indian polity book series 37

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Offenses Considered Atrocities Under This Act:

• Forcing SC and ST communities into bonded labor.
• Forcefully occupying lands belonging to SC and ST communities.
• Using SC and ST communities for illegal activities during elections.
• Polluting drinking water wells and ponds used by SC and ST communities.
• Throwing animal carcasses in front of SC and ST residential areas.
• Committing atrocities and disrobing SC and ST communities.
• Filing false cases against SC and ST communities.
• Shaving the heads of SC and ST communities and parading them on donkeys.
• Obstructing the voting rights of SC and ST communities.
• Destroying objects of worship of SC and ST communities.
• Abusing SC and ST communities by caste name.
• Injuring SC and ST communities under the guise of witch doctors.
• Forcibly making SC and ST communities dig graves.
• Making sexual gestures towards women of SC and ST communities.
• Socially boycotting SC and ST families or groups.
• Intentionally insulting SC and ST communities.
• Putting garlands of shoes around the necks of SC and ST communities and parading them naked.

Punishments:

These acts are considered crimes and are punishable with imprisonment ranging from 6 months to 5 years, along with a fine.

Other Key Points:

• The investigating officer for cases registered under this Act should not be below the rank of DSP.
• The state government should appoint a Public Prosecutor with 7 years of experience to argue on behalf of the victims.
• Death penalty can be imposed on those who give false testimony causing life imprisonment to SC/STs.
• After making some amendments to this Act, the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act - 2015 is being implemented from January 23, 2016.

Review the following aspects regarding the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act 2015:

A) This Act came into force from October 2, 2015.

B) Special courts should be established to expedite the trial of cases related to crimes against SC and ST members.

C) Preventing tribal people from using religious, health and educational institutions is also punishable under the law.

Choose the correct option from the following:

1. 1) A, B and C
2. 2) A and B only
3. 3) B and C only
4. 4) A and C only

(3) (TS LPRBT-2018)

National BC Commission:

• Established on April 2, 1993 as per the directions of the Supreme Court.
• As per Article 340, a commission can be constituted to study the conditions of backward classes.
• In 1953, the first BC Commission was constituted under the chairmanship of Kaka Saheb Kalelkar.

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• In 1978, the second BC Commission was constituted under the chairmanship of B.P. Mandal.
• In the Indira Sawhney case (1992), the Supreme Court suggested to establish a permanent BC Commission.
• In 1993, the National Commission for Backward Classes was established through an Act of Parliament.
• This is not a constitutional body.
• This commission consists of 5 members. It includes a Chairman and four other members.
• All members must belong to backward classes.
• One BC woman must be a member.
• The Chairman of the Commission must have the qualifications required for a Supreme Court judge.
• One member must be a social scientist. All others should have an understanding of BC issues.
• It has the powers of a Civil Court. It is a statutory body.
• The Chairman and other members of the Commission are appointed by the Central Government.
• The term of office and service conditions of the Commission are decided by the Central Government.
• Currently, the term of office of the Commission is 3 years. If they want to resign earlier, they should submit their resignation letter to the Central Government.
• The Chairman gets a salary equal to a High Court or Supreme Court judge and other members get a salary equal to a Central Secretary.

Powers - Functions:

1. To protect the safeguards provided to BCs as per the Constitution of India, Parliamentary law and government orders.
2. To study the conditions of OBCs and advise the Central Government for their development.
3. Advises the Center to include new castes and remove castes from the OBC list.
4. Determines the creamy layer limit for OBCs who are economically advanced.
5. The Commission has the powers of a civil court in the performance of its duties.

National BC Commission Chairpersons

S.No.	Name	Period
1.	R.N. Prasad	1993-1996
2.	Shyam Sunder	1997-2000
3.	B.L. Yadav	2000-2002
4.	Ram Surat Singh	2002-2005
5.	R.N. Pandyan	2006-2009
6.	Makani Narayana Rao	2010-2013
7.	Vangara Eswaraiah	2013-2016
8.	Bhagwanlal Sahni	Present

102nd Constitutional Amendment:

• The National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) was given constitutional status through the 102nd Constitutional Amendment.
• This was introduced as the 123rd Constitutional Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha.
• Date of approval by Lok Sabha - August 2, 2018
• Date of approval by Rajya Sabha - August 8, 2018
• Date of Presidential assent - August 11, 2018
• Article 338 B was added to the Constitution. This provision recognizes NCBC as a constitutional body.

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National Commission for Women

National Commission for Women Chairpersons

S.No.	Name	Period
1.	Jayanti Patnaik	1992-1995
2.	Mohini Giri	1995-1998
3.	Vibha Parthasarathi	1998-2002
4.	Poornima Advani	2002-2005
5.	Girija Vyas	2005-2008
6.	Girija Vyas	2008-2011
7.	Mamata Sharma	2011-2014
8.	Lalita Kumaramangalam	2014-2017
9.	Rekha Sharma	2018 August - Present

• The National Commission for Women Act 1990 established the National Commission for Women on January 31, 1992.
• This commission consists of a Chairperson and five other members.
• One SC woman and one ST woman are mandatory.
• The Chairperson and members of the Commission are appointed by the Central Government.
• The term of office of the Commission is 3 years.
• If they want to resign earlier, they should submit their resignation letter to the Central Government.
• The Central Government has the power to remove them before the term expires.
• The National Commission for Women submits an annual report to the Central Government.
• The Chairperson and members of the Commission receive salary equal to a Central Secretary.
• The Commission has civil court powers.
• The service conditions and salaries of the Commission are decided by the Central Government.

Functions:

1. To protect the safeguards provided to women under the Constitution of India and laws.
2. To receive and investigate complaints of violation of women's rights.
3. To inspect jails and give suggestions to improve the facilities provided to women prisoners.
4. The Commission has civil court powers in the performance of its duties.

Important Information:

• First Chairperson of the National Commission for Women - Jayanti Patnaik
• Current Chairperson of the National Commission for Women - Rekha Sharma
• Served twice as Chairperson of the National Commission for Women - Girija Vyas
• International Women's Day - March 8
• National Women's Day - February 13
• National Girl Child Day - January 24
• International Rural Women's Day - October 15
• AP State Women's Commission Chairperson - Vasireddy Padma
• Telangana State Women's Commission Chairperson - Sunitha Lakshmareddy

Nirbhaya Act (Criminal Law (Amendment) Act - 2013):

• The UPA government enacted the Criminal Law Amendment Act 2013 to prevent crimes against women such as sexual harassment, rape and murder.
• This Act came into force on April 3, 2013. This is known as the Nirbhaya Act.
• Usha Mehra was the chairperson of the one-member committee appointed on the Nirbhaya rape case.
• According to this Act, acid attack is punishable with a minimum of 10 years imprisonment, attempted acid attack with a minimum of 5 years, sexual harassment with a minimum of 3 years imprisonment, rape is punishable with life imprisonment, and repeated offenses are punishable with death penalty.

National Minorities Commission:

• The Minorities Commission was established on January 12, 1978 through an executive order.
• The National Commission for Minorities Act - 1992 gave statutory status to this commission on May 17, 1992.
• Gazette notification was issued on October 23, 1993, giving statutory status to it.

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• This is a statutory body.
• It consists of a Chairman, Vice-Chairman and five members. All of them should belong to minority communities.
• All of them are appointed by the Central Government.
• Their term of office is 3 years.
• If they want to resign earlier, they should submit their resignation to the Central Government. The Central Government has the power to remove them earlier.
• It submits an annual report to the Central Government regarding the conditions of minorities.

Note: The Central Government has recognized the following 6 religions as minorities in India:

1. Muslims
2. Christians
3. Sikhs
4. Buddhists
5. Parsis
6. Jains

Commission Functions - Powers:

1. To monitor and protect the opportunities provided to minorities as per the Constitution of India, Parliamentary law and government orders.
2. To work for the development of minorities.
3. To receive and investigate complaints of violation of minority rights.
4. To advise on the social, economic and educational development of minorities.
5. The Commission has civil court powers in the performance of its duties.

Important Points:

• First Chairman of the National Minorities Commission - Sardar Ali Khan (1993-1996).
• Current Chairman of the National Minorities Commission - Syed Ghayorul Hasan Rizvi.
• Religion whose population has declined according to population census - Parsi religion
• Committee appointed to study the conditions of minorities - Ranganath Mishra Committee.
• Committee appointed to study the conditions of Muslims - Sachar Committee.
• Voluntary social service organization working for the development of the poor among minorities - Maulana Azad Foundation (1989).

• National Education Day - November 11
• Minority Rights Protection Day - December 18.
• First Urdu University in the country after independence - Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Urdu University (1994 Hyderabad).

National Human Rights Commission
(National Human Rights Commission):

• Date on which the General Assembly of the United Nations issued the Declaration of Human Rights December 10, 1948.
• This is a statutory body.
• The National Human Rights Commission was established on October 12, 1993 through an ordinance issued by the President on September 27, 1993.
• The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) consists of a Chairman, four members and four ex-officio members.

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• The Chairman must be a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
• One member must be a current or former judge of the Supreme Court.
• One member must be a current or former Chief Justice of the High Court.
• The remaining two members should have knowledge in the field of human rights.

Ex-Officio Members:

1. Chairman of National SC Commission
2. Chairman of National ST Commission
3. Chairman of National Minorities Commission
4. Chairperson of National Commission for Women

Appointment:

• The President appoints the NHRC Chairman and members based on the recommendation of a 6-member high-powered committee.
• The following are in this high-powered committee.

Chairman: Prime Minister

Members:

1. Speaker of Lok Sabha
2. Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha
3. Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha
4. Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha
5. Union Home Minister

• The term of office of the Chairman and members is 5 years or up to 70 years of age, whichever is earlier.
• If they want to resign earlier, they should submit their resignation letter to the President.
• The Chairman and members are removed in the same manner as the UPSC Chairman is removed.
• They get the salary equal to that of a Central Secretary. Currently, their salary is Rs 2,25,000 for members, and Rs 2,50,000 for the Chairman.

NHRC Powers - Functions:

1. Receives and investigates complaints of human rights violations.
2. Sometimes, even if victims do not complain, it takes suo moto cognizance and initiates investigation.
3. The Commission considers cases only within one year.
4. Removes obstacles to human rights and suggests solutions.
5. Submits annual report regarding protection of human rights to the President.

Important Points:

• First Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission - Ranganath Mishra.
• Current Chairman of NHRC - H.L. Dattu. (From February 9, 2016)
• Organization working to protect human rights in the world - Amnesty International (1961).

Various Commissions at the State Level:

1. State SC, ST Commission:

   • Andhra Pradesh SC, ST Commission Act - 2003 established the SC, ST Commission in 2003.
   • Telangana State established a separate SC, ST Commission in 2018.
   • Andhra Pradesh and Telangana State SC, ST Commissions consist of a Chairman and five members (1+5).
   • One woman must be a member.
   • All of them must belong to SC, ST communities.
   • Their term of office is 3 years or 65 years of age.
   • They are appointed by the State Governor.

   Powers:

   • Works to protect the rights of SCs and STs.
   • Provides suggestions to improve the conditions of SCs and STs.
   • It has civil court powers in the context of inquiring into illegal activities against SCs and STs.

   Chairpersons of Andhra Pradesh State SC, ST Commission:

   1. K. Punnaiah - 2003-2006
   2. M. Nagarjuna - 2007-2009

   Note: M. Nagarjuna resigned in '2009 and no one was appointed as chairman until 2014.

   Current Chairman of Andhra Pradesh SC, ST Commission is Karem Shivaji.

   Telangana State SC, ST Commission first and current chairman - Erolla Srinivas

   Telangana State SC, ST Commission was established in January 2018.

   When did the massacre of Dalits take place in Chundur? - August 6, 1991.