Meira has reservation over figures of decline in atrocities on S

New Delhi, Sep 18 (UNI) Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Meira kumar today expressed reservations over the reported decline in the number of cases of atrocities on Scheduled Castes and Tribes and called for amendment in the Prevention of Atrocities(POA) Act to make it more effective.

Her doubts stemmed from the fact that victims faced so much difficulty in registering FIRs, and so very often cases were not registered at all, she said.

Ms Kumar also stressed the urgency of setting up a helpline to enable the SCs and STs to complain to the Ministry immediately if any incident takes place.

It is unfortunate that the Ministry does not have its own means to know about the incidents of atrocities committed on these sections, she said.

''This is a serious shortcoming in the system as we are dependent only on the press and the media to know when and where atrocities have taken place,'' she said.

''It is not that what we get from the press is wrong, but as a government we should have our own mechanism to know without any delay when atrocities are committed against SCs and STs,'' said Ms Kumar.

She was speaking at a meeting of the Monitoring Committee set up to review cases under the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 and the Scheduled Catses and the Scheduled(Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1959.

The Minister said the Ministry could not depend on the police to provide such information as most often there is so much delay in registration of cases and then in the arrival of reports from the state.

She said the POA was enacted in 1989, and amendments were due now to make it more effective in ensuring justice to SCs and STs.

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