Policies and Acts

The policies and acts related to the welfare of Scheduled caste in India are as follows.

Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989

Assistance is provided to States/ UTs for implementation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. Financial assistance is provided to the States/ UTs for implementation of these Acts, by way of relief to atrocity victims, incentive for inter-caste marriages, awareness generation, setting up of exclusive Special courts, etc.

Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2015 (No. 1 of 2016) was notified in the Gazette of India (Extraordinary) on 01.01.2016. The Amended Act came into force w.e.f 26.01.2016.

To access the detailed Act, click here.

The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Rules

PoA Rules were amended in June 2014 for enhancing the relief amount to the victims of atrocities to become between Rs.75,000/- to Rs. 7,50,000/- depending upon the nature of an offence. Further Amendment done in the Principal Rules namely the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Rules, 1995 by the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Rules, 2016 have been notified in the Gazette of India Extraordinary on 14th April, 2016.

To access the complete Act, click here

The ‘Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013’ (MS Act, 2013)

Eradication of dry latrines and manual scavenging and rehabilitation of manual scavengers in alternative occupation has been an area of high priority for the Government. Towards this end, a multi-pronged strategy was followed, consisting of the following legislative as well as programmatic interventions:

1. Enactment of “Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993(1993 Act);”
2. Integrated Low Cost Sanitation (ILCS) Scheme for conversion of dry latrines into sanitary latrines in urban areas; and
3. Launching of National Scheme for Liberation and Rehabilitation of Scavengers (NSLRS).
4. Self Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers.

In spite of the above measures taken by the Government, manual scavenging continued to exist which became evident with the release of 2011 the Census data indicating existence of more than 26 lakh insanitary latrines in the country. Therefore, Government decided to enact another law to cover all types of insanitary latrines and situations which give occasion for manual scavenging. The ‘Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013’ (MS Act, 2013) was passed by the Parliament in September, 2013 and has come into force from 6th December, 2013. This Act intends to, inter alia, achieve its objectives to:

1. Identify and eliminate the insanitary latrines.
2. Prohibit:- i) Employment as Manual Scavengers and ii) Hazardous manual cleaning of sewer and septic tanks
3. Identify and rehabilitate the manual scavengers.

To access the complete Act, click here

Reservation SCs & STs in Central Government posts and services

As per Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), the percentage of reservation as on October 2022 for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in Central Government posts and services are as under:-

• In case of appointment by direct recruitment to civil posts and civil services on all India basis by open competition, 15% reservation for SCs and 7.5% reservation for the STs is provided.
• In case of appointment by direct recruitment to civil posts and civil services on all India basis otherwise than by open competition, 16.66% reservation for SCs and 7.5% reservation for the STs is provided.
• The percentage of reservation for SCs and STs is case of direct recruitment to Group C and Group D posts normally attracting candidates from a locality or a region is generally fixed on the basis of proportion of their population in the respective States/UTs. To view the details, click here.
• In case of promotion, 15% reservation for SCs and 7.5% reservation for the STs is provided.

Age Relaxation in Direct Recruitment

The maximum age-limit prescribed for direct recruitment to a service or post shall be increased by 5 years in the case of candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

Source : Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment