended in 2015 to make it more effective. The amendments include new offences, expanded scope of presumptions, institutional strengthening, which inter-alia includes establishment of Exclusive Special Courts and specification of Exclusive Special Public Prosecutors to exclusively try the offences under the PoA Act to enable expeditious disposal of cases, power of Special Courts and Exclusive Special Courts to take direct cognizance of offence and as far as possible, completion of trial within two months from the date of filing of the charge sheet, establishing rights of victims and witnesses, and strengthening preventive measures. Further, Section 18 of the PoA Act was amended by the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2018 (No. 27 of 2018) and enforced on 20.08.2018, and now conduct of a preliminary enquiry before registration of an FIR, or to seek approval of any authority prior to arrest of an accused, is no longer required. Government of India has issued advisories from time to time for effective implementation of the PoA Act and Rules.

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