Implementation of Prevention of Atrocities Act

An Act of Parliament namely the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) {PoA} Act, 1989, was enacted to prevent atrocities against members of Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs). With an objective to deliver members of SCs and STs a greater justice, the PoA Act has been amended in January, 2016. With a view to prevent atrocities, Rule 3 of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Rules, 1995, specifies precautionary and preventive measures to be taken by the State Government.

State Government/Union Territory Administrations which implement provision of the PoA Act are provided admissible Central assistance towards its effective implementation. A Committee under the Chairpersonship of Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment form time to time reviews implementation status of the PoA Act in States and Union Territories. Last meeting of the Committee was held on 30.01.2018.

As per the data of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Ministry of Home Affairs, the number of cases of offences of atrocities against members of Scheduled Castes (SCs), registered under the scheduled castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) {PoA} Act, 1989 in conjunction with the IPC in the country as well as in Rajasthan for the years 2014, 2015 and 2016 is indicated as under:-

The NCRB, however, does not generate data in regard to various section/sub-sections of the PoA Act which describe offences of atrocities as well as the location of their occurrence.

This information was given by Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Shri Ramdas Athawale in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.