Annual Report - National Human Rights Commission

Rights of the Vulnerable
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Dalit Cell and placed it under the charge of a Member of the Commission. The Chairperson,
NHRC released Shri K.B. Saxena’s report on prevention of atrocities against Scheduled Castes
on 12-10-2004. The Cell has co-ordinated the printing of the Report in English. It is also being
printed in Hindi and other Indian languages. The Commission has sent its recommendations on
ways and means to prevent atrocities against Scheduled Castes to various authorities, both to the
Central and State Governments for taking necessary action (Annexure 11 (a) to (c)). In particular,
States have been asked to:
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Identify atrocity and untouchability prone areas and prepare a plan of action.
Appointment of exclusive special courts where volume of atrocity cases is large and appoint
competent and committed special public prosecutors.
A 3-tier Training programme for police and civil functionaries.
An annual workshop of District Magistrates and Superintendents of Police on
implementation of laws in this regard.
Women officers should be assigned to all atrocity prone areas, with cells established to
entertain complaints;
Self-help groups of Scheduled Caste women should be given elementary legal training
along with sessions on confidence building;
Identify a NGO in each district which can be approached in case of custodial violence or
any other atrocity.
Panchayats may be sensitized about the issues concerning the Scheduled Castes and various
De-Notified Tribes.
Institute annual awards for the police stations and districts, which emerge as the most
responsive to the complaints of the Scheduled Castes.
10.8 The Commission proposes to closely monitor the implementation of these recommendations
in the coming years.
10.9 The Commission also organized a two-day Sensitization Training Programme for senior
police officers in the Northern Region on the prevention of atrocities against Scheduled Castes in
New Delhi in the month of January 2005 in partnership with the Indian Social Institute. The
workshop aimed at sensitizing the law enforcement personnel about the scale and intensity of
atrocities on the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes communities in the country and the legal
support available to them to carry out their role for the protection and promotion of human rights of
the Dalit community. The programme was well received. The feedback received from the participants
suggested that the Commission should organize similar programmes in other parts of the country.
B] Manual Scavenging
10.10 The NHRC has been vigorously pursuing the need to end the degrading practice of
manual scavenging in the country. It has taken up this matter at the highest echelons of the
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