Lok Sabha Question No. 57 (STARRED), answered on 2024-02-06
Subject: Crime against SCs and STs
Ministry: HOME AFFAIRS
Asked by: D. Ravikumar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.*57

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 6 TH  FEBRUARY, 2024/ MAGHA 17, 1945 (SAKA)

CRIME AGAINST SCs AND STs

*57.      SHRI RAVIKUMAR D.:

Will the Minister of HOME AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

(a)  whether  there  is  an  alarming  increase  in  crimes  against  Scheduled Castes  (SCs)  and  Scheduled  Tribes  (STs)  as  reported  by  'Crime  in  India' report 2022 of National Crime Records Bureau, if so, the details thereof;

(b)  whether  the  Ministry  has  taken  any  specific  steps  and  initiatives  to address and control such atrocities against SC and ST communities and if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether there is any specific reference to the reported cases of rape and assault on tribal women and if so, the details thereof;

(d) the concrete steps taken by the Ministry to ensure the safety and wellbeing  of  tribal  women  and  other  steps  being  taken  to  enhance  the accountability of those responsible for such crimes; and

(e)  whether there is any collaborative efforts and engagement strategies adopted by the Ministry to work with the States, especially in regions like South India where there has been a notable increase in crimes against SCs and if so, the details thereof, State-wise?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI AJAY KUMAR MISHRA)

(a) to (e): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *57 FOR 06.02.2024.

(a): National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) compiles statistical data on crimes as reported to it by the States/UTs and publishes the same in its publication  'Crime  in  India'.  The  latest  published  report  pertains  to  the year 2022. The State/UT-wise details of number of cases registered during 2020 to 2022 under Atrocities/Crime against Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are at Annexure-I.

Increased awareness amongst the masses about their rights & laws enacted  by  the  Government  to  protect  their  basic  human  rights  and dignity,  increased accessibility to police  and accountability, training and sensitization of  police  officials,  addition  of  new  offences  under  the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act (PoA), 1989 vide the amendment of 2015, have led to better reporting of crimes against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

(b) & (e): 'Police' and 'Public Order' are State subjects under the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India. The responsibility of maintaining law and order, protection of life and property of the citizens including SCs & STs rest with the respective State Governments. The State Governments

are competent to deal with such offences under the extant provisions of laws.  However,  the  Government  is  committed  to  ensure  protection  of members  of  Scheduled  Castes &  Scheduled  Tribes.  Bureau  of  Police Research & Development (BPR&D) conducts training, courses and webinars  from  time  to  time  for  police  personnel  sensitizing  them  for effective  implementation  of  Scheduled  Castes  and  Scheduled  Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) (POA) Act, 1989.

In addition, Government of India has issued advisories to States/UTs from time to time to implement the provisions of the POA Act and Rules in letter and spirit, which are available at www.mha.gov.in.

To make the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities)  Act,  1989  more  effective  and  to  provide  greater  justice  and enhanced redressal to injustice suffered by the atrocity victims, this Act has  been  amended  in  2015.  The  amendment  includes  new  offences, expanded scope of presumptions, institutional strengthening, which interalia includes establishment of Exclusive Special Courts and specification of Exclusive Special Public Prosecutors to exclusively try offences under the  POA  Act  to  enable  expeditious  disposal  of  cases,  power  of  Special Courts and Exclusive Special Courts to take direct cognizance of offences.

## L.S.S.Q.NO. *57 FOR 06.02.2024

Further, Section 18 of the POA Act was amended through the Scheduled Castes  and  the  Scheduled  Tribes  (Prevention  of  Atrocities)  Amendment Act,  2018  and  enforced  on  20.08.2018.  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.

The  Ministry  of  Home  Affairs  has  advised  the  States  and  UTs  to identify  the  atrocity-prone  areas  for  taking  preventive  measures  to  save life  and  property  of  the  members  of  the  SC/ST  communities  and  post adequate number  of police personnel, fully equipped with policing infrastructure in the Police Stations in such vulnerable areas.

Further, the Department of Social Justice and  Empowerment, Ministry  of  Social  Justice  &  Empowerment  runs  a  Centrally  Sponsored Scheme  for  the  implementation  of  Protection  of  Civil  Rights  (PCR)  Act, 1955  and  the  Scheduled  Castes  (SC)  and  the  Scheduled  Tribes  (ST) (Prevention of Atrocities) {POA} Act 1989, under which Central Assistance is provided to the State Governments and Union Territory Administrations for  effective  implementation  of  the  PCR  Act,  1955  and  the  SC/ST  (POA) Act, 1989.

(c): As per data from NCRB, the number of cases registered during years 2020-2022 under crime/atrocities against STs under Crime-heads Rape and Assault on Women with intent to outrage her modesty are at Annexure-II.

(d): Ministry of Tribal Affairs has been addressing the State Governments /UTs  to  implement  the  provisions  of  the  Scheduled  Castes  and  the Scheduled  Tribes  (Prevention  of  Atrocities)  Act 1989  amended  in  2015 (01of 2016) in letter and spirit vide letter dated 18.02.2016 and 01.02.2018. In this regard, the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) has also  been  requested  to  look  into  the  matter  in  detail  during  its  visits  to various  States/UTs,  and  make  recommendations  that  would  enable  the prevention  of  such  crises  as  well  as  facilitate  speedy  justice  for  the victims. Further, Ministry of Home Affairs has taken a number of initiatives for safety of women across the country, which are given below:

i.  The  Criminal  Law  (Amendment),  Act  2013  was  enacted  for  effective deterrence against sexual offences. Further, the Criminal Law (Amendment)  Act,  2018  was  enacted  to  prescribe  even  more  stringent penal provisions including death penalty for rape of girls below the age of 12 years. The Act also inter-alia mandates completion of investigation and filing of chargesheet in rape cases in 2 months and trials to be completed in 2 months.

ii.  Emergency  Response  Support  System  provides  a  pan-India,  single internationally recognized number (112) based system for all emergencies, with computer aided dispatch of field resources to the location of distress.

iii.  Using  technology  to  aid  smart  policing  and  safety  management, Safe City Projects have been sanctioned in first Phase in 8 cities (Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow and Mumbai).

iv.  Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has provided financial assistance under the 'Cyber Crime Prevention  against  Women  and  Children  (CCPWC) Scheme, to the States/UTs for their capacity building such as setting up of cyber forensic-cum-training laboratories, hiring of junior cyber consultants and  training  of  Law  Enforcement  Agencies (LEAs)  personnel,  public prosecutors and judicial officers.

v. MHA has launched the 'National Database on Sexual Offenders' (NDSO) on 20th September 2018 to facilitate investigation and tracking of sexual offenders across the country by law enforcement agencies.

vi.  MHA  has  launched  an  online  analytic  tool  'Investigation  Tracking System for Sexual Offences' for Police on 19th February 2019 to facilitate them  to  monitor  and  track  time-bound  investigation  in  sexual  assault cases in accordance with Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2018.

vii. In order to improve investigation, MHA has taken steps to strengthen DNA  analysis  units  in  Central  and  State  Forensic  Science  Laboratories. This  includes  setting  up  of  State-of-the-Art  DNA  Analysis  Unit  in  Central Forensic Science  Laboratory, Chandigarh.  MHA  has  also  sanctioned setting-up and upgrading of DNA Analysis units in State Forensic Science Laboratories after gap analysis and demand assessment.

viii.  MHA  has  notified  guidelines  for  collection  of  forensic  evidence  in sexual  assault  cases  and  the  standard  composition  in  a  sexual  assault evidence  collection  kit.  To  facilitate  adequate  capacity  in  manpower, training and skill building programs have been undertaken for Investigation Officers,  Prosecution  Officers  and  Medical  Officers.  Bureau  of  Police Research & Development has distributed 18,020 Sexual Assault Evidence Collection Kits to States/ UTs as orientation kit as part of training.

ix. MHA has also approved two projects for setting up and strengthening of Women Help Desks in Police Stations and Anti-Human Trafficking Units in all districts of the country.

x.  In  addition  to  the  above-mentioned  measures,  the  Ministry  of  Home Affairs  has  issued  advisories  from  time  to  time  with  a  view  to  help  the States/UTs  to  deal  with  crimes  against  women  and  children,  which  are available at www.mha.gov.in

*****

## Lok Sabha S. P.Q. No. *57 for 06.02.2024 Annexure-I

## State/UT-wise Cases Registered under Crime against SCs & STs during 2020 to 2022

| S.   | State/UT                 |   SCs |   SCs |   SCs |   STs |   STs |   STs |
|------|--------------------------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|
| No.  |                          |  2020 |  2021 |  2022 |  2020 |  2021 |  2022 |
| 1    | Andhra Pradesh           |  1950 |  2014 |  2315 |   320 |   361 |   396 |
| 2    | Arunachal Pradesh        |     0 |     0 |     0 |     0 |     1 |     0 |
| 3    | Assam                    |    28 |    15 |    14 |    10 |    16 |     9 |
| 4    | Bihar                    |  7368 |  5842 |  6509 |    94 |   103 |   146 |
| 5    | Chhattisgarh             |   316 |   330 |   323 |   502 |   506 |   516 |
| 6    | Goa                      |     2 |     4 |     8 |     2 |     5 |     1 |
| 7    | Gujarat                  |  1326 |  1201 |  1279 |   291 |   341 |   330 |
| 8    | Haryana                  |  1210 |  1628 |  1633 |     0 |     0 |     0 |
| 9    | Himachal Pradesh         |   251 |   244 |   210 |     3 |     7 |     4 |
| 10   | Jharkhand                |   666 |   546 |   674 |   347 |   250 |   283 |
| 11   | Karnataka                |  1398 |  1673 |  1977 |   293 |   361 |   438 |
| 12   | Kerala                   |   846 |   948 |  1050 |   130 |   133 |   172 |
| 13   | Madhya Pradesh           |  6899 |  7214 |  7733 |  2401 |  2627 |  2979 |
| 14   | Maharashtra              |  2569 |  2503 |  2743 |   663 |   628 |   742 |
| 15   | Manipur                  |     0 |     0 |     0 |     2 |     0 |     1 |
| 16   | Meghalaya                |     0 |     0 |     0 |     0 |     0 |     0 |
| 17   | Mizoram                  |     0 |     0 |     5 |     0 |     0 |    29 |
| 18   | Nagaland#                |     0 |     0 |     0 |     0 |     0 |     0 |
| 19   | Odisha                   |  2046 |  2327 |  2902 |   624 |   676 |   773 |
| 20   | Punjab                   |   165 |   200 |   162 |     4 |     0 |     0 |
| 21   | Rajasthan                |  7017 |  7524 |  8752 |  1878 |  2121 |  2521 |
| 22   | Sikkim                   |     0 |     2 |     3 |     0 |     1 |     4 |
| 23   | Tamil Nadu               |  1274 |  1377 |  1761 |    23 |    39 |    67 |
| 24   | Telangana                |  1959 |  1772 |  1787 |   573 |   512 |   545 |
| 25   | Tripura                  |     2 |     3 |     2 |     2 |     0 |     3 |
| 26   | Uttar Pradesh            | 12714 | 13146 | 15368 |     3 |     4 |     5 |
| 27   | Uttarakhand              |    87 |   123 |   114 |    13 |     6 |     1 |
| 28   | West Bengal              |   109 |   108 |   104 |    90 |    92 |    90 |
|      | TOTAL STATE(S)           | 50202 | 50744 | 57428 |  8268 |  8790 | 10055 |
| 29   | A&N Islands              |     0 |     0 |     0 |     2 |     3 |     3 |
| 30   | Chandigarh               |     3 |     0 |     4 |     0 |     0 |     0 |
| 31   | D&NHaveli and Daman &Diu |     1 |     0 |     0 |     0 |     3 |     5 |
| 32   | Delhi                    |    69 |   136 |   130 |     1 |     5 |     0 |
| 33   | Jammu &Kashmir           |     7 |    13 |    11 |     0 |     1 |     1 |
| 34   | Ladakh                   |     0 |     0 |     0 |     0 |     0 |     0 |
| 35   | Lakshadweep              |     0 |     0 |     0 |     1 |     0 |     0 |
| 36   | Puducherry               |     9 |     7 |     9 |     0 |     0 |     0 |
|      | TOTAL UT(S)              |    89 |   156 |   154 |     4 |    12 |     9 |
|      | TOTAL (ALL INDIA)        | 50291 | 50900 | 57582 |  8272 |  8802 | 10064 |

Source: Crime in India

# Clarifications are pending from Nagaland for the year 2022

Lok Sabha S. P.Q. No. *57 for 06.02.2024

Number of Cases registered during years 2020-2022 under crime/atrocities against STs under Crime heads Rape and Assault on Women with intent to outrage her modesty

|   Year |   Rape |   Assault on Women with intent to outrage her modesty |
|--------|--------|-------------------------------------------------------|
|   2020 |   1137 |                                                   885 |
|   2021 |   1324 |                                                   881 |
|   2022 |   1347 |                                                  1022 |

*****