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Forest Rights Act, 2006

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06 Mar 2019 Issues Related to SCs & STs
Forest Rights Act, 2006

Why in News? Recently Supreme Court asked states to free tracts of forest land in possession of people whose claims have been rejected under the...

06 Mar 2019 Issues Related to SCs & STs
Forest Dwellers Face Eviction

The Supreme Court has ordered the forced eviction of more than 1,000,000 tribal and other forest-dwelling households from forestlands across 16...

22 Feb 2019 Issues Related to SCs & STs
US Citizen killed by Tribals in Andaman

An American national who tried to contact protected Sentinelese tribes in Andamans north sentinel island was allegedly killed by them. In August...

22 Nov 2018 Issues Related to SCs & STs
NCSK Data on Manual Scavenging Deaths

Recently, five manual scavengers died after inhaling toxic fumes in Delhi's Moti Nagar Area. The National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK)...

18 Sep 2018 Issues Related to SCs & STs
Prevention of Atrocities Amendment Bill, 2018

Parliament has passed the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill, 2018. Key Points The Bill rules...

10 Aug 2018 Issues Related to SCs & STs
Cabinet Clears Bill to Restore the Provisions of SC/ST Act

The Centre has decided to introduce a Bill to restore the original provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of...

02 Aug 2018 Issues Related to SCs & STs
Panel for Denotified, Semi-Nomadic, Nomadic Tribes

The NITI Aayog has backed a proposal by Ministry of Social justice and Empowerment to set up a permanent commission for Denotified (DNT), Semi...

23 Jul 2018 Issues Related to SCs & STs

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		'title' => 'Forest Rights Act, 2006',
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		'article_id' => (int) 1499,
		'category_id' => (int) 27,
		'title' => 'Forest Rights Act, 2006',
		'description' => '<h3>Why in News?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Recently Supreme Court asked states to free tracts of forest land in possession of people whose claims have been rejected under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006.</li>
<li>The judgement has triggered protests from forest rights groups, who contended that wildlife conservation cannot overcome natural justice goals.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Historical Background</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>A large number of people especially the scheduled tribes have lived in and around forests for a long period in symbiotic relationship.</li>
<li>This relationship has led to formalized or informal customary rules of use and extraction, often governed by ethical beliefs and practices that have ensured that forests are not too degraded.</li>
<li>During the colonial time the focus shifted from the forests being used as a resource base for sustenance of local communities to a State resource for commercial interests and development of land for agriculture.</li>
<li>Several Acts and policies such as the 3 Indian Forest Acts of 1865, 1894 and 1927 of Central Govt and some state forest Acts curtailed centuries‐old, customary‐use rights of local communities.</li>
<li>This continued even after independence till much later until enactment of The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Related Acts and Provisions</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Wildlife protection Act 1972</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>This act prohibits the capturing, killing, poisoning or trapping of wild animals.</li>
<li>It extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir</li>
<li>It also regulates and controls trade in parts and products derived from wildlife.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>1988 National Forest Policy</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The policy aims at maintaining of environmental stability.</li>
<li>It looks at conserving the natural heritage of the country by preserving the remaining natural forests.</li>
<li>Increasing forest/tree cover in the country through massive afforestation and social forestry programmes.</li>
<li>Creating a massive people&rsquo;s movement for achieving these objectives and to minimise pressure on existing forests.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>The Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Schedule Areas) Act 1996 (PESA)</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>It safeguards and preserves the traditions and customs of the people, and their cultural identity, community resources, customary mode of dispute resolution.</li>
<li>PESA empowers Gram Sabha/Panchayat at appropriate level with right to mandatory consultation in land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation of displaced persons.</li>
<li>PESA seeks to reduce alienation in tribal areas as they will have better control over the utilisation of public resources.</li>
<li>It will help minimise exploitation of tribal population as they will be able to control and manage money lending, consumption and sale of liquor and also village markets.</li>
<li>PESA looks to promote cultural heritage through preservation of traditions, customs and cultural identity of tribal population.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Features of the Act</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The act recognize and vest the forest rights and occupation in Forest land in forest Dwelling Scheduled Tribes (FDST) and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFD)who have been residing in such forests for generations.</li>
<li>The act also establishes the responsibilities and authority for sustainable use, conservation of biodiversity and maintenance of ecological balance of FDST and OTFD.</li>
<li>It strengthens the conservation regime of the forests while ensuring livelihood and food security of the FDST and OTFD.</li>
<li>It seeks to rectify colonial injustice to the FDST and OTFD who are integral to the very survival and sustainability of the forest ecosystem.</li>
<li>The act identify four types of rights:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Title rights</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>It gives FDST and OTFD the right to ownership to land farmed by tribals or forest dwellers subject to a maximum of 4 hectares.</li>
<li>Ownership is only for land that is actually being cultivated by the concerned family and no new lands will be granted.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Use rights</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>The rights of the dwellers extend to extracting Minor Forest Produce, grazing areas, to pastoralist routes, etc.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Relief and development rights</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>To rehabilitation in case of illegal eviction or forced displacement and to basic amenities, subject to restrictions for forest protection</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Forest management rights</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>It includes the right to protect, regenerate or conserve or manage any community forest resource which they have been traditionally protecting and conserving for sustainable use.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Who can claim these Rights?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Members or community of the Scheduled Tribes who primarily reside in and who depend on the forests or forest lands for bona fide livelihood needs.</li>
<li>It can also be claimed by any member or community who has for at least three generations <strong>(75 years)</strong> prior to the <strong>13th day of December, 2005</strong> primarily resided in forests land for bona fide livelihood needs.</li>
<li>The Gram Sabha is the authority to initiate the process for determining the nature and extent of Individual Forest Rights (IFR) or Community Forest Rights (CFR) or both that may be given to FDST and OTFD.</li>
<li><strong>Procedure</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>First, the gram sabha (full village assembly, NOT the gram panchayat) makes a recommendation &ndash; i.e who has been cultivating land for how long, which minor forest produce is collected, etc. The gram sabha plays this role because it is a public body where all people participate, and hence is fully democratic and transparent.</li>
<li>The gram sabha&rsquo;s recommendation goes through two stages of screening committees at the taluka and district levels.</li>
<li>The district level committee makes the final decision (see section 6(6)). The Committees have six members &ndash; three government officers and three elected persons.</li>
<li>At both the taluka and the district levels, any person who believes a claim is false can appeal to the Committees, and if they prove their case the right is denied (sections 6(2) and 6(4)).</li>
<li>Finally, land recognised under this Act cannot be sold or transferred.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Importance</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The acts looks to right the wrongs of government policies in both colonial and independent India toward forest-dwelling communities, whose claims over their resources were taken away during 1850s.</li>
<li>The act also has potential of sustainably protecting forest through traditional ways along with providing tribes means of livelihood.</li>
<li>It expands the mandate of the <strong>Fifth and the Sixth Schedules</strong> of the Constitution that protect the claims of indigenous communities over tracts of land or forests they inhabit.</li>
<li>The alienation of tribes was one of the factors behind the Naxal movement, which affects states like Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Jharkhand. The act through identifying IFR and CFR tries to provide inclusion to tribes.</li>
<li>It has the potential to democratise forest governance by recognising community forest resource rights over an estimated 85.6 million acres, thereby empowering over 200 million forest dwellers in over 1,70,000 villages.</li>
<li>The act will ensure that people get to manage their forest on their own which will regulate exploitation of forest resources by officials, forest governance and management as well as tribal rights etc.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Challenges</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Administrative Apathy</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Implementation of the act remains the biggest challenge as acts related to the environment are not entirely compliant with the law, illegal encroachments have happened as much as that claims have been unfairly rejected.</li>
<li>As tribals are not a big vote bank in most states, governments find it convenient to subvert FRA or not bother about it at all in favour of monetary gains.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Lack of Awareness</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Unawareness at the Lower level of forest officials who are supposed to help process forest rights claims is high and majority of the aggrieved population too remains in the dark regarding their rights.</li>
<li>The forest bureaucracy has misinterpreted the FRA as an instrument to regularise encroachment instead of a welfare measure for tribals.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Dilution of Act</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Certain sections of environmentalist raise the concern that FRA bend more in the favour of individual rights, giving lesser scope for community rights.</li>
<li>Community Rights effectively gives the local people the control over forest resources which remains a significant portion of forest revenue making states wary of vesting forest rights to Gram Sabha.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Reluctance of the forest bureaucracy to give up control</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>There has been deliberate sabotage by the forest bureaucracy, both at the Centre and the states, and to some extent by big corporates.</li>
<li>The forest bureaucracy fears that it will lose the enormous power over land and people that it currently enjoys, while the corporates fear they may lose the cheap access to valuable natural resources.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Institutional Roadblock</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Rough maps</strong> of community and individual claims are prepared by Gram Sabha which at times often lack technical knowhow and suffers from educational incapacity.</li>
<li><strong>Intensive process of documenting communities&rsquo; claim</strong>s under the FRA makes the process both cumbersome and harrowing for illiterate tribals.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The government of India views MFP rights as a means to curb Naxalism since the states most affected by Naxalism are also home to the maximum number of people dependent on forest produce.</li>
<li>The recognition of CFR rights would shift forest governance in India towards a community conservation regime that is more food security and livelihood oriented.</li>
<li>Large-scale awareness and information dissemination campaigns are required at local level informing both tribal and lower level officials.</li>
<li>It is important to develop a detailed strategy of training and capacity building of people responsible for implementing the FRA, such as Panchayats, Gram Sabha, village level Forest Rights committee etc.</li>
<li>The relevant maps and documents should be made available to the Forest rights committee and claimants to simplify the task of the Gram Sabha in identifying and filing claims for individual and community rights.</li>
<li>Providing clarity on the time limit for settling claims the act does not specify any time limit for resolving claims. In most of the areas, both the officials and beneficiaries are unaware of this fact.</li>
<li>Centre should take more proactive role in pushing states to honour a law that could change the lives of millions.</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/400Drishti_ias_Forest-Rights-Act-2006.png" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/400Drishti_ias_Forest-Rights-Act-2006.png" /></a></p>',
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		'article_id' => (int) 1431,
		'category_id' => (int) 21,
		'title' => 'Forest Dwellers Face Eviction',
		'description' => '<p>The Supreme Court has ordered the <strong>forced eviction of more than 1,000,000 tribal and other forest-dwelling households</strong> from forestlands across 16 states after their claim as forest dwellers have been rejected under the Forest Rights Act of 2006.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>A three-judge Bench of Supreme Court has ordered the Chief Secretaries of many of these States to evict those whose claims as forest dwellers have been finally rejected under the law.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Background</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Forest Rights Act</strong>, passed in 2006, requires the government to give back <strong>rights over traditional forestlands to tribals and other forest-dwellers</strong>.</li>
<li>Tribals and other forest-dwellers are permitted to lay claims before authorities through a laid down process in the Act.</li>
<li>These authorities, based on criteria set in the law and regulations, are required to either approve or reject the claims with several layers of appeals being available to claimants.</li>
<li>The court&rsquo;s orders came while hearing a case filed by wildlife groups and retired forest officers in 2009 raising a legal challenge on the constitutional validity of the law.</li>
<li>The petition, besides challenging the constitutional validity of the law, also demanded that those whose claims had been rejected be evicted as &lsquo;encroachers&rsquo;.</li>
<li>Hearing the case, back in March 2018 the Supreme Court had asked states to report on the status of eviction of those claimants whose claims have been rejected and the total extent of the areas from which they have been evicted.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Concerns</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Several activists have pointed to the inaction from the forest department officials in granting forest rights to these tribal and forest dwellers, issuing land rights documents and other identity cards. For example,
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>According to activists the tribal settlements in the Eastern Ghats have not been granted forest rights patta due to the apathy from forest department officials and hence face the risk of eviction.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Tribals and other forest-dwellers have been living in the forest area for centuries. Their livelihood depends on non-timber forest products they harvest, such as food. Hence, the forest department must ensure that they get community rights documents.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Forest Rights Act, 2006</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Forest Rights Act (FRA) was introduced to address the &ldquo;historic injustice&rdquo; and decades of rights denied to the tribals and forest dwellers due to the colonial forest laws in the country.</li>
<li>FRA recognises that forest dwelling communities have three kinds of rights:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Individual rights</strong> (occupation and cultivation);</li>
<li><strong>Community rights</strong> (grazing, fuel-wood collection, fishing, ownership and disposal of non-timber forest produce ); and</li>
<li>Rights to protect,regenerate, conserve and manage <strong>community forest resource (CFR)</strong> areas.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The recognition of CFR rights is the most empowering provision of the Act because it <strong>restores Gram Sabha&rsquo;s control over governance of forests from the forest department</strong>, thereby democratising the country&rsquo;s colonial forest governance as a whole.</li>
<li>The Act has given <strong>executive and judicial power to Grama Sabhas</strong> in recognising the rights of the tribals. There are sabhas (committees) in the ward level that is the primary tier to recognise and recommend the rights of tribal hamlets. Then there are Sub-Divisional Level Committees (SDLC), followed by District-Level Committees (DLCs).</li>
</ul>
</div>',
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		'article_id' => (int) 916,
		'category_id' => (int) 21,
		'title' => 'US Citizen killed by Tribals in Andaman',
		'description' => '<p>An American national who tried to contact protected Sentinelese tribes in Andamans north sentinel island was allegedly killed by them.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In August 2018, in order to promote tourism in the remote Andaman and Nicobar islands, the government excluded 29 inhabited islands which also included North Sentinelese island from the <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/restricted-%20area%20-permit-eased-for-foreigners-visiting%20-andaman-Islands" target="_blank" rel="noopener">restricted area permit (RAP) regime till December 31, 2022.</a></li>
<li>The lifting of RAP means that foreigners are allowed to visit these islands without prior permission from the government is subject to certain conditions.</li>
<li>Separate approvals of a competent authority would continue to be required for visiting reserved forests, wildlife sanctuaries, and tribal reserves.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Sentinelese</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Sentinelese is a <strong>pre-neolithic, negrito tribe who live in North Sentinel Island of the Andamans.</strong></li>
<li>They are completely isolated with <strong>no contact to the outside world.</strong> The first time they were contacted by a team of Indian anthropologists in 1991.</li>
<li>Due to no contact, the census of Sentinelese is taken through photographing the island individuals from distance. Census 2001 counted them at 39.</li>
<li>Surveys of North Sentinel Island have not found any evidence of agriculture. Instead, the community seems to be hunter-gatherers, getting food through fishing, hunting, and collecting wild plants living on the island.</li>
<li>Sentinelese are also listed under <strong>Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)</strong> by the government of India.</li>
<li>They are protected under the <strong>Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Protection of Aboriginal Tribes) Regulation, 1956.</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>It declares traditional areas occupied by the tribes as reserves, and prohibited entry of all except those with authorization.</li>
<li>Photographing or filming tribe members is also an offense.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Should Tribes be contacted?</h3>
<p>The situation of the tribal or the Adivasi community in India has always been a challenge. To assimilate or let &ldquo;them&rdquo; be are ongoing debates.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Humans by Nature Social</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Anthropologists who studied &ldquo;uncontacted tribes&rdquo; have said that the tribes were interested in making contact with the outside world, but they were too afraid to do so. Hence, outside contact should be made but only when they have initiated it.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Destruction of Tribal Culture</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Contact to the outside world also risks the destruction of tribal culture, knowledge, and languages which can get overwhelmed by outside influence and eventually become extinct.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Health Risk</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The &ldquo;uncontacted people&rdquo; are not vaccinated to various diseases, which outsiders may carry unknowingly. There is the health risk to these communities from outside contact.</li>
<li>In America, the contact with outside diseases killed up to 100 million indigenous people following the European arrival.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The academics have suggested that the best path forward is a policy of<strong> "controlled contact"</strong> with these communities instead of a policy of no contact. Carefully managed contact to avoid the spread of disease, but also enable the building of trust and providing aid and medical help if needed is the best way.</li>
<li>Establishing contact with the outside world can also help governments to document their way of life, preserve their culture and their holistic development.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Uncontacted people:</strong> These are indigenous communities that have managed to exist almost entirely outside the purview of the nation-states in which they technically live.</p>
<p><strong>Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>PVTGs are centrally recognized special category from among the Scheduled Tribes and were constituted during the 4th five-year plan on the basis of the report of the Dhebar commission (1960-61).</li>
<li>They are the most vulnerable section among tribals and generally inhabit the isolated, remote and difficult areas as small and scattered hamlets/ habitats.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Tribes of Andaman and Nicobar</strong></p>
<p>The Andaman and Nicobar are home to<strong> six tribes, Great Andamanese, Onge, Jarawa, Sentinelese, Nicobarese and Shompen.</strong></p>
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		'article_id' => (int) 611,
		'category_id' => (int) 21,
		'title' => 'NCSK Data on Manual Scavenging Deaths ',
		'description' => '<p>Recently, five manual scavengers died after inhaling toxic fumes in Delhi's Moti Nagar Area.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK) collected data regarding deaths of Manual Scavengers in India since January 2017.&nbsp;</li>
<li>It is the first such official attempt to account for the deaths of sewer and septic tank cleaners.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Report Findings</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Since January 1, 2017, 123 people employed in manual scavenging lost their lives i.e. on an average one person has died every five days while cleaning sewers and septic tanks across the country.</li>
<li>Of the 28 states and seven union territories, the NCSK data has reported deaths from only 13 states and UTs.</li>
<li>The number of manual scavenger deaths is highest in Haryana followed by Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and Gujarat.</li>
<li>In NCSK data, Larger states like Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh have shown two deaths and zero manual scavenger deaths since January 2017 respectively.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Issues</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Under-Estimation of Data</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong></strong>As per the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) 2011, rural Maharashtra has 35% of the total 1.82 lakh such households in rural India where at least one member of the household is working as Manual Scavenger. But in NSCK data, Maharashtra has reported only two deaths.</li>
<li>The state with the second highest number of manual scavenging in its villages, Madhya Pradesh at 23,105 as per SECC doesn&rsquo;t show any deaths in the NCSK data.</li>
<li>According to data and post-mortem reports maintained by the NGO, Safai Karamchari Andolan, the actual death count since January 2017 is about 300.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Unavailability of Data</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>&nbsp;</strong>There are no data available on those employed in sewer and septic tank cleaning. All previous and ongoing exercises at compiling data have been restricted to accounting for those removing human excreta from dry latrines, open drains, and single pit toilets in villages.</li>
<li>Due to lack of data regarding Manual Scavengers, sometimes family member of victims are denied their compensation. As per NCSK data, the Rs 10 lakh compensation mandated under the law in case of manual scavenging deaths, has been paid in only 70 of the 123 cases.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>A survey was carried out by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in 2017 to count the number of manual scavengers.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>States have identified up to thirteen thousand manual scavengers up to June 2018.&nbsp;</li>
<li>This data also seems like gross under-estimation as it does not include all the districts in India.</li>
<li>The count was limited to only 170 districts in 18 states and it also excluded sewer cleaners entirely as well as any form of manual scavenging in urban areas.</li>
<li>Bezwada Wilson, the founder of Safai Karamchari Andolan (SKA), has asked the central government to extend the survey to include another 300 districts and sewer-septic tank cleaners.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Prohibition of Employment of Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Act prohibits employment of manual scavengers, manual cleaning of sewers and septic tanks without protective equipment, and the construction of insanitary latrines.</li>
<li>Section 7 of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 prohibits the employment of a person as a manual scavenger for cleaning sewerage and septic tanks.&nbsp;Under provisions of this Act engagement of a person as Manual Scavenger is a punishable offense with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with fine which may extend to fifty thousand rupees or both.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Under the provision, no person, local authority or agency (like Municipal Corporations) should engage or employ people for hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks. Mechanised cleaning of septic tanks is the prescribed norm.</li>
<li>It seeks to rehabilitate manual scavengers and provide for their alternative employment. Each local authority, cantonment board, and railway authority is responsible for surveying insanitary latrines within its jurisdiction. They shall also construct a number of sanitary community latrines.</li>
<li>Each occupier of insanitary latrines shall be responsible for converting or demolishing the latrine at his own cost. If he fails to do so, the local authority shall convert the latrine and recover the cost from him.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>SC judgment in&nbsp;<em>Safai Karamchari Andolan &amp; Others Vs. Union of India</em></strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>
<p>The practice of manual scavenging has been directed to be closed.</p>
</li>
<li>Entering sewer lines without safety gears should be made a crime even in an emergency situation.</li>
<li>
<p>The persons included in the final list of manual scavengers have been directed to be rehabilitated as per the provisions of Part IV of the 2013 Act.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Compensation of Rs.10 lakhs has been directed to be paid to the dependent family members of all persons, who had died in sewerage work (manholes, septic tanks) since 1993.</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It is necessary that the law&nbsp;Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 and Supreme Court observations in&nbsp;<em>Safai Karamchari Andolan &amp; Others Vs. Union of India&nbsp;</em>must be implemented in its letter and spirit.&nbsp;</li>
<li>In the absence of political will and social pressure, more lives could be lost because more tanks are being built in rural and urban areas as part of the drive to construct toilets under Swacchh Bharat Abhiyaan. It is necessary that State governments should address the lack of adequate machinery to clean septic tanks. The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation in its manual of 2016 on toilet design has noted that in rural areas, mechanical pumps to clear septic tanks are not available.</li>
<li>The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan should make expansion of the sewer network a top priority and come up with a scheme for scientific maintenance that will end manual cleaning of septic tanks.</li>
<li>When a person engaged for cleaning of sewer/septic tank dies while cleaning the same, his family/ kin should be given Rs. 10 lakh compensation as mandated under&nbsp;Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>National Commission For Safai Karamcharis</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK) was constituted on 12th August 1994 as a statutory body by an Act of Parliament viz. &lsquo;National Commission for Safai Karamcharis Act, 1993&rsquo;.</li>
<li>The act &ldquo;The National Commission for Safai Karamcharis Act, 1993&rdquo; lapsed in February 2004.</li>
<li>The Commission is acting as a Non-Statutory body of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment whose tenure is extended from time to time through Government Resolutions.</li>
</ul>
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		'article_id' => (int) 335,
		'category_id' => (int) 21,
		'title' => 'Prevention of Atrocities Amendment Bill, 2018',
		'description' => '<p>Parliament has passed the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill, 2018.</p>
<h3>Key Points</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Bill rules out any provision for anticipatory bail for a person accused of atrocities against SC/STs, notwithstanding any court order.</li>
<li>The legislation also provides that no preliminary inquiry will be required for registering a criminal case and an arrest under this law.</li>
<li>The arrest of a person accused of having committed an offence under the Act would not require any approval.</li>
<li>The provisions of Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure which deals with anticipatory bail shall not apply to a case under this Act, notwithstanding any judgment or order of any Court.</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/cabinet-clears-bill-to-restore-the-provisions-of-sc-st-act" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Read more about the legislation...</a></p>',
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		'article_id' => (int) 275,
		'category_id' => (int) 21,
		'title' => 'Cabinet Clears Bill to Restore the Provisions of SC/ST Act',
		'description' => '<p>The Centre has decided to introduce a Bill to restore the original provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, which the Supreme Court had struck down in a March, 2018 ruling.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Amendment Bill seeks to insert three new clauses to the original Act: <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>For the purposes of the Act, preliminary enquiry shall not be required for registration of a First Information Report against any person.</li>
<li>The arrest of a person accused of having committed an offence under the Act would not require any approval.</li>
<li>The provisions of Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure which deals with anticipatory bail shall not apply to a case under this Act, notwithstanding any judgment or order of any Court.</li>
<li>The preamble of the amendment says that the decision to arrest or not to arrest cannot be taken away from the investigating officer, a power given under the criminal procedure code in which there is no provision for a preliminary enquiry.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Background</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The SC ruling resulted in the protests from dalit groups, which said the order diluted the law. The demand for introduction of an ordinance or an Amendment Bill to restore the provisions was demanded by the dalit groups.</li>
<li>The Supreme Court had observed in the judgment that the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 has become an instrument to blackmail innocent citizens and public servants.</li>
<li>The court observed that the past three decades have seen complainants who belong to the marginalised sections of society, use the POA to exact vengeance and satisfy vested interests.</li>
<li>The court also observed that instead of blurring caste lines, the Act has been misused to file false complaints to promote caste hatred.</li>
<li>On March 20, the SC struck down the provision that made immediate arrest of an accused under the 1989 law mandatory.</li>
<li>The court also allowed the accused persons to apply for anticipatory bail. The 1989 law, in fact, prohibits anticipatory bail, saying the accused on bail could terrorise the victims.</li>
<li>The Supreme Court issued a slew of guidelines to protect people against arbitrary arrests under the Act, directing that public servants could be arrested only with the written permission of their appointing authority, while in the case of private employees, the Senior Superintendent of Police concerned should allow it.</li>
<li>A preliminary inquiry should be conducted before the FIR was registered to check if the case fell within the ambit of the Act, and whether it was frivolous or motivated, the court ruled.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Salient Features of the Act</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Act delineates specific crimes against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes as atrocities, and describes strategies and prescribes punishments to counter these acts.</li>
<li>The Act identifies what acts constitute &ldquo;atrocities.&rdquo; All offences listed in the Act are cognizable. The police can arrest the offender without warrant and start investigation into the case without taking any orders from the court.</li>
<li>The Act calls upon all the states to convert an existing sessions court in each district into a Special Court to try cases registered under it.</li>
<li>The Act creates provisions for states to declare areas with high levels of caste violence to be &ldquo;atrocity-prone&rdquo; and to appoint qualified officers to monitor and maintain law and order.</li>
<li>The Act provides for the punishment for wilful neglect of duties by non-SC/ST public servants.</li>
<li>The Acts designates for each District a Court of Session as a Special Court for speedy trial of offences under the Act</li>
<li>The Act provides for the appointment of Public Prosecutors/Special Public Prosecutors for conducting cases in special courts.</li>
<li>The Act is implemented by the respective State Governments and Union Territory Administrations, which are provided due central assistance under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme for effective implementation of the provisions of the Act.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Provisions Against Untouchability in India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Article 17</strong>- Abolition of Untouchability. It is a Fundamental Right (Part III), available against individual; Article 17 does not define the term &lsquo;untouchability&rsquo;.</li>
<li>To expand the ambit of Article 17, the government came up with the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989. The new legislation was enacted to deal with more violent caste-driven atrocities against scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.</li>
<li>Above provisions are not exhaustive, there are many other provisions which prevent any form of discrimination or promote the weaker section. E.g. <strong>Article 46 from Directive Principles of State Policy</strong> talks about promotion of educational and economic interests of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other weaker sections.</li>
<li><strong>Article 330</strong> provides for the reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Lok Sabha and <strong>Article 332</strong> provides for the reservation of seats in the Legislative Assemblies of the States.</li>
</ul>',
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		'article_id' => (int) 179,
		'category_id' => (int) 21,
		'title' => 'Panel for Denotified, Semi-Nomadic, Nomadic Tribes',
		'description' => '<p>The NITI Aayog has backed a proposal by Ministry of Social justice and Empowerment to set up a permanent commission for Denotified (DNT), Semi Nomadic (SNT), and Nomadic Tribes (NT). The commission will be set up on the lines of similar commissions for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In May 2018, the Ministry of Social justice and Empowerment had written to the NITI Aayog, asking for its stand on the report of the Bhiku Ramji Idate Commission on DNT, SNT, and NT communities.</li>
<li>In response to this NITI Aayog has offered to set up a working group to come up with policy suggestions on issues related to the most deprived communities.</li>
<li>It supports the suggestion by Bhiku Ramji Idate Commission to form a dedicated National Finance Development Corporation for DNT, SNT and NTs.</li>
<li>It also supports the suggestion lowering tuition fees and relaxing admission conditions for children from the communities, and easy allotment of land and housing for members of the community in which 90% or more are landless.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Background</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The DNT, NT, SNT communities have been identified as the most marginalised by several commissions set up since Independence.</li>
<li>The community has for long not been enumerated in the Census data. The Renke Commission report of 2008 had roughly estimated their population to be between 10-12 crore however none of its recommendations were implemented.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Denotified Tribes</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Denotified tribes are those that were notified under the Criminal Tribes Acts enforced during British Rule, whereby entire populations were branded criminals by birth. In 1952, the Act was repealed and the communities were de-notified.</li>
<li>The Nomadic tribes maintain constant geographical mobility while semi-nomads are those who are on the move but return to a fixed habitations once a year, mainly for occupational reasons.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Bhiku Ramji Idate Commission</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Idate Commission submitted its report in January 2018. It mentioned that a permanent commission for Denotified, Semi Nomadic, and Nomadic Tribes should have a prominent community leader as its chairperson, and a senior Union government bureaucrat, an anthropologist, and a sociologist as members.</li>
<li>Some of the major recommendations of the panel include granting Constitutional protection to these communities under a separate third schedule after Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, making them eligible for reservation, and extending the protective cover of Prevention of Atrocities Act to them.</li>
<li>Some of the issues raised by the report involve the repealing of the Habitual Offenders Act, provision of Public Distribution System (PDS) cards, special housing schemes for the largely landless community, establishment of a separate academy to preserve their art and culture, special education and health schemes.</li>
<li>The Commission noted that post-independence policies for these communities have been mostly symbolic reparations, with post-liberalisation policies alienating them further from their land and occupations.</li>
<li>The Ministry had also written to the NITI Aayog, asking whether it would set up a Working Group for framing Vision 2030 for development of these communities as per the UN Sustainable Development Goals.</li>
</ul>',
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