The Delhi High Court has sought response from municipal agencies, especially the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), on whether they have complied with the provisions of the 2013 law prohibiting employment of manual scavengers and are providing their rehabilitation.
a report highlighting interventions taken by civil society organisations (CSOs) to address atrocities under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Prevention of Atrocities Act (PoA). The report is based on extensive field study conducted in five states in India, and documents the experiences and reflections of using the criminal justice system as told by victims, witnesses, human rights defenders and public officials. The report captures CSOs’ best practices in assisting victims of atrocities, and offers recommendations to strengthen their fight towards dignity and justice.
Minister for social welfare Ravella Kishore Babu has alleged that there is no awareness among the officers concerned on the SC/ST Sub Plan Act - 2013 and observed that there is an urgency to spread awareness on the law as nothing significant has been done in the past 15 months.
In the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), review of India on 2 July 2014, the issues of Dalit women and girls were brought up by several experts of the Committee and the Committee noted that Dalit women and the lack of implementation of laws were matters of serious concern.
Budaun is not an isolated story. It illustrates the vulnerability and disentitlement of dalit-bahujan groups everywhere. By: Kalpana Kannabiran (kalpana.kannabiran@gmail.com) is director of the Council for Social Development, Hyderabad, an ICSSR-funded institute.
"With the criminal justice apparatus of the country in such an appalling state, what use is there in a law against torture? India doesn't lack laws. Good and bad, convoluted and archaic, the country has all forms of it in place. What is absent in India is respect for the concept of justice.A culture of justice cannot be instilled via a new law. It has to be taught by establishing institutions that can deliver justice without fail. In India this is unfortunately not a priority."
A comprehensive 2014 report by the National Dalit Movement for Justice (NCDHR) finds serious obstacles to Dalits obtaining justice in crimes against them and reports growing impunity when victims are Dalits. The report findings mirror many of the findings in the report Claiming Justice - also from 2014.
by Max Bearak
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