NHRC's open hearing in Jaipur
The NHRC organized two-day open hearing of complaints on atrocities against Scheduled Castes in Rajasthan at Jaipur from the 13th-14th Septem- ber, 2012. Inaug urating it, Mr. Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, Chairperson, NHRC said that the Commission has embarked upon a mission to hear the complaints of atrocities against Scheduled Castes in every State as per the recommendations of K.B. Saxena, report on the basis of a study commissioned by the Commission for examining the problems of Scheduled Castes in the country. He said that it is disheartening to note that despite enabling laws, complaints of violations of Dalits' rights have not gone down.
Justice Balakrishnan said that the NHRC's focus is more on the social upliftment of the Scheduled Castes which, if taken care of well by the State, the number of criminal offences involving them will automatically go down.
According to an estimate, Rajasthan reported the highest rate of crime of 7.6 per cent against the Scheduled Castes as compared to the national average of 2.8 per cent in the year 2011. For this open hearing, the NHRC received about 300 complaints on alleged violations of Dalits rights in Rajasthan, out of which about 115 complaints were short-listed for hearing by the NHRC Members, Mr. Justice B. C. Patel and Mr. Satyabrata Pal in two separate benches.
Prior to this open hearing, the Commission has held three open hearings of complaints on atrocities against Scheduled Castes in Odisha, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, heard more than 600 complaints relating to the problems of Scheduled Castes, and recommended on the spot relief in many cases.
Justice Balakrishnan said that the NHRC does not have an adversarial role to the functioning of the governments; its interventions amount only to help the State in good governance to ensure promotion and protection of human rights. The aim of open hearing is to sensitize the official machinery. In the interaction with the State Government subsequent to the hearing, the Commission may convey its observations and advice on various actions to be taken for effective enforcement of law, sustaining confidence of victims and, where required, looking into the conduct of officials coming in for adverse reference during the hearing. The follow up action on the hearings may be monitored.
Mr. C.K. Mathew, Chief Secretary, Government of Rajasthan admitted that Rajasthan has registered a high number of cases of atrocities against Scheduled Castes and problems relating to them, and the conviction rate has been low for various reasons. He said that 18 districts having Scheduled Castes population had been identified as trouble prone. He said that successive State Governments as well as the present Government has taken several measures to address their problems. A special budgetary provision has been made for the welfare and development of Scheduled Castes. 31,000 SC families have been allotted lands. State and District level vigilance committee meetings, as envisaged in the SC/ST (POA) Act, were being held regularly. Special courts have been setup in 25 districts to hear their complaints and give them justice.
The complaints heard by the Commission mostly pertained to delay in release of scholarships, denial of benefits of social welfare schemes, police inaction and poor investigation among others. After the open hearing of the complaints, the Commission held discussions with the representatives of the local NGOs on the problem of Scheduled Castes who reiterated the most of the issues raised in complaints and said that they are being discriminated.
The Commission took up all the issues relating with the problem of Scheduled Castes in Rajasthan with the senior officers at a meeting and asked them to expedite resolution of their problems.
Later, the Chairperson and Members addressed a media briefing on the outcome of the open hearing.
Justice Balakrishnan said that the NHRC's focus is more on the social upliftment of the Scheduled Castes which, if taken care of well by the State, the number of criminal offences involving them will automatically go down.
According to an estimate, Rajasthan reported the highest rate of crime of 7.6 per cent against the Scheduled Castes as compared to the national average of 2.8 per cent in the year 2011. For this open hearing, the NHRC received about 300 complaints on alleged violations of Dalits rights in Rajasthan, out of which about 115 complaints were short-listed for hearing by the NHRC Members, Mr. Justice B. C. Patel and Mr. Satyabrata Pal in two separate benches.
Prior to this open hearing, the Commission has held three open hearings of complaints on atrocities against Scheduled Castes in Odisha, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, heard more than 600 complaints relating to the problems of Scheduled Castes, and recommended on the spot relief in many cases.
Justice Balakrishnan said that the NHRC does not have an adversarial role to the functioning of the governments; its interventions amount only to help the State in good governance to ensure promotion and protection of human rights. The aim of open hearing is to sensitize the official machinery. In the interaction with the State Government subsequent to the hearing, the Commission may convey its observations and advice on various actions to be taken for effective enforcement of law, sustaining confidence of victims and, where required, looking into the conduct of officials coming in for adverse reference during the hearing. The follow up action on the hearings may be monitored.
Mr. C.K. Mathew, Chief Secretary, Government of Rajasthan admitted that Rajasthan has registered a high number of cases of atrocities against Scheduled Castes and problems relating to them, and the conviction rate has been low for various reasons. He said that 18 districts having Scheduled Castes population had been identified as trouble prone. He said that successive State Governments as well as the present Government has taken several measures to address their problems. A special budgetary provision has been made for the welfare and development of Scheduled Castes. 31,000 SC families have been allotted lands. State and District level vigilance committee meetings, as envisaged in the SC/ST (POA) Act, were being held regularly. Special courts have been setup in 25 districts to hear their complaints and give them justice.
The complaints heard by the Commission mostly pertained to delay in release of scholarships, denial of benefits of social welfare schemes, police inaction and poor investigation among others. After the open hearing of the complaints, the Commission held discussions with the representatives of the local NGOs on the problem of Scheduled Castes who reiterated the most of the issues raised in complaints and said that they are being discriminated.
The Commission took up all the issues relating with the problem of Scheduled Castes in Rajasthan with the senior officers at a meeting and asked them to expedite resolution of their problems.
Later, the Chairperson and Members addressed a media briefing on the outcome of the open hearing.