Some of the Government Initiatives

♤ Parliament passed Untouchability (offences) Act in 1955 which was further amended and renamed in 1976 as Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955.

♤ For further expansion of Article 17 of the Constitution, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989 was passed, which was amended in 2005 to give it more teeth.

♤ Setting up of National Commission for SCs and STs as well as setting up of National Human Right Commission.

To compensate for past and current discrimination, the government has taken steps like:

♤ Providing reservation which involves the setting aside of some places or ‘seats’ for

members of the Scheduled Castes in different spheres of public life.

♤ Introduction of reservation for SCs and STs in 73rd and 74th Amendment Acts to contest elections at the Panchayat level.