Lucknow: Despite a spike in crime against the Dalit community, the posts for President and Vice-President in SC/ST department are lying vacant for the past six months. The important posts in the committee have not been filled since November 2019 with the Modi government claiming that they are working for the welfare and upliftment of the marginalised sections. The situation is no different at the Central level with vital posts in the Commission unfilled.
The various positions in SC/ST categories lying vacant in the country is a cause of concern when the nation has witnessed a huge outcry after a 19-year-old Dalit woman in UP's Hathras was allegedly gang-raped and killed by four 'upper-caste' men. The tenure of SC/ST President Ram Shankar Katheria, VP L Morgan and other three members were already complete in May but still, the government has not appointed new faces.
According to the information received by the SC/ST committee, the issue has been addressed to the Uttar Pradesh government but no action has been taken. The former members of the department had said that due to the absence of the working members, a number of cases are pending which needs to be resolved.
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The sole purpose for the formation of such committees is to address the grievances of the Dalits, poor and the oppressed.
Ram Shankar Katheria refused to comment on the vacant posts and said that the government must take strict action to punish the accused in the Hathras incident. However, he feels that the government has taken stern steps to ensure that the victim gets justice.
Uttar Pradesh comprises of 22% of Dalit community and the SC/ST committee receives thousands of applications related to their grievances. Till June 2020, 7,000 applications were pending. If we look at the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, there has been an increase in crime by 7% against last year.
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