WELFARE

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 WELFARE
India is a welfare state, which is committed to
establish a socialistic society. A welfare state is a
"concept of government in which the state plays a
key role in the protection and promotion of the
economic and social well-being of its citizens. It is
based on the principles of equality of opportunity,
equitable distribution of wealth, and public
responsibility for those unable to avail themselves
of the minimal provisions for a good life.
A Nation's main strength is its people. The
better the People of the Nation, better is the
Nation itself. Being a complex and diversified
country, with all the different religions,
languages, scripts, ethnic variety, and scattered
political landscape of India, the welfare of the
people is very important and in the current global
order and socio-economic scenario, where
Human Resource makes a powerful Nation, it
is far more important than any other part of
development or growth.
The Government of India provides welfare
schemes for the social services sector and has
increased the budgeted amount four-fold for
welfare schemes for Scheduled Castes, Other
Backward Classes and minorities as well as
welfare and development of scheduled tribes.
The Government also provides separate
allocations for People with Disabilities (PWDS)
under separate schemes.
CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS
FOR THE WELFARE OF SOCIETY
Article 23: Prohibition of Traffic in Human
Beings and Forced Labour
Traffic in human beings and begar and
other similar forms of forced labour are
prohibited and any contravention of this
provision shall be an offence punishable in
accordance with law. This right is available
to both citizens and non-citizens.
The traffic in human beings includes:
(a) Selling and buying of men, women and
children.
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(b) Immoral traffic in women and children
including prostitution.
(c) Devadasis system practiced in southern
states.
(d) Slavery.
The term begar means compulsory work
without renumeration.
Nothing in this article shall prevent the
State from imposing compulsory service for
public purpose as military service or social
service and in imposing such service the
State shall not make any discrimination on
grounds only of religion, race, caste or class
or any of them.
Article 24: Prohibition of Employment of
Children in Factories, etc.
No child below the age of fourteen years shall
be employed to work in any factory or mine or
engaged in any other hazardous employment
like construction work, firework factories, etc.
According to the statistics given by Indian
government there are 20 million child laborers
in the country. The main legislative measures to
enforce this fundamental right at the national
level are The Child Labour Prohibition and
Regulation Act-1986 and The Factories Act-
1948. The first act was categorical in prohibiting
the employment of children below fourteen years
of age, and identified 57 processes and 13
occupations which were considered dangerous
to the health and lives of children. The factories
act again prohibits the employment of children
less than fourteen years of age. However an
adolescent aged between 15 and 18 can be
recruited for factory employment only after
securing a fitness certificate from a medical
doctor who is authorized. The Act proceeds to
prescribe only four and a half hours work period
per day for children between 14 and 18 years.
Children are also not allowed to work in night
shifts. India is also a signatory to the UN
Convention on the Rights of the Child, ILO
Abolition of Forced Convention.
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 Article 38: State to secure a social order for
the promotion of welfare of the people
The State shall strive to promote the welfare
of the people by securing and protecting as
effectively as it may a social order in which
justice, social, economic and political, shall
inform all the institutions of the national
life.
The State shall, in particular, strive to
minimize the inequalities in income, and
endeavour to eliminate inequalities in
status, facilities and opportunities, not only
amongst individuals but also amongst
groups of people residing in different areas
or engaged in different vocations.
Article 39: Certain principles of policy to be
followed by the State -
The State shall, in particular, direct its policy
towards securing -
that the citizens, men and women equally,
have the right to an adequate means of
livelihood;
that the ownership and control of the
material resources of the community are so
distributed as best to subserve the common
good;
that the operation of the economic system
does not result in the concentration of
wealth and means of production to the
common detriment;
that there is equal pay for equal work for
both men and women;
that the health and strength of workers,
men and women, and the tender age of
children are not abused and that citizens
are not forced by economic necessity to
enter avocations unsuited to their age or
strength;
Children are given opportunities and
facilities to develop in a healthy manner
and in conditions of freedom and dignity
and that childhood and youth are protected
against exploitation and against moral and
material abandonment.
Article 39A: Equal justice and free legal aid
The State shall secure that the operation of
the legal system promotes justice, on a basis of
equal opportunity, and shall, in particular,
provide free legal aid, by suitable legislation or
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schemes or in any other way, to ensure that
opportunities for securing justice are not denied
to any citizen by reason of economic or other
disabilities.
Article 46: Promotion of educational and
economic interests of Scheduled Castes,
Scheduled Tribes and other weaker sections
The State shall promote with special care the
educational and economic interests of the
weaker sections of the people, and, in particular,
of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled
Tribes, and shall protect them from social
injustice and all forms of exploitation.
INSTITUTIONAL MEASURES FOR
THE WELFARE OF THE SOCIETY
(a) Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
In the year 1985-86, the erstwhile Ministry
of Welfare was bifurcated into the Department
of Women and Child Development and the
Department of Welfare. Simultaneously, the
Scheduled Castes Development Division, Tribal
Development Division and the Minorities and
Backward Classes Welfare Division were moved
from the Ministry of Home Affairs and also the
Wakf Division from the Ministry of Law to form
the new Ministry of Welfare.
The target groups of the Ministry are:
Scheduled Castes
Other Backward Classes
Persons with Disabilities
Senior Citizens and
Victims of Substance Abuse
The Ministry has been implementing various
programmes/schemes for social, educational
and economic development of the target groups.
As a result there has been considerable
improvement in the welfare of these groups.
(b) National commission for Scheduled Castes
The National Commission for Scheduled
Castes, a Constitutional body monitors the
safeguards provided for Scheduled Castes and
also reviews issues concerning their welfare.
The SCs constitute 16.23% of India's
population spread all over the country, with 80%
of them living in the rural areas. They constitute
more than a fifth of the population of UP,
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 Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and West Bengal.
Punjab has the highest proportion of SCs to the
State population. More than half of the SC
population is concentrated in the five States of
Uttar Pradesh (35.1 million), West Bengal (18.4
million), Tamil Nadu (11.8 million), Andhra
Pradesh (12.3 million) and Bihar (13.0 million).
Due to their social disability and economic
backwardness, they were grossly handicapped
in getting reasonable share in elected offices,
Government jobs and educational institutions
and, therefore, it was considered necessary to
follow a policy of reservations in their favour to
ensure their equitable participation in
governance.
Functions and duties of the commission are:
To investigate and monitor all matters
relating to the safeguards provided for the
Scheduled Castes under this Constitution
or under any other law for the time being
in force or under any order of the
Government and to evaluate the working
of such safeguard;
To inquire into specific complaints with
respect to the deprivation of rights and
safeguards of the Scheduled Castes;
To participate and advise on the planning
process of socio-economic development of
the Scheduled Castes and to evaluate the
progress of their development under
the Union and any State;
To present to the President, annually and
at such other times as the Commission may
deem fit, reports upon the working of those
safeguards;
To make in such reports recommendations
as to the measures that should be taken by
the Union or any State for the effective
implementation of those safeguards and
other measures for the protection, welfare
and socio-economic development of the
Scheduled Castes; and
To discharge such other functions in
relation to the protection, welfare and
development and advancement of the
Scheduled Castes as the President may,
subject to the provisions of any law made
by Parliament, by rule specify.
The Commission presents an annual report
to the President. The President places all the
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reports before the Parliament along with
memorandum explaining the action taken on the
recommendations made by the Commission. The
memorandum also contains the reasons for the
non acceptance of any recommendation.
(c) National Commission on Scheduled Tribes
The National Commission for Scheduled
Tribes was first formed by the Government of
India in 1978 as a Non-statutory Multi-Member
Commission. Initially, the Commission was set
up through a resolution for both the Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes. In the year 1987,
the Government of India re-structured the duties
of the Commission by authorizing it to advice
on the Broad Policy Issues and Levels of
Development of SCs and STs. The National
Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) was
established by amending Article 338 and
inserting a new Article 338A in the Constitution
through the Constitution (89th Amendment)
Act, 2003. By this amendment, the erstwhile
National Commission for Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes was replaced by two separate
Commissions namely- (i) the National
Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), and
(ii) the National Commission for Scheduled
Tribes (NCST) in 2004.
Scheduled Tribes live in contiguous areas
unlike other communities. It is, therefore, much
simpler to have an area-approach for
development activities and also regulatory
provisions to protect their interests. In order to
protect the interests of Scheduled Tribes with
regard to land alienation and other social factors,
provisions of Fifth Schedule and Sixth
Schedule have been enshrined in the
Constitution.
Functions of the Commission are:
To investigate and monitor all the matters
relating to the safeguards provided for the
SCs and STs under the Constitution of India
or under any other law and to evaluate the
working of such scapegoats.
To enquire into specific complaints with
respect to the deprivation of the rights and
the safeguards of the SCs and the STs.
To participate and advise on the planning
process of socio-economic development of
the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled
Tribes and to evaluate the progress of their
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 development under the Union and any
State.
To present to the President, annually and
at such other times as the Commission may
deem fit, reports upon the working of those
safeguards;
To make in such reports or recommenda-
tions as to the measures that should be
taken by the Union or any State for the
effective implementation of those the pro-
tection, welfare and socio-economic devel-
opment of the Scheduled Castes and the
Scheduled Tribes as the President may
specify.
The term Scheduled Tribes is defined in the
Constitution of India under Article 366(25) as
such tribes or tribal communities or parts of
groups within such tribes or tribal communities
as are deemed under Article 342 to be Scheduled
Tribes for the purposes of this Constitution.
According to the Article 342(1), the President
may, with respect to any State or Union
Territory, and where it is State, after consultation
with the Governor thereof, notifies tribes or tribal
communities or parts thereof as Scheduled
Tribes. This confers on the tribe or part of it a
Constitutional status invoking the safeguards
provided for in the Constitution, to these
communities in their respective States/UTs.
Thus only those communities who have been
declared as such by the President through an
initial public notification will be considered as
Scheduled Tribes. Parliament may, by law,
include in or exclude from the list of Scheduled
Tribes, any tribe or tribal community or parts of
thereof. The list of Scheduled Tribes is State-
specific. In other words, a community declared
as Scheduled Tribe in one State need not be so in
another State.
The Commission presents an annual report
to the President. The President places all the
reports before the Parliament alongwith
memorandum explaining the action taken on the
recommendations made by the Commission. The
memorandum also contains the reasons for the
non acceptance of any recommendation.
(d) National Commission for Backward Classes
National Commission for Backward Classes
came into effect on the 2nd April, 1993. The Act
provides that the Commission shall consist of five
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Members, comprising of a Chairperson who is
or has been a judge of the Supreme Court or of
a High Court; a social scientist; two persons, who
have special knowledge in matters relating to
backward classes; and a Member-Secretary, who
is or has been an officer of the Central
Government in the rank of a Secretary to the
Government of India.
Functions of the Commission:
The Commission shall examine requests for
inclusion of any class of citizens as a
backward class in the lists and hear
complaints of over-inclusion or under-
inclusion of any backward class in such
lists and tender such advice to the Central
Government as it deems appropriate.
The advice of the Commission shall
ordinarily be binding upon the Central
Government.
Powers of the Commission:
The Commission shall, while performing
its functions have all the powers of a civil
court trying a suit and in particular, in respect
of the following matters, namely:-
summoning and enforcing the attendance
of any person from any part of India and
examining him on oath;
requiring the discovery and production of
any document;
receiving evidence on affidavits;
requisitioning any public record or copy
thereof from any court or office;
issuing commissions for the examination
of witnesses and documents; and
Any other matter which may be prescribed.
The Commission prepares its annual report,
giving a full account of its activities during the
previous financial year and forward a copy
thereof to the Central Government. Annual
report and audit report to be laid before
Parliament. The Central Government shall cause
the annual report, together with a
memorandum of action taken on the advice
tendered by the Commission and the reasons
for the non-acceptance, if any, of any such
advice, and the audit report to be laid as soon as
may be after they are received before each House
of Parliament.
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 (e) National Commission for disabled Persons
Persons with Disabilities (PWD) are defined
as those suffering from four types of disabilities
viz., Visual, locomotor, hearing and speech and
mental disabilities. In the Ninth Plan (1992-97),
the earlier paradigm shift in approach from
welfare to development was moved further initiated various steps to improve the status of
to empowerment which is more holistic by women and worked for their economic
including both the welfare and development
perspective. The major thrust in the Tenth Plan
has been to consolidate and strengthen the
various programmes through coordinated efforts
and innovative interventions in attending to the
special problems and needs of these
disadvantaged groups. One of the thrust areas
during the Tenth Plan has been to prepare
disabled-friendly policies to create a hurdle-free
environment.
According to the Census 2001, there are 2.19
crore persons with disabilities in India who
constitute 2.13 per cent of the total population.
This includes persons with visual, hearing,
speech, locomotor and mental disabilities.
Seventy five per cent of persons with disabilities
live in rural areas, 49 per cent of disabled
population is literate and only 34 per cent are
employed. The earlier emphasis on medical
rehabilitation has now been replaced by an
emphasis on social rehabilitation.
The Government constituted the National
Commission for Persons with Disabilities with
the former Governor, Sunder Singh Bhandari,
as its chairperson. It recommends programmes
for the elimination of inequalities in status and
on facilities and opportunities for the disabled
in order to give the appropriate education and
vocational training. The Commission also
recommends packages for poverty eradication,
employment and other support services to
achieve the goal of psycho-social acceptance of
the disabled. It also reviews the working of the
rehabilitation institutions. The members will
represent people with hearing impairment,
visual impairment and locomotor disability.
(f) National Commission for Women
The National Commission for Women was
set up as statutory body in January 1992 under
the National Commission for Women Act, 1990
to:
review the Constitutional and Legal
safeguards for women;
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recommend remedial legislative measures;
facilitate redressal of grievances; and
Advise the Government on all policy matters
affecting women.
In keeping with its mandate, the Commission
empowerment during the year under report.
The Commission completed its visits to all the
States/UTs except Lakshadweep and prepared
Gender Profiles to assess the status of women
and their empowerment. It received a large
number of complaints and acted suo-moto in
several cases to provide speedy justice.
It took up the issue of child marriage,
sponsored legal awareness programmes,
Parivarik Mahila Lok Adalats and reviewed laws
such as Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, PNDT Act
1994, Indian Penal Code 1860 and the National
Commission for Women Act, 1990 to make them
more stringent and effective. It organized
workshops/consultations, constituted expert
committees on economic empowerment of
women, conducted workshops/seminars for
gender awareness and took up publicity
campaign against female foeticide, violence
against women, etc. in order to generate
awareness in the society against these social evils.
NCW has adopted a Multi-Pronged strategy
to tackle the problem:
Generation of legal awareness among
women, thus equipping them with the
knowledge of their legal rights and with a
capacity to use these rights.
Assisting women in redressal of their
grievances through Pre-litigation services.
Facilitating speedy delivery of justice to
women by organizing Parivarik Mahila Lok
Adalats in different parts of the country.
Review of the existing provisions of the
Constitution and other laws affecting
women and recommending amendments
thereto, any lacunae, inadequacies or short
comings in such legislation's.
look into complaints and take suo moto
notice of matters.
special studies or investigations into specific
problems or situations arising out of
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 discrimination and atrocities against
women.
undertake promotional and educational
research so as to suggest ways of ensuring
due representation of women in all spheres
and identify factors responsible for
impeding their advancement.
advice on the planning process of socio-
economic development of women.
inspect or cause to inspected a jail, remand
home, women's institution or other place
of custody where women are kept as
prisoners or otherwise and take up with
the concerned authorities for remedial
action, if found necessary etc.
Further NCW has launched Womens
Rights campaign alongwith NGOs for the
upliftment of dalit women. Dalit women are
positioned at the bottom of Indias caste, class
and gender hierarchies. As a result, many Dalit
women face exploitation both in and out of the
home, often resulting in sexual assault and other
forms of violence. Thus Womens Rights
Campaign has been launched to create
awareness among the women rights.
The objectives of the Womens Rights
campaign include:
To empower women by generating
awareness of their rights so they can seek
justice and dignity within their families and
communities.
To train and build strong women who will
become leaders in the movement.
To formulate and develop tools and
programs for serving the specific needs of
women for their growth and development.
To create space for women through
strategic intervention wherever and
whenever needed.
To foster gender sensitivity within
Navsarjan through concrete policies.
To dilute discriminatory patriarchal culture,
making non-negotiable the belief and
practice of equality.
National Commission for Women regularly
brings out a monthly newsletter Rashtra
Mahila in Hindi and English to create awareness
about the women rights in the society.
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WELFARE OF SCHEDULED CASTES
The Constitution of India defines the
'Scheduled Castes' means "such castes, races
or tribes or parts of or groups within such
castes, races or tribes as are deemed under
Article 341 to be Scheduled Castes for the
purpose of this constitution." Article 341, the
president of India is empowered to specify "the
castes, races, or tribes or part of or groups
within castes, races or tribes which shall for
the purposes of the Constitution be deemed to
be Scheduled Castes."
The SCs constitute 16.23% of India's
population spread all over the country, with 80%
of them living in the rural areas. They constitute
more than a fifth of the population of UP,
Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and West Bengal.
Punjab has the highest proportion of SCs to the
State population. More than half of the SC
population is concentrated in the five States of
Uttar Pradesh (35.1 million), West Bengal (18.4
million), Tamil Nadu (11.8 million), Andhra
Pradesh (12.3 million) and Bihar (13.0 million).
Legislation for the protection of SCs
There are two Acts for protecting the civil
rights of the Scheduled Castes viz.
A. PROTECTION OF CIVIL RIGHTS ACT, 1955
Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 prevents
discrimination of any person on grounds of
untouchability. Provisions for legal aid to
Scheduled Castes in cases relating to
untouchability have been made by 22 States/
Union Territories. Special Cells have been set up
in 21 States for initiating and exercising
supervision over prosecution for contravention
of provisions of the PCR Act. 22 special Mobile
Courts have been set up in Andhra Pradesh for
expeditious disposal of such cases. Necessary
guidelines and instructions are issued to States
from time to time for effective implementation
of the provisions of the PCR Act.
B. SCHEDULED CASTES AND SCHEDULED
TRIBES (PREVENTION OF ATROCITIES) ACT,
1989
The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
(Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, specifies
offences, which are considered as atrocities, and
provides for deterrent punishments for
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 commission of the same. Comprehensive Rules
were also framed under the SCs and STs (POA)
Act in 1995, which among other things provided
for relief and rehabilitation of the affected people.
It also envisages preventive measures, and State
have to evolve schemes.
The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled
Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Rules, 1995 (PoA
Rules) have been revised in 2012. The most
significant component of these revisions
related to enhancing the minimum scale of relief
for victims of atrocity. The existing rates (between
Rs. 20,000/- to Rs. 2,50,000/-) of relief to the
victims of atrocity, their family members and
dependents have been increased by 150% to
between Rs. 50,000/- to Rs. 5,00,000/-.
The Ministry of Social Justice & Empower-
ment has launched National Awards to be given
to Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) or
individual Human Rights Activists who have
done outstanding fieldwork in the area of eradi-
cating untouchability and in combating offences
of atrocities under the Protection of Civil Rights
Act, 1955 and the Scheduled Castes and the
Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act,
1989.
C. Prohibition of Employment as Manual
Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Bill, 2012
Manual scavenging refers to the removal of
human waste/excreta using brooms, tin plates
and baskets from dry latrine and carrying it to
disposal grounds some distance away. The toilets
often use a container that needs to be emptied
daily. Manual scavenging still survives in parts
of India without proper sewage systems.
Manual scavenging is a caste-based and
hereditary occupation for Dalits (Untouchables)
that is predominantly linked with forced labour
or slavery. It is estimated that around 1.3 million
Dalits in India, mostly women, make their living
through manual scavenging, which involves
removing human excrement from dry toilets and
sewers. Manual scavenging is done with basic
tools like thin boards and either buckets or
baskets lined with sacking and carried on the
head.
The Prohibition of Employment as Manual
Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Bill, 2012
was introduced in the Lok Sabha on September
3, 2012 by the Minister of Social Justice and
Empowerment. The Bill was referred to the
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Standing Committee on Social Justice and
Empowerment. The Bill prohibits employing a
person as a manual scavenger and provides for
the rehabilitation of people currently engaged
in the profession.
Salient features of the Bill are:
(I) A manual scavenger is defined as a
person who is engaged for manually
cleaning or disposing of human excreta
in an insanitary latrine or in an open
drain or on a railway track. Insanitary
latrine means a latrine which requires
human excreta to be cleaned manually
(except water flush latrine in a railway
passenger coach which is cleaned by an
employee using protective gear as
notified by the central government).
(II) The Bill prohibits any person, local
authority or agency to construct an
insanitary latrine or engage a person for
manual scavenging. Every occupier of
insanitary latrine shall either demolish
or convert such latrine into a sanitary
latrine at his own cost.
(III) Every local authority (municipality,
Panchayat, a cantonment board or
railway authority) has to carry out a
survey of insanitary latrines existing
within its jurisdiction. The authorities
have to publish a list of such latrines
within two months of the law coming
into force and give a notice to the
occupiers to either demolish them or
convert them to sanitary latrines within
six months.
(IV) If there are manual scavengers in a
municipality or a Panchayat, the Chief
Executive Officer of such municipality
or Panchayat shall conduct a survey to
determine the number. All persons
listed shall not be obliged to work as
manual scavengers and shall be
rehabilitated in the specified manner.
This includes a onetime cash assistance,
residential plot and training.
(V) The Bill makes it mandatory for
municipalities, cantonment boards and
railway authorities to construct
adequate number of sanitary community
latrines within three years of this Act
coming into force.
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 (VI) Any contract entered into before this
Act that engages persons for manual
scavenging shall be deemed to be void.
However, the employer shall retain such
full-time scavengers on the same
emolument and assign them to different
work.
(VII) The local authority is responsible for
ensuring that no insanitary latrine is
built or used nine months after this Act
is in force. The District Magistrate has
to ensure that no person within his
jurisdiction is engaged as a manual
scavenger, constructs an insanitary
latrine, and manual scavengers are
rehabilitated.
(VIII) If anyone employs a manual scavenger
or constructs an insanitary latrine, he
shall be penalized with imprisonment
upto one year or a fine of upto Rs. 50,000
or both. The penalty for subsequent
offences is higher.
(IX) Every local authority or agency is
prohibited from employing a person for
hazardous cleaning (manual cleaning
without protective gear and other safety
precautions) of a sewer or a septic tank.
This provision is applicable within a
year of the Act coming into force. The
penalty for violation is imprisonment for
upto two years or a fine upto Rs. 2 lakh
or both.
(X) A complaint has to be made within three
months of the occurrence of the alleged
offence.
(XI) The appropriate government may
appoint Inspectors for certain areas to
examine premises for latrines; examine
any person if he believes he is employed
as a manual scavenger and seize records
that he considers relevant.
(XII) The offences under this Act may be tried
by an Executive Magistrate on whom
the state government may confer powers
of a Judicial Magistrate of the first class.
An offence may be tried summarily.
(XIII) The central government shall constitute
a Central Monitoring Committee and
every state government a State Moni-
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toring Committee. These Committees
shall advise the appropriate government
and local authorities on effective imple-
mentation of the law.
(XIV) Every state government shall constitute
a Vigilance Commission for each district.
The Commission shall advise the District
Magistrate on the implementation of the
law, oversee rehabilitation and monitor
the registration, investigation and
prosecution of offences.
(XV) The National Commission for Safai
Karamcharis (a statutory body) shall
monitor the implementation of this Act;
inquire into complaints of contravention
of the Act and advice the central and
state government on effective implemen-
tation of the Act.
Educational Development Schemes
(a) Pre-Metric Scholarships for Children of
those engaged in Unclean Occupation:
Under the Scheme, the Children of families
engaged in unclean occupations such as
scavenging, flaying and tanning are assisted to
pursue education upto matriculation level. The
scholarship is provided through State Governments
and Union Territory Administrations. Central
assistance is provided to the State Governments
on 50:50 basis and to the Union Territories on
100 per cent basis over and above their
committed liability. Students amongst target
groups with disabilities are also assisted.
(b) Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme for
SC students
The Scheme of Pre-Matric Scholarship
Scheme for SC students has been introduced in
2012 with an objective of the scheme to support
parents of SC children for education of their
wards studying in classes IX and X so that the
incidence of drop-out, especially in the transition
from the elementary to the secondary stage is
minimized. For being eligible under this Scheme,
the student should belong to Scheduled Caste
and her/ his Parent/Guardian`s income should
not exceed Rs. 2 lakh per annum.
(c) Post-Metric Scholarships for SC Students:
The scheme provides financial assistance to
Scheduled Caste students for pursuing studies
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 beyond matriculation in recognized institutions.
The assistance includes maintenance allowance
for various categories of courses, reimbursement
of compulsory non-refundable fee charged by the
institutions and other allowance such as study
tour charges, thesis typing/printing charges and
book grant. The income ceiling (of parents/
guardians from all sources) has been revised
recently from existing Rs. 1.00 lakh p.a. to Rs.
2.00 lakh p.a. The scheme provides 100 per
Central assistance to the State Governments and
UT Administrations for the proper imple-
mentation of the scheme.
(d) Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship Scheme:
Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship (RGNF)
for Scheduled Caste Students provides
fellowships, in the form of financial assistance
to students belonging to Scheduled Castes to
pursue higher studies for M.Phil. and Ph.D.
degree. The scheme is being implemented
through the University Grants Commission.
(e) National Overseas Scholarship and
Passage Grants for Higher Education
Under this scheme assistance is provided to
meritorious students for pursuing higher studies
of Masters level courses, Ph.D. and Post Doctoral
research Programmes abroad in specified fields
like Engineering, Technology and Science only.
Financial assistance under the scheme is
provided for a maximum period of four years
for Ph.D. research, for 3 years for Master's
Programme. Students whose family income
exceeds Rs. 18,000 per month are not eligible for
assistance and only one child of the same
parents/guardians is eligible to get benefit under
the scheme. The prospective awardees should
not be more than 35 years of age.
(f) Upgradation of Merit for SC Students
The main objective of the scheme is to
upgrade the merit of Scheduled Caste students
by providing them with facilities for all-round
development through education in residential
schools.
(g) Coaching and Allied Scheme for Weaker
Sections including SCs, OBCs and Minorities
The scheme aimed to equip aspiring students
for preparing them for various competitive
exams. Aspiring students take their guidance
and coaching from the centers run by State
Governments/UTs, Universities and NGOs.
Chronicle IAS Academy
(h) Central Sector Scholarship Scheme of Top
Class Education for Scheduled Caste
Students
Under the Scheme, SC students who secure
the admission in the notified institutions are
provided full financial support to meet the
requirements of Tuition fees, living expenses,
books and computer. Maximum number of slots
for new scholarship each year is 1250.
Scholarships are granted for Engineering,
Medicine, Law, Management and other
specialized courses. Notified Institutions include
Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), Indian
Institute of Technology (IITs), National Institute
of Technology (NITs), Commercial Pilot training
Institutions and reputed medical/law and other
institutions of excellence.
During the year 2011-12, 24 new institutions,
which include 10 NITs, 3 IIMs, 2 Schools of
Planning & Architecture, 5 National Law
universities, and 4 other premier Institutions,
under various Central Ministries were added
under the Scheme. With this addition, total
number of notified institutions under the
scheme has increased from 181 to 205. A
decision was taken in March 2012 to enhance
the ceiling on the students annual family income
for eligibility for this scheme from Rs. 2 lakh to
Rs.4.5 lakh for the academic year, 2012-13.
Economic Development Schemes
(a) National Scheduled Castes Finance and
Development Corporation
The National Scheduled Castes Finance and
Development Corporation (NSFDC) provides
concessional finance for employment generation
to the persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes
living below double the poverty line (i.e., Rs.
40,000 p.a. in rural areas and Rs. 55,000 p.a. in
urban areas), skill development through training,
entrepreneurial development and innovative
projects. The Corporation is also implementing
'Mahila Samridhi Yojana'.
(b) National Safai Karamcharis Finance and
Development Corporation
National Safai Karamcharis Finance and
Development Corporation was established in
1997 to provide financial support to the safai
karamcharis (scavengers) to take up various
income-generating activities. The National
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 Commission for Safai Karmacharis, a statutory
body has, inter-alia, been empowered to
investigate into specific grievances as well as
matters relating to implementation of
programmes and schemes for welfare of Safai
Karmacharis. The authorized share capital of
NSKFDC has been enhanced from Rs. 300.00
crore to Rs. 600.00 crore by the Government in
January, 2012. These would enable the
Corporation to cover additional number of Safai
Karamcharis under its Schemes for enabling
them to undertake income generating activities
etc.
(c) Grant-in-Aid to SCDCs
The scheme of grant-in aid to the Scheduled
Castes Development Corporations (SCDCs) was
introduced in 1978-79 as a central sponsored
scheme for participating in the equity share of
the State corporations in a Centre-State ratio of
49:51. The SCDCs finance employment oriented
schemes that cover: (i) agriculture and allied
activities including minor irrigation; (ii) small-
scale industry; (iii) transport; and (iv) trade and
service sector. They also finance projects by
dovetailing the loan component from NSFDC/
Banks.
(d) Special Central Assistance (SCA) to
Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan
Special Central Assistance (SCA) to
Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan (SCSP) is a central
scheme under which 100% grant is given to the
States/UTs as an additive to their Scheduled
Castes Sub-Plan (SCSP). The main objective is
to give a thrust to family oriented schemes of
economic development of SCs below the poverty
line, by providing resources for filling the critical
gaps and for providing missing vital inputs so
that the schemes can be more meaningful. Since
the schemes/programmes for SCs may be
depending upon the local occupational pattern
and the economic activities available, the States/
UTs have been given full flexibility in utilizing
SCA with the only condition that it should be
utilized in conjunction with SCP and other
resources available from other sources like
various Corporations, financial institution, etc.
State Government have been given flexibility in
choice of schemes to be implemented out of
Special Central Assistance, within the overall
framework of the scheme.
Chronicle IAS Academy
WELFARE OF THE
SCHEDULED TRIBES
The Constitution of India does not define
Scheduled Tribes but Article 366(25) refers to
scheduled tribes as those communities who are
scheduled in accordance with Article 342 of the
Constitution. According to Article 342 of the
Constitution, the Scheduled Tribes are the tribes
or tribal communities or part of or groups within
these tribes and tribal communities which have
been declared as such by the President through a
public notification. Scheduled Tribes are spread
across the country mainly in forest and hilly regions.
The essential characteristics of these
communities are:-
Primitive Traits
Geographical isolation
Distinct culture
Shy of contact with community at large
Economically backward
The Constitution of India incorporates several
special provisions for the promotion of
educational and economic interest of Scheduled
Tribes and their protection from social injustice
and all forms of exploitation. These objectives
are sought to be achieved through a strategy
known as the Tribal Sub-Plan strategy, which
was adopted at the beginning of the Fifth Five
Year Plan. The strategy seeks to ensure adequate
flow of funds for tribal development form the
State Plan allocations, schemes/programmes of
Central Ministries/Departments, financial and
Developmental Institutions. The cornerstone of
this strategy has been to ensure earmarking of
funds for TSP by States/UTs in proportion to
the ST population in those State/UTs. Besides
the efforts of the States/UTs and the Central
Ministries/Departments to formulate and
implement Tribal Sub-Plan for achieving socio-
economic development of STs, the Ministry of
Tribal Affairs is implementing several schemes
and programmes for the benefits of STs.
The Fifth Schedule Tribal Areas: The
criteria for declaring any area as a ''Scheduled
Area" under the Fifth Schedule are: (a)
Preponderance of tribal population, (b)
Compactness and reasonable size of the area,
(c) A viable administrative entity such as a
district, block or taluk, and (d) Economic
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 backwardness of the area as compared to
neighbouring areas.
The specification of ''Scheduled Areas'' in
relation to a State is by a notified Order of the
President, after consultation with the State
Governments concerned. The same applies for
altering, increasing, decreasing, incorporating
new areas, or rescinding any Orders relating to
''Scheduled Areas''.
The advantages of Scheduled Areas are
that: (a) The Governor of a state, which has
Scheduled Areas, is empowered to make
regulations in respect of the following: (i) Prohibit
or restrict transfer of land from tribal people; (ii)
Regulate the business of money lending to the
members of Scheduled Tribes. In making any
such regulation, the Governor may repeal or
amend any Act of Parliament or of the
Legislature of the State, which is applicable to
the area in question. (b) The Governor may be
public notification direct that any particular Act
of Parliament or of the Legislature of the State,
shall not apply to a Scheduled Area or any part
thereof in the State or shall apply to such area
subject to such exceptions and modifications as
he may specify. (c) The Governor of a State
having Scheduled Areas therein, shall annually,
or whenever so required by the President of
India, make a report to the President regarding
the administration of the Scheduled Areas in that
State and the executive power of the Union shall
extend to the giving of directions to the State as
to the administration of the said area. (d) Tribes
Advisory Council (TAC) shall be established in
States having Scheduled Areas. The role of TAC
is to advise the State Government on matters
pertaining to the welfare and advancement of
the Scheduled Tribes in the State as may be
referred to it by the Governor. The TAC will
consist of not more than twenty members of
whom about 3/4 are from ST-MLAs. (The TAC
may also be established in any State having
Scheduled Tribes but not Scheduled Areas on
the direction of the President of India. (e) The
Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to
Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA), vide which
the provisions of Panchayats, contained in Part
IX of the Constitution, were extended to
Scheduled Areas, also contain special provisions
for the benefit of Scheduled Tribes.
The Sixth Schedule Tribal Areas: The Sixth
Schedule under Article 244 of the Constitution
identifies Autonomous districts in the Tribal
Chronicle IAS Academy
Areas in the states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura
and Mizoram. It also makes provisions for
recognition of Autonomous Regions within these
Autonomous Districts. These have been
specified. The criteria generally adopted for
specification of a community as a Scheduled Tribe
are: (a) indications of primitive traits; (b)
distinctive culture; (c) shyness of contact with
the community at large; (d) geographical
isolation i.e. backwardness.
The administration of Autonomous Districts
and Autonomous Regions is done through Dis-
trict Councils/Regional Councils. These Coun-
cils are elected bodies and have powers of legis-
lation, administration of justice apart from ex-
ecutive, developmental and financial responsi-
bilities. The District or Regional Councils are
empowered to make rules with the approval of
the Governor with regard to matters like estab-
lishment, construction or management of pri-
mary schools, dispensaries, markets, cattle
ponds, ferries, fisheries, roads, road transport and
waterways in the district.
The Autonomous Councils of the North
Cachar Hills and Karbi Anglong have been
granted additional powers to make laws with
respect to other matters like secondary
education, agriculture, social security and social
insurance, public health and sanitation, minor
irrigation, etc.
The Councils have also been conferred
powers under the Civil Procedure Code and
Criminal Procedure Code for trial of certain suits
and offences, as also the powers of a revenue
authority for their area for collection of revenue
and taxes and other powers for the regulation
and management of natural resources.
The population of STs in India is 84.33 million
as per the Census of 2001. STs constitute 8.2%
of the total population of the country with 91.7%
of them living in rural areas and 8.3% in urban
areas. The sex ratio of ST population in 2001 was
978, which was much higher than the national
average of 933. The proportion of ST population
to the total population had also increased from
6.9% in 1971 to 8.2% in 2001.
Educational Development Schemes
(a) Post-Metric Scholarship for Scheduled
Tribes Students:
The objective of the scheme is to provide
[13]
 financial assistance to students belonging to
Scheduled Tribes pursuing Post-Matriculation
recognized courses in recognized institutions.
The scheme covers professional, technical as well
as non-professional and non-technical courses
at various levels and the scheme also includes
correspondence courses including distance and
continuing education. The scheme is
implemented by the State Government and UT
Administrations, which receive 100% Central
Assistance.
(b) Upgradation of Merit of ST Students
The objective of the scheme is to upgrade the
merit of ST students by providing them remedial
and special coaching in classes IX to XII. While
remedial coaching aims at removing deficiencies
in various subjects, special coaching is provided
with a view to prepare the students for
competitive examinations for seeking entry into
professional courses like Engineering and
Medical disciplines. The scheme provides for
100% central assistance to the States/UT's. A
package grant of Rs. 15,000/- per student per
year is provided and the State/UTs are not
required to bear any financial burden.
(c) Ashram Schools
This centrally sponsored scheme was started
in 1990-91 to provide Central assistance to the
States and Union Territories on 50 per cent and
100 per cent basis, respectively. The scheme of
Ashram School has as its objective the
establishment of residential schools for STs in an
environment conducive to learning to increase
the literacy rates among the tribal students and
to bring them at par with the other population
of the country.
(d) Vocational Training Centers in Tribal Areas
The scheme aims at upgrading the skills of
the tribal youths in various traditional/modern
vocation depending upon their educational
qualification, present economic trends and the
market potential, which would enable them to
gain suitable-employment or enable them to
become self employed. Each center caters to five
vocational courses in traditional skills depending
upon the employment potential of the area. Each
tribal boy/girl is trained in two trades of his/
her choice, the course in each trade being of three
months duration. Each trainee is attached at the
end of six months to a Master Craftsman in a
Chronicle IAS Academy
semi-urban area for a period of six months to
learn his/her skill by practical experience, the
practical experience if each trade being of three
months duration. There is a provision for
monthly stipend and for raw material for the
trainees.
(e) Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship Scheme
(RGNF)
This Scheme was introduced in the year
2005-06. Under the Scheme, fellowship is
provided to ST students for pursuing higher
studies such as M.Phil. and Ph.D. The maximum
duration of a fellowship is 5 years.
(f) National Overseas Scholarship Scheme for
ST
The Scheme provides financial assistance to
meritorious students belonging to STs for
pursuing higher studies abroad in specified fields
of Master level courses, Ph.D. and Post-Doctoral
research programmes, in the field of Engineering,
Technology and Science for Scheduled Tribes,
Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-nomadic tribes.
The selected candidates are given cost of tuition
and other educational fees charged by the foreign
university etc., maintenance and other grants
alongwith travel expenses. In addition passage
grants are also available to candidates belonging
to ST who are in receipt of merit scholarship for
postgraduate studies, research or training
abroad (excluding attending seminars,
workshops, conferences) from a foreign
government/organization or under any other
scheme where cost of passage is not provided.
The Ministry has undertaken the following
steps to ensure the proper implementation of the
schemes:-
(i) States are asked to submit the proposals
complete in all respects conforming to
guidelines of the concerned scheme/
programme in time.
(ii) Utilization Certificates are insisted upon
as a pre-requisite for further release of
funds.
(iii) Progress reports regarding the status of
implementation of schemes are
obtained.
(iv) CentralGovernment officers while on
visits to the States/Union Territories also
ascertain the progress of implementation
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 of various schemes/programmes of the
Ministry.
(v) Meetings/Conferences are convened at
the Central level with State Secretaries
in charge of Tribal Welfare Development
Departments in the States to ensure
timely submission of proposals, speed up
of implementation of the schemes/
programmes, and reviewing the physical
and financial progress.
Economic Development Schemes
(a) TRIBAL SUB-PLAN (TSP)
Upgradation of administration through the
innovative strategy of the Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP)
for STs was launched at the beginning of the 5th
Five Year Plan in 1974-75, covering 21 States and
2 UTs, where Scheduled Tribes constitute a
sizeable population. This special strategy was
expected to ensure that all the general
development sectors, both at the Central and
State levels, earmark funds for STs in proportion
to their population so that adequate benefits
from all the concerned sectors flow to this
disadvantaged group. Thus the TSP strategy
seeks to ensure adequate flow of funds for tribal
development not only under every State Plan
funds, but also from all the Central Ministries/
Departments. TSP is a part of the overall plan of
a State/UT or a Central Ministry/Department,
and is therefore called a Sub-Plan.
(b) Special Central Assistance
In support of TSP, the Government of India
launched the SCA scheme in 1974 to the States
and the UTs, as an additive to fill up the gaps,
especially in the family based income-generating
programmes. This assistance is basically meant
for family-oriented income-generating schemes
in the sectors of agriculture, horticulture, minor
irrigation, soil conservation, animal husbandry,
forests, education, cooperatives, fisheries, village
and small scale industries and for minimum
needs programme. Grants are also given to
States/UTs, under the first proviso to Article
275(1) of the Constitution to meet the costs of
projects for tribal development and for raising
the level of administration of Scheduled Area
therein on par with the rest of the State/UT.
Parts of the funds are utilized for setting up of
Residential Schools for providing quality
education to tribal students.
Chronicle IAS Academy
(c) Programme for Development of Forest
Villages
Development of forest villages is one of the
thrust areas of tribal development during the
10th Five Year Plan. The Planning Commission
allocated Rs. 450 crore to the Ministry of Tribal
Affairs for the development of forest villages at
an average allocation of Rs. 15 lakh per village.
There are about 2,474 such forest villages at an
average allocation of Rs. 15 lakh per village.
There are about 2,474 such forest villages in 12
States, which are still managed by State Forest
Departments. It is estimated that there are about
2.5 lakh tribal families in these villages. A process
of conversion of these forest villages into revenue
earning villages is underway.
(d) Scheme of Development of Primitive Tribal
Groups (PTGs)
Based on pre-agricultural level of technology,
low level of literacy, declining or stagnant popu-
lations, 75 tribal communities in 17 States and 1
Union Territory of Andaman & Nicobar Island,
have been identified and categorized as Primi-
tive Tribal Groups (PTGs). Considering the vul-
nerability of these groups, a Central Sector
Scheme was introduced in the year 1998-99 for
all round development of PTGs. The scheme is
very flexible, and covers housing, infrastructure
development, education, health, land distribu-
tion/development, agriculture development,
cattle development, social security, insurance,
etc. During 2007-08, comprehensive long terms
Conservation-cum-Development (CCD) Plans
for PTGs have been formulated for Eleventh Plan
period through baseline surveys conducted by
respective State Governments/Union territory.
These Plans envisage a synergy between efforts
of State Governments and non-governmental
organizations.
(e) TRIFED
The Tribal Cooperative Marketing
Development Federation of India Limited
(TRIFED) was set up by the Government of India
in 1987, with the prime objective of providing
marketing assistance and remunerative prices to
ST communities for their minor forest produce
and surplus agricultural produce and to wean
them away from exploitative private traders and
middlemen. TRIFED now functions as a 'market
developer' for tribal products and as 'service
provider' to its member federations through its
own shops ('TRIBES India').
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 (f) National Scheduled Tribes Finance and
Development Corporation
It was set up in April, 2001 as a Government
of India Company under the Ministry of Tribal
Affairs. NSTFDC has been granted licence under
Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956 (a
TRIFED and NSTFDC Sign MoU for
Economic Development of Scheduled Tribes
Artisans
The Tribal Cooperative Marketing
Development Federation of India (TRIFED)
and the National Scheduled Tribes Finance
Development Corporation (NSTFDC) has
signed a Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) for using their synergy for the economic
development of needy Scheduled Tribes.
The MoU will be implemented on pilot
basis for the weavers of district Kinnaur,
Himachal Pradesh some of whom have
undergone intensive four month long training
conducted by TRIFED with a master craftsman
at Kullu to weave shawls with Kinnauri design.
The salient features of the MoU are as under:
NSTFDC would provide concessional
financial assistance for procuring project
related assets and for working capital to
TRIFED empanelled artisans through it
SCAs.
Financial assistance upto Rs. 50,000/-
would be available to individual artisans
and upto Rs. 5.00 lacs to Self Help
Groups/Coop. Societies. The interest
chargeable from women artisans will be
@4% p.a. and @6% p.a. from men artisans.
TRIFED will buy back the products from
the tribal artisans and market them
through their outlets spread throughout
the country and through exhibitions.
TRIFED will also assist in providing design
inputs and in improving quality through
consumer feedback.
TRIFED will facilitate recovery of loan
from artisans to the extent of purchases
made by TRIFED from such artisans.
The funds will be channelised through
Himachal Pradesh Scheduled Castes &
Scheduled Tribes Development
Corporation, Solan.
Chronicle IAS Academy
company not for profit). NSTFDC provides
financial assistance at concessional rates of
interest to STs for undertaking income generating
activities and for procurement and marketing of
minor forest produce and other tribal products.
The financial assistance of NSTFDC is provided
through its State level Channelizing Agencies
(SCAs), certain Public Sector Banks, certain
Regional Rural Banks, National Cooperative
Development Corporation (NCDC), etc.
Special Schemes
(a) Adivasi Mahila Sashaktikaran Yojana
(AMSY)
Adivasi Mahila Sashaktikaran Yojana
(AMSY) is an exclusive scheme for the economic
development of ST women, at a highly
concessional rate of interest. Under the scheme,
NSTFDC provides Term Loan for schemes
costing upto Rs. 50,000/- per individual profit
centre. Financial assistance upto 90% of the cost
of the schemes is provided by the NSTFDC. The
SCAs may charge a maximum interest @4% per
annum from the ultimate women beneficiaries.
(b) Micro-credit scheme
Micro Credit Scheme is meant to provide
financial assistance for undertaking small self-
employment ventures by the eligible STs through
existing profit making SHGs. SCAs shall provide
eligible amount of subsidy or margin money as
per their schemes for the target group and
remaining amount may be provided as term loan
by NSTFDC.
(c) "Adivasi Shiksha Rrinn Yojana"
Under the Scheme, NSTFDC would provide
loan at concessional rate of interest to the eligible
Scheduled Tribes for pursuing higher
professional and technical education including
Ph.D. in India conducted by colleges/universities
approved by UGC/Govt./AICTE/ICMR, etc.
A Scheduled Tribe having annual family
income upto Double the Poverty Line would be
eligible. The present limit is Rs. 39,500/- p.a. for
rural areas and Rs. 54,500/- p.a. for the urban
areas.
The features of the scheme are as follows:
I. Loan would cover expenses towards
Admission/Examination/Library/
Laboratory/Tuition fee, Boarding and
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 Lodging, Caution Money, Building
fund/Refundable Deposit, Books,
Stationery items, Computer, Equipments/
Instruments, Study Tours, Project Work/
Thesis, Insurance Premium for students
and any other expense towards completion
of course.
II. The loan amount can be 90% of
expenditure/deposits for entire duration
of the course, subject to a maximum
loan amount of five lakh rupees per
eligible family at 6% p.a.
III. The time limit for repayment of loan is-
After the moratorium period (Course
Period plus one year or six months after
getting job, whoever is earlier) within
next 5 years subject to maximum period
of 10 years.
WELFARE OF OTHER
BACKWARD CLASSES
The Other Backward Classes (OBC)
constitutes estimated 52 per cent of population
as per Second Report of Backward Classes
popularly known as Mandal Report. After the
Mandal Judgement in 1992 the OBCs started
getting various benefits for their educational
development, economic development and
reservation in services.
Educational Development Schemes
(a) Pre-matric Scholarships for OBCs:
The Scholarships are awarded to the students
belonging to OBCs whose parents/guardians
income from all sources does not exceed Rs.
44,500 per annum. The scholarships are given
to the students in class I or any subsequent class
of pre-matric stage in the case of day scholars
and class III or any subsequent class of pre-matric
stage in the case of hostellers. The scholarship
will terminate at the end of class X. The duration
of the scholarship in an academic year is 10
months. The scholarship is tenable in such
institutions and for such pre-matriculation
courses, which have been duly recognised by the
concerned State Government and Union
Territory Administration. Under the scheme, 50
per cent Central assistance is provided to the
State Governments and 100 per cent in case of
UTs over and above the committed liability.
Chronicle IAS Academy
(b) Post-Matric Scholarships for OBCs:
The objective of the scheme is to provide
financial assistance to the OBC students studying
at post-matriculation or post secondary stage to
enable them to complete their education. These
scholarships are available for studies in India
only and awarded through the State
Government/UT Administrations to which the
applicant actually belongs. These scholarships
are given for study in recognised institutions.
Unemployed students whose parents/
guardians income from all sources does not
exceed Rs. 44,500 per annum are entitled for
scholarships under the scheme. Under the
Scheme, 100 per cent Central assistance is
provided to State Governments/UT
Administrations over and above the committed
liability.
(c) Assistance to Voluntary Organisations for
Welfare of OBCs:
The objective of the scheme is to involve the
voluntary sector for improving the educational
and socio-economic conditions of the OBCs
through skill upgradation and enables them to
start income generating activities on their own
or get gainfully employed. Under the Scheme,
90 per cent of approved expenditure in form of
grant-in-aid is given to NGOs for running
vocational training courses such as carpentry,
computer, craft, electrician, motor winding and
fitting, photography, printing, composing and
bookbinding, type and shorthand and welding
and fitter training, etc.
Economic Development Schemes
(e) National Backward Classes Finance and
Development Corporation:
The National Backward Classes Finance and
Development Corporation (NBCFDC) provides
credit facilities to beneficiaries whose annual
income is less than double the poverty line for
various income generation activities including
implementation of Mahila Samridhi Yojana. The
corporation extended credit facilities to 1,32,108
beneficiaries.
WELFARE OF THE MINORITIES
The term Minority represent a group
numerically inferior to the rest of the population
of a state, and in a non-dominant position whose
members - being nationals of the state poses
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 ethnic, religious or linguistic characteristics
differing from those of the rest of the dominant
population and show, if only implicitly, a sense
of solidarity, directed towards preserving their
culture, traditions, religions and language.
Though the Constitution of India uses the
term Minorities at two places under Article 29
and 30, it does not define the word Minority
anywhere and left it for the wisdom of future
generation deliberately as the country had just
come over the traumatic shock of communal
violence & partition, and a growing tendency
was visualized where different group, sect,
religion were claiming special rights under
different notion of minority concept,
endangering national unity.
As per the provisions under the National
Commission of Minorities Act, 1992, five religious
communities including Muslims, Christians,
Sikhs, Buddhists, and Zoroastrians (Parsis) have
been notified as minorities. Among the minorities,
Muslims, especially Muslim women, need special
attention since relative to other communities they
have remained socially, educationally and
economically backward.
According to the Census of 2001, 18.4% of
our population belongs to Minority communities.
Muslims constitute 13.4%, Christians 2.3%, Sikhs
1.9%, Buddhists 0.8% and Parsis 0.07% of the
country's total population. In absolute numbers,
Muslims (nearly 140 million) account for 72.8%
of the total minority population of 189.5 million.
The distribution of minority population
indicates that Muslims are in majority in the
Union Territory of Lakshadweep and in the State
of Jammu and Kashmir. In six States, the
proportion of Muslims to total population is
above the national percentage of 13.4%-Assam
(30.9%), West Bengal (25.2%), Kerala (24.6%),
Uttar Pradesh (18.55%), Bihar (16.5%) and
Jharkhand (13.8%). In absolute numbers, Uttar
Pradesh (30.7 million), West Bengal (20.2
million), Bihar (13.7 million), and Maharashtra
(10.70 million) have the largest Muslim
population. The highest percentages of Christians
to total population are in Nagaland (90%),
Mizoram (87%), and Meghalaya (70.03%). There
are also substantial numbers of Christians in
Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh,
Jharkhand, Orissa, Maharashtra, and
Karnataka. Sikhs constitute 60% of the
population of Punjab. Buddhists are categorized
into traditional and neo-Buddhists.
Chronicle IAS Academy
Institutional measures for the development of
minorities:
1. National Commission for Minorities
In order to strengthen the cause of the
minorities, the United Nations promulgated the
Declaration on the Rights of Persons belonging
to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic
Minorities on 18th December, 1992 proclaiming
that: States shall protect the existence of the
National or Ethnic, Cultural, Religious and
Linguistic identity of minorities within their
respective territories and encourage conditions
for the promotion of that identity.
To ensure the rights of Minorities in India,
the National Commission for Minorities Act was
enacted in 1992 The National Commission for
Minorities, a statutory body was constituted by
the Central Government with a view to preserve
secular traditions and to promote National
Integration and to exercise the powers conferred
on, and to perform the functions assigned to, it
under this Act.
The Commission shall perform all or any of
the following functions, namely:-
I. evaluate the progress of the
development of Minorities under the
Union and States.
II. monitor the working of the safeguards
provided in the Constitution and in laws
enacted by Parliament and the State
Legislatures.
III. make recommendations for the effective
implementation of safeguards for the
protection of the interests of Minorities
by the Central Governments or the State
Governments.
IV. look into specific complaints regarding
deprivation of rights and safeguards of
the Minorities and take up such matters
with the appropriate authorities.
V. cause studies to be undertaken into
problems arising out of any
discrimination against Minorities and
recommend measures for their removal.
VI. conduct studies, research and analysis
on the issues relating to socio-economic
and educational development of
Minorities.
[18]
 VII. suggest appropriate measures in respect
of any Minority to be undertaken by
the Central Government or the State
Governments.
VIII. make periodical or special reports to the
Central Government on any matter
pertaining to Minorities and in particular
the difficulties confronted by them.
IX. any other matter which may be referred
to it by the Central Government.
Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chattisgarh,
Delhi, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra,
Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Rajasthan, Tamil
Nadu, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West
Bengal have also set up State Minorities
Commissions in their respective States. Their
offices are located in the State capitals. The
functions of these Commissions, inter-alia, are
to safeguard and protect the interests of
minorities provided in the Constitution and laws
enacted by Parliament and the State Legislatures.
Aggrieved persons belonging to the minority
communities may approach the concerned State
Minorities Commissions for redressal of their
grievances. They may also send their
representations, to the National Commission for
Minorities, after exhausting all remedies
available to them.
2. National Commission for Religious and
Linguistic Minorities
The Government of India has been seized of
the welfare needs of socially and economically
backward sections among religious and linguistic
minorities. For having a detailed examination to
determine the criteria for identifications of
socially and economically backward sections
among religious and linguistic minorities and to
suggest measures for their welfare, the
Government has constituted a National
Commission for Religious and Linguistic
Minorities, with the following terms of reference:
(a) to suggest criteria for identification of socially
and economically backward sections among
religious and linguistic minorities; (b) to
recommend measures for welfare of socially and
economically backward sections among religious
and linguistic minorities, including reservation
in education and government employment; (c)
to suggest the necessary constitutional, legal and
administrative modalities, as required for the
implementation of their recommendations; and
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to present a Report of their deliberations and
recommendations. The Commission has started
functioning since 21 March, 2005.
3. Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities
The Office of the Special Officer for Linguistic
Minorities (commonly known as the
Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities) was
created in July 1957, in pursuance of the
provision of Article 350-B of the Constitution.
The Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities of
India (CLM) has his Headquarters at Allahabad
with Regional Offices at Kolkata, Belguam and
Chennai. The CLM takes up all the matters
pertaining to the grievances arising out of the
non-implementation of the Constitutional and
Nationally Agreed Scheme of Safeguards
provided to linguistic minorities that come to its
notice or are brought to its knowledge by the
linguistic minority individuals, groups,
associations or organizations at the highest
political and administrative levels of the State
Governments and UT Administrations and
recommends remedial actions to be taken.
15-Point Programme for the welfare of
minorities
The Prime Minister's New 15-Point
Programme was launched in 2006 aimed at
ensuring the well-being, protection and
development of minorities.
The features of the 15-Point Programme are:
(A) Enhancing opportunities for Education.
(1) Equitable availability of ICDS Services
The integrated Child Development Services
(ICDS) Scheme aimed at holistic development
of children and pregnant/lactating mothers
from disadvantaged section, by providing
services through Anganwadi Centres such as
supplementary nutrition, immunization, health
check-up, and referral services, pre-school and
non-formal education. The benefits of the scheme
are equitably available to all communities.
(2) Improving access to School Education
Under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, the
Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya Scheme, and
other similar Government schemes, it will be
ensured that a certain percentage of such schools
are located in villages/localities having a
substantial population of minority communities.
[19]
 (3) Greater resources for teaching Urdu
Central assistance will be provided for
recruitment and posting of Urdu language
teachers in primary and upper primary schools
that serve a population in which at least one-
fourth belong to that language group.
(4) Modernizing Madarsa Education
The Central Plan Scheme of Area Intensive
and Madarsa Modernization Programmes
provides basic educational infrastructure in areas
of concentration of educationally backward
minorities and resources for the modernization
of Madarsa education.
(5) Scholarships for meritorious students from
minority communities
Schemes for pre-matric and post-matric
scholarships for students from minority
communities will be formulated and implemented.
(6) Improving educational infrastructure
through the Maulana Azad Education
Foundation.
The Government shall provide all possible
assistance to Maulana Azad Educaion
Foundation (MAEF) to strengthen and enable it
to expand its activities more effectively.
(B) Equitable Share in Economic Activities and
Employment
(7) Self-Employment and Wage Employment for
the poor
The Swarnjayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana
(SGSY), the primary self-employment programme
for rural areas, has the objective of bringing
assisted poor rural families above the poverty line
by providing them income generating assets
through a mix of bank credit and Governmental
subsidy.
The Swarnjayanti Shahari Rojgar Yojana
(SSRY) consists of two major components
namely, the Urban Self-Employment Programme
(USEP) and the Urban Wage Employment
Programme (UWEP).
The Sampurna Grameen Rozgar Yojana
(SGRY) is aimed at providing additional wage
employment in rural areas alongside the creation
of durable community, social and economic
infrastructure.
Chronicle IAS Academy
(8) Upgradation of skill through technical
training
A very large proportion of the population of
minority communities is engaged in low-level
technical work or earns its living as
handicraftsmen. Provision of technical training
to such people would upgrade their skills and
earning capability. Therefore, a certain
proportion of all new ITIs will be located in areas
predominantly inhabited by minority
communities and a proportion of existing ITIs
to be upgraded to Centres of Excellence will be
selected on the same basis.
(9) Enhanced credit support for economic
activities
The National Minorities Development &
Finance Corporation (NMDFC) was set up in
1994 with the objective of promoting economic
development activities among the minority
communities. The Government is committed to
strengthen the NMDFC by providing it greater
equity support to enable it to fully achieve its
objective. It will be ensured that an appropriate
percentage of the priority sector lending in all
categories is targeted for the minority
communities.
(10) Recruitment to State and Central
Services
In the recruitment of police personnel, State
Governments will be advised to give special
consideration to minorities. For this purpose, the
composition of selection committees should be
representative. The Central Government will take
similar action in the recruitment of personnel to
the Central police forces. Large scale employment
opportunities are provided by the Railways,
nationalized banks and public sector enterprises.
An exclusive scheme will be launched for
candidates belonging to minority communities
to provide coaching in Government institutions
as well as private coaching institutes with
credibility.
(C) Improving the conditions of living of
minorities.
(11) Equitable share in rural housing scheme
The Indira Awaas Yojna(IAY) provides
financial assistance for shelter to the rural poor
living below the poverty line. A certain
percentage of the physical and financial targets
[20]
 under IAY will be earmarked for poor
beneficiaries from minority communities living
in rural areas.
(12) Improvement in condition of slums
inhabited by minority communities.
Under the schemes of Integrated Housing &
Slum Development Programme(IHSDP) and
Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission
(JNURM), the Central Government provides
assistance to States/UTs for development of
urban slums through provision of physical
amenities and basic services. It would be ensured
that the benefits of these programmes flow
equitable to members of the minority
communities and to cities/slums, predominantly
inhabited by minority communities.
(D) Prevention & Control of Communal Riots
(13) Prevention of communal incidents
In areas, which have been identified as
communally sensitive and riot prone districts,
police officials of the highest known efficiency,
impartiality and secular record must be posted.
In such areas and even elsewhere, the
prevention of communal tension should be one
of the primary duties of the District Magistrate
and Superintendent of Police.
(14) Prosecution for communal offences
Severe action should be taken against all
those who incite communal tension or take part
in violence. Special court or courts specifically
earmarked to try communal offences should be
set up so that offenders are brought to book
speedily.
(15) Rehabilitation of victims of communal
riots
Victims of communal riots should be given
immediate relief and provided prompt and
adequate financial assistance for their
rehabilitation.
Schemes for the
empowerment of minorities
(b) Maulana Abul Kalam Azad National
Fellowship For Students From Minority
Communities
The objective of the Scheme is to
provide integrated five year fellowships in the
form of financial assistance to students from
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minority communities, as notified by the Central
Government to pursue higher studies such as M.
Phil. and Ph.D. The scheme will cover all
Universities/Institutions recognized by the
University Grants Commission (UGC) under
Section 2(f) and Section 3 of the UGC Act and
will be implemented by the Ministry of Minority
Affairs (MoMA) through UGC for students
belonging to the minority communities. The
fellowship under National Fellowship will be on
the pattern of UGC Fellowships awarded to
research students pursuing regular and full time
M. Phil. and Ph.D. courses.
(c) Scheme For Leadership Development Of
Minority Women
The Scheme for Leadership Development of
Minority Women has been transferred from
Ministry of Women and Child Development to
Ministry of Minority Affairs. The Sachar
Committee Report has highlighted the fact
thatIndias largest minority group, the Muslims
numbering 13.83 crore have been left out of the
development trajectory. Within this group,
Muslim women are doubly disadvantaged. To
ensure that the benefits of growth reach these
deprived women, it is proposed to implement
the scheme as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme in
pilot mode. Through this scheme, such women
would be provided with support, leadership
training and skill development so that they can
move out of the confines of their homes and
community and begin to assume a leadership
role in accessing services, skills and
opportunities.
The scheme will be implemented throughout
the country with special focus on districts, blocks
and towns/cities having a substantial minority
population.
(d) Multi-Sectoral Development Programme
For The Welfare Of Minorities IN Minority
Concentration Districts:
A Multi-Sectoral Development Programme
has been launched in ninety identified Minority
Concentration Districts which are lagging behind
in terms of critical socio-economic and basic
amenities parameters and require focused
attention and specific programme intervention.
The programme aims at improving the quality
of life of the people and reducing imbalances in
line with the priority attached to inclusive
growth. Identified development deficits in
education, sanitation, pucca housing, drinking
[21]
 water, electricity supply etc. and absolutely
critical infrastructure linkages like basic health
infrastructure, ICDS centres, skill development
and marketing facilities would be addressed
through this programme. The focus of this
programme will be on rural and semi-rural
areas of the identified 90 Minority Concentrated
Districts.
(e) Maulana Azad Education Foundation
The Maulana Azad Education Foundation
(MAEF) was established in 1989 as a voluntary,
non-political, non-profit making society
registered under the Societies Registration Act,
1860. The main objectives of MAEF are to
formulate and implement educational schemes
and plans for the benefit of the educationally
backward minorities in particular and weaker
sections in general, and to facilitate establishment
of residential schools, especially for girls, in order
to provide modern education to them.
WELFARE OF PERSONS
WITH DISABILITIES
Persons with Disabilities (PWD) are defined
as those suffering from four types of disabilities
viz., Visual, locomotor, hearing and speech and
mental disabilities. In the Ninth Plan (1992-97),
the earlier paradigm shift in approach from
''welfare'' to development was moved further to
''empowerment'' which is more holistic by
including both the welfare and development
perspective. The major thrust in the Tenth Plan
has been to consolidate and strengthen the
various programmes through coordinated efforts
and innovative interventions in attending to the
special problems and needs of these
disadvantaged groups. One of the thrust areas
during the Tenth Plan has been to prepare
disabled-friendly policies to create a hurdle-free
environment.
According to the Census 2001, there are 2.19
crore persons with disabilities in India who
constitute 2.13 per cent of the total population.
This includes persons with visual, hearing,
speech, locomotor and mental disabilities.
Seventy five per cent of persons with disabilities
live in rural areas, 49 per cent of disabled
population is literate and only 34 per cent are
employed. The earlier emphasis on medical
rehabilitation has now been replaced by an
emphasis on social rehabilitation. There has been
an increasing recognition of abilities of persons
Chronicle IAS Academy
with disabilities and emphasis on mainstreaming
them in the society based on their capabilities.
The Government of India has enacted three
legislations for persons with disabilities viz.
(i) Persons with Disability (Equal
Opportunities, Protection of Rights and
Full Participation) Act, 1995, which
provides for education, employment,
creation of barrier free environment,
social security, etc.
(ii) National Trust for Welfare of Persons
with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental
Retardation and Multiple Disability Act,
1999 has provisions for legal
guardianship of the four categories and
creation of enabling environment for as
much independent living as possible.
(iii) Rehabilitation Council of India Act,
1992 deals with the development of
manpower for providing rehabilitation.
Recently the Government has introduced The
Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2012 to
ensure that persons with disabilities have access
to dignified life.
Salient features of proposed Bill are:
(a) The act will extend to the whole of
India except the State of Jammu &
Kashmir.
(b) Appropriate governments and local
authorities shall, subject to the provisions
of this Act and any other laws for the
time being in force, take all necessary
steps to secure for persons with
disabilities the following: Respect for
inherent dignity, individual autonomy
including the freedom to make ones
own choices, and independence of
persons; Non-discrimination; Full and
effective participation and inclusion in
society; Respect for difference and
acceptance of persons with disabilities
as part of human diversity and
humanity; Equality of opportunity;
Accessibility; Equality between men and
women; Respect for the evolving
capacities of children with disabilities
and respect for the right of children with
disabilities to preserve their identities.
(c) The bill ensures that persons with
[22]
 disabilities have access to information
regarding family and reproductive
planning on an equal basis with others,
while prohibiting subjecting any person
with disability to any medical
procedure, which leads to or could lead
to infertility without their free and
informed consent. Traditionally,
mentally unsound women are subject
to sterilisation to avoid unwanted
pregnancy as the chances of sexual
exploitation of such women are higher
and people with physical disabilities are
perceived to be incapable of taking care
of their children. Physically and mentally
disabled women are often made to
undergo abortions against their wishes.
But now any contravention of this
provision that protects the reproductive
rights of the people with disabilities is
liable to be penalised under Section 153
of the proposed law with imprisonment
and fine.
(d) On forceful termination of pregnancy,
the proposed law suggests that whoever
performs or directs any medical
procedure on a woman with disability,
which leads to or is likely to lead to
termination of pregnancy without her
express consent, shall be punishable
with imprisonment for 10 years and
with fine; any person acting as a care-
giver of the woman with disability,
whether as parent or guardian or in any
other capacity, lawful or unlawful, who
does any act to facilitate, or negligently
fails to prevent such medical procedure
from being performed, shall be
punishable with imprisonment, which
may extend to seven years and with fine.
(e) On political participation, the proposed
law says that every person with
disability who fulfils the eligibility
requirements shall be entitled to be
registered as a voter and not be
disqualified to exercise his or her right
to vote on the ground of disability,
irrespective of any stipulation to the
contrary in any law for the time being
in force. Any person with disability
who is unable to cast vote in person
due to his or her disability or because of
admission in any establishment for
Chronicle IAS Academy
treatment of persons at the time of the
poll shall be entitled to vote by postal
ballot, it says while directing the Election
Commission to ensure that all polling
stations are accessible to persons with
disabilities.
Schemes for the empowerment
of disabled persons:
1. National Trust for the Welfare of Persons
with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental
Retardation and Multiple Disabilities
The National Trust is a statutory body under
"The National Trust for the Welfare of Persons
with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation
and Multiple Disabilities Act, 1999". The main
objectives of the Trust is to enable and empower
persons with these disabilities to live
independently as fully as possible, to extend
support to registered organizations providing
need-based services and to evolve procedure for
appointment of legal guardians for persons with
disabilities requiring such protection.
2. Rehabilitation Council of India
The Rehabilitation Council of India is a
statutory body set up under the Rehabilitation
Council of India Act, 1992. The Council is
responsible for regulating the training policies
and programmes for various categories of
professionals in the area of rehabilitation and
special education. Its functions include:
(i) standardization and regulation of
training courses at different levels in all
the training institutions throughout the
country,
(ii) recognition of institutions/universities
running training courses in the area of
rehabilitation of the disabled within and
outside the country on a reciprocal
basis,
(iii) promotion of research in rehabilitation
and special education,
(iv) maintenance of a Central Rehabilitation
Register for professionals possessing the
recognised rehabilitation qualifications
in the area of rehabilitation and
(v) encouragement of Continuing Rehabili-
tation Education programmes in col-
laboration with organizations working
in the area of disability.
[23]
 3. Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation
of India:
The Artificial Limbs Manufacturing
Corporation of India (ALIMCO), Kanpur is a
public sector body, engaged in manufacturing
of aids and appliances for persons with
disabilities. The products manufactured by the
Corporation conform to ISI standards approved
by the Bureau of Indian Standards. Marketing
of products is done through Regional Marketing
Centres at Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai,
Bhubaneshwar and Delhi and also through
National Institutes, voluntary organisations, 65
the corporation has manufactured aids and
appliances.
4. Establishment of new District Disabled
Rehabilitation Centres (DDRCs) and
Composite Regional Centres (CRCs)
To create infrastructure and capacity
building at district level for providing
rehabilitation services to persons with disabilities,
awareness generation, training rehabilitation
professionals etc., the Ministry provides
assistance for setting up of District Disabled
Rehabilitation Centres (DDRCs) in unserved
districts of the country. Until March, 2010, 199
DDRCs have been sanctioned.
The Finance Minister had announced in his
budget speech for 2010-11 that 100 new DDRCs
would be opened during the remaining period
of the XIth Five Year Plan. Accordingly, 100
districts in 20 States were identified and the
concerned State Governments requested in June
2010 to send proposals for setting up new
DDRCs. In the year 2010-11 & 2011-12,
sanctions were issued for setting up of 33 new
DDRCs. During the current year 2012-13,
sanctions have been issued for setting up of four
new DDRCs namely (1) Mehboobnagar (Andhra
Pradesh) (2) Howrah (West Bengal) (3) Bankura
(West Bengal) & (4) Shivsagar (Assam).
The scheme of setting up of Composite
Regional Centres is a part of overall strategy to
reach out to the Persons with Disabilities (PwDs)
in the country and to facilitate the creation of
the required infrastructure and capacity building
at Central, State and District levels and below
for awareness generation, training of
rehabilitation professionals, service delivery, etc.
Centres are set up at locations where the existing
infrastructure for providing comprehensive
services to disabled were inadequate and where
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such centres are needed the most. There were
eight CRCs functioning at Sundernagar,
Srinagar, Lucknow, Guwahati, Patna, Bhopal,
Ahmedabad and Kozhikode. The new CRC at
Kozhikode has been functional from February,
2012.
5. Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship Scheme
for Students with Disabilities
A new Central Sector Scheme of Rajiv
Gandhi National Fellowship for Students with
Disabilities for persons with disabilities has been
launched in November, 2012 to increase
opportunities to students with disabilities for
pursuing higher education leading to degrees
such as M.Phil. and Ph.D. The scheme caters to
requirements of the students with disabilities for
pursuing research degree in universities,
research institutions and scientific institutions.
The scheme caters total number of 200
Fellowships (Junior Research Fellows, JRF) per
year to students with disabilities. The scheme
covers all universities/institutions recognized by
University Grants Commission (UGC) and will
be implemented by UGC itself. The rates of
fellowship for JRF and SRF will be at par with
the UGC fellowship.
6. Scheme for Assistance to Disabled Persons
for Purchase/Fitting of AIDs and Appliances
has been launched. The objective of the
Scheme is to assist needy and disabled persons
in procuring-durable, sophisticated and
scientifically manufactured, standard aids and
appliances that can promote their physical, social
and psychological rehabilitation by reducing the
impact of disability and enhancing their
economic potential. The scheme is implemented
through agencies like voluntary organizations,
National Institutes under the Ministry, ALIMCO,
Zila Panchayats, DRDAs, etc. The implementing
agencies are provided grant-in-aid for purchase,
fabrication and distribution of aids and
appliances. The scheme also includes ambit
medical/surgical correction and intervention
that may be essential prior to figment of aids and
appliances.
Economic Development Schemes
(a) National Handicapped Finance and
Development Corporation
The National Handicapped Finance and
Development Corporation (NHFDC) is an apex-
level financial institution for extending credit
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 facilities to persons with disabilities for their
economic development. Funds assistance is
disbursed through the channelizing agencies
authorized by the State Governments/UT
Administrations and Non-Government
Organizations. It also extends loans for pursuing
education at graduate and higher levels. Besides,
it assists in the upgradation of technical and
entrepreneurial skills to enable beneficiaries to
manage their production units efficiently.
(b) Scheme for Assistance to Disabled
Persons for Purchase/Fitting of AIDs and
Appliances
The objective of the Scheme is to assist needy
and disabled persons in procuring-durable,
sophisticated and scientifically manufactured,
standard aids and appliances that can promote
their physical, social and psychological
rehabilitation by reducing the impact of
disability and enhancing their economic
potential. The scheme is implemented through
agencies like voluntary organizations, National
Institutes under the Ministry, ALIMCO, Zila
Panchayats, DRDAs, etc. The implementing
agencies are provided grant-in-aid for purchase,
fabrication and distribution of aids and
appliances. The scheme also includes ambit
medical/surgical correction and intervention
that may be essential prior to figment of aids and
appliances.
(c) Employment of Disabled Persons in Private
Sector
A Scheme of "Incentives to Employers in
Private Sector for providing Employment to
Persons with Disabilities (PwDs)" has been
introduced with effect from April 2008 to
encourage employers to employ PwDs. As per
the Scheme the Government will reimburse the
employer`s contribution to Employees Provident
Fund and Employees State Insurance for a period
of 3 years in respect of PwDs, employed on or
after 1.04.2008 with a monthly salary upto Rs.
2500/-. The apex Chambers of Industries have
been requested to sensitize their members.
(d) Deendayal Disabled Rehabilitation Scheme
(DDRS):-
Under the scheme, funds for the welfare of
persons with disabilities are provided to the non-
governmental organizations for projects like
special schools for disabled, Vocational Training
Centres, Half Way Homes, Community Based
Chronicle IAS Academy
Rehabilitation Centres, Early Intervention
Centres for Disabled and Rehabilitation of
Leprosy Cured Persons, etc.
Women with disabilities
According to Census-2001, there are 93.01
lakh women with disabilities, which constitute
42.46 per cent of total disabled population.
Women with disabilities require protection
against exploitation and abuse. Special
programmes are developed for education,
employment and providing of other
rehabilitation services to women with disabilities
keeping in view their special needs. Special
educational and vocation training facilities are
setup. Programmes also are undertaken to
rehabilitate abandoned disabled women/girls by
encouraging their adoption in families, support
to house them and impart them training for
gainful employment skills. The Government is
encouraging the projects where representation
United Nations Convention on the Rights
of People with Disabilities (UNCRPD)
The United Nations Convention on the
Rights of People with Disabilities (UNCRPD)
was ratified by India in October 2007. It enjoins
upon India to ensure that all the rights
enshrined in the Constitution, the current
legislations, as well as UNCRPD, are speedily
and effectively operationalized. It is now
obligatory upon India to incorporate the
essence of the convention in our planning,
implementation, monitoring, and review
processes.
The eight basic principles of the Convention
are: (i) respect for inherent dignity, individual
autonomy including the freedom to make one's
own choices, and independence of persons
with disabilities; (ii) non-discrimination; (iii) full
and effective participation and inclusion in
society; (iv) respect for difference and
acceptance of disabled people as part of human
diversity and humanity; (v) equality of
opportunity; (vi) accessibility; (vii) equality
between men and women; and (viii) respect
for the evolving capacities of children with
disabilities and respect for their right to preserve
their identities. There is an urgent need to
review all the four disability legislations and to
amend them suitably to bring them in
consonance with UNCRPD.
[25]
 of women with disabilities is ensured at least to
the extent of twenty five per cent of total
beneficiaries.
WELFARE OF THE
OLDER PERSONS
According to 2001 census, the number of
senior citizens (60 years and above) in India were
7.9 crore and the number is growing because of
advancement of medical services at least in urban
areas. A study by the National Commission on
Population projects that senior citizens will
comprise 9.3 per cent by 2016, 10.7 per cent by
2021 and 12.40 per cent by 2026. According to
the UN, by 2050 about 20 per cent of India's
population is likely to be over 60 years.
GOI has proposed the National Policy for
Senior Citizens 2011 which is based on several
factors. These include the demographic explosion
among the elderly, the changing economy and
social milieu, advancement in medical research,
science and technology and high levels of
destitution among the elderly rural poor (51
million elderly live below the poverty line). The
policy addresses issues concerning senior citizens
living in urban and rural areas, special needs of
the oldest old? and older women.
The objectives of new policy are:
(a) Mainstream senior citizens, especially
older women, and bring their concerns
into the national development debate
with priority to implement mechanisms
already set by governments and
supported by civil society and senior
citizens associations. Support promotion
and establishment of senior citizens
associations, especially amongst women.
(b) Promote the concept of Ageing in
Place or ageing in own home, housing,
income security and homecare services,
old age pension and access to
healthcare insurance schemes and other
programmes and services to facilitate
and sustain dignity in old age. The
thrust of the policy would be preventive
rather than cure.
(c) The policy will consider institutional care
as the last resort. It recognizes that care
of senior citizens has to remain vested
in the family which would partner the
community, government and the private
sector.
Chronicle IAS Academy
(d) Being a signatory to the Madrid Plan of
Action and Barrier Free Framework it
will work towards an inclusive, barrier-
free and age-friendly society.
(e) Recognise that senior citizens are a
valuable resource for the country and
create an environment that provides
them with equal opportunities, protects
their rights and enables their full
participation in society. Towards
achievement of this directive the policy
visualizes that the states will extend their
support for senior citizens living below
the poverty line in urban and rural areas
and ensures their social security,
healthcare, shelter and welfare. It will
protect them from abuse and
exploitation so that the quality of their
lives improves.
(f) Long term savings instruments and
credit activities will be promoted to
reach both rural and urban areas. It will
be necessary for the contributors to feel
National Policy on Senior Citizens 2011
assured that the payments at the end of
the stipulated period are attractive
enough to take care of the likely erosion
in purchasing power.
(g) Employment in income generating
activities after superannuation will be
encouraged.
(h) Support and assist organizations that
provide counselling, career guidance
and training services.
(i) States will be advised to implement the
Maintenance and Welfare of Parents
and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 and set
up Tribunals so that elderly parents
unable to maintain themselves are not
abandoned and neglected.
(j) States will set up homes with assisted
living facilities for abandoned senior
citizens in every district of the country
and there will be adequate budgetary
support.
GOI will also provide the ADHAAR Unique
identity number to them so that implementation
of assistance schemes of Government of India
and concessions can be offered to them.
Further in an attempt of improving social
sector reforms, PM Manmohan Singh has
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 approved the constitution of a National Council
for Senior Citizens to advise the Central and State
governments on issues related to the welfare of
senior citizens and enhancement of their quality
of life. The setting up of such a council was one
of the recommendations made by an experts
committee headed by Mohini Giri in the Draft
National Policy on Senior Citizens.
The Council will specially refer to policies,
programmes and legislative measures,
promotion of physical and financial security,
health, independent, productive living and
awareness generation and community
mobilization.
It will be chaired by the Social Justice and
Empowerment Minister and will include the
Minister of State in the Social Justice and
Empowerment Ministry, oldest members of the
Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, representatives of
five state governments (one each from the North,
South, East, West and North-Eastern regions)
and one union territory by rotation, five
representatives each from senior citizens'
associations. Other members include pensioners'
association, NGOs working for senior citizens
and experts, and five senior citizens who have
distinguished themselves in various fields.
The Council will be anchored in the Social
Justice and Empowerment Ministry.
Assistance for Old Age Homes: Financial
assistance is provided to Government/Non-
Governmental Organizations, Panchayati Raj
Institutions, local bodies, etc. for running and
maintenance of Old Age Homes etc. under the
Scheme of Integrated Programme for Older
Persons (IPOP) of the Ministry. There is no
Scheme for providing financial assistance to
Government/Non-Governmental Organizati-
ons, Panchayati Raj Institutions, local bodies, etc.
for construction of Old Age Homes.
National Policy on Older Persons, 1999
envisages State support to ensure financial and
food security, healthcare, shelter and other needs
of older persons, equitable share in development,
protection against abuse and exploitation, and
availability of services to improve the quality of
their lives.
The Ministry of Social Justice and Em-
powerment is implementing the Scheme of
Integrated Programme for Older Persons (IPOP)
under which financial assistance is provided to
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Government/NGOs/Panchayati Raj Institutions/
local bodies, etc. for running and maintenance
of old age homes, day care centres and mobile
medicare units, etc.
The Ministry of Rural Development is
implementing the Indira Gandhi National Old
Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS) under which
Central assistance is given towards pension @
Rs. 200/- per month to persons above 65 years
belonging to a household below poverty line
which is meant to be supplemented by at least
and equal contribution by the States so that each
beneficiary gets at least Rs. 400/- per month as
pension.
Various concessions like income tax rebate;
rail, bus and air fare; special medical facilities,
etc. are provided to senior citizens by the
Government.
Further the Maintenance and Welfare of
Parents and Senior Citizens Bill, 2007 was
enacted which aims to provide for more
effective provisions for the maintenance and
welfare of parents and senior citizens guaranteed
and recognized under the Constitution and for
matters connected therewith or incidental
thereto.
The salient provisions of the act are:
(a) The act defines senior citizen as any
citizen of India aged 60+, whether living
in India or not.
(b) Every Senior Citizen (parent or grand-
parent) who is unable to maintain
himself from his own income can claim
maintenance from his children by
writing an application to the tribunal.
(c) A childless Senior Citizen can claim
maintenance from his relative who is in
possession of, or would inherit his
property.
(d) The maintenance in the act includes
provision for food, clothing, residence,
medical attendance and treatment.
(e) Maximum amount which may be
ordered for maintenance of a senior
citizen by the Tribunal shall be such as
prescribed by the State Government
which shall not exceed Rs. 10,000/- per
month.
(f) Constitution of Maintenance Tribunals
and Appellate Tribunals by the State
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 Governments in all Sub Divisions and
States within 6 months of commence-
ment of this Act
(g) Lawyers excluded from the proceedings
(h) Elderly can choose to seek maintenance
either under this Act or under the
provisions of the Criminal Procedure
Code 1973 if applicable but not under
both the provisions
(i) No Civil Court to have jurisdiction in
respect of any matter to which any
provision of this Act applies.
Procedure for application
Application for maintenance may be made
by the senior citizen or parent to the Tribunal
under Section 4 in layperson's language giving
names, full details and addresses of the persons
from whom they are demanding maintenance.
If there is more than one child or relative, they
may claim maintenance from one or all of them
depending on their means of income.
Maintenance proceedings may be initiated
against any child/children or relative in any
district where the parent or senior citizen lives
or last lived or where the child/children or
relative live.
If such applicants are incapable of making
an application themselves, any other person or
registered voluntary organization authorized by
him/her can make the application; or the
Tribunal can take suo-moto cognizance and
proceed. Upon receipt of the application, the
Tribunal would issue notices to the children,
conduct hearings, take evidence and order
maintenance. Tribunal may also refer the case
for reconciliation or pass interim orders for
maintenance.
If the children or relatives fail to pay the
ordered maintenance without sufficient reason
for 3 months after its due date, the senior citizen
can approach the Tribunal again who may
impose a fine or order imprisonment of the child/
relative upto a month or until payment is made
whichever is earlier.
The act further specifies that if the elderly
themselves and their children and specified
relatives do not have sufficient means to
maintain them then State Governments may
establish, in a phased manner, sufficient senior
citizen homes and maintain the same for
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indigent or abandoned and neglected (by their
kith and kin) beginning with at least one Old
Age Home in each district sufficient to
accommodate a minimum of 150 elderly. State
Government need to establish specific medical
facilities, allocate doctors/hospital beds, expand
treatment for chronic, terminal and degenerative
diseases; and conduct research on ailments of
the elderly and ageing. It should take all measures
to sensitize and orient the police and judiciary
regarding protection of life and property of the
elderly and provisions of this act.
An important provision has been made for
the elderly to claim their property back from
children, if given conditionally after
commencement of the Act on promise of looking
after their needs and amenities if such promise
is not fulfilled. Under Section 23, if after
commencement of the act any Parents or senior
citizens have transferred their property to their
children or relatives on the condition that they
would provide certain maintenance and
amenities to the senior citizen but subsequently
neglect or refuse to do so the parents or senior
citizens can get such transfers voided (cancelled)
at their option by having such transfer treated
as a fraudulent or coercive acquisition and seek
return of their property so transferred.
WELFARE SCHEMES FOR CHILDREN
India is home to the largest child population
in the world. The Constitution of India
guarantees Fundamental Rights to all children
in the country and empowers the State to make
special provisions for children. The Directive
Principles of State Policy in the Constitution
specifically guide the State in securing the tender
age of children from abuse and ensuring that
children are given opportunities and facilities to
develop in a healthy manner in conditions of
freedom and dignity. The State is responsible for
ensuring that childhood is protected from
exploitation and moral and material
abandonment.
Policies for welfare of children
1. National Policy for children 2013
The National Policy for Children (NPC), 1974
was adopted by the Government of India on
22nd August, 1974. This Policy describes children
as a supremely important asset and makes the
State responsible to provide basic services to
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 children, both before and after birth, and also
during their growing years and different stages
of development.
With the advent of globalization and
development, new challenges have emerged,
which impact childrens lives, health, security
and development. The recognition of the child
as a person with inherent and inalienable rights,
which are interrelated and interdependent,
made it necessary to update and expand the
1974 Policy with focus on child rights. The
revised Policy addresses continuing and new
challenges, and aims to realize the full range of
child rights for all children in the country.
Key priorities of the policy are:
(a) Survival, Health and Nutrition
The right to life, survival, health and nutrition
is an inalienable right of every child and will
receive the highest priority. The State stands
committed to ensure equitable access to holistic
and essential healthcare, both preventive and
curative, of the highest standard, for all children
before, during and after birth, and throughout
the period of their growth and development.
The State shall take all necessary measures
to: Improve maternal healthcare, including safe
delivery by skilled health personnel; Provide
universal access to information for making
informed choices related to birth and spacing of
children; Secure the right of the girl child to life,
survival and health; Provide access to
management of neo-natal and childhood
illnesses and protect children from all water
borne, vector borne, communicable and other
childhood diseases and Prevent discrimination
faced by children with disabilities and provide
health services needed by them.
(b) Education and Development
Every child has equal right to learning,
knowledge and education. The State recognises
its responsibility to secure this right for every
child, with due regard for special needs, through
access, provision and promotion of required
environment, information, infrastructure,
services and supports, towards the development
of the childs fullest potential.
The State shall take all necessary measures
to: ensure that all children enjoy their right to
free and compulsory education from pre-school
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to completion of secondary school without any
disruption. The State shall ensure that every
child in the 6-14 years of age is in school and
enjoys her fundamental right to education as
enshrined in the Constitution under the RTE Act.
The State shall ensure that there is
universalisation of secondary school education
so that children are in schools until 18 years of
age and provision for hostels and residential
facilities, scholarships and free education are
made to enable children continue in the
education stream.
(c) Protection
A safe, secure and protective environment is
a precondition for the realization of all other
rights of children. Children have the right to be
protected wherever they are.
It is the responsibility of the State to create a
caring and protective environment for all
children, to reduce their vulnerability in all
situations and protect them from all forms of
violence and abuse, neglect, stigma,
discrimination, deprivation, exploitation including
economic exploitation and sexual exploitation,
abandonment, separation, abduction, sale or
trafficking for any purpose or in any form,
pornography, substance abuse, or any other
activity that takes undue advantage of them, or
harms their personhood and affects their
development.
The State shall promote child friendly
jurisprudence, enact progressive legislation,
build a child responsive protection system, and
promote effective enforcement of legislative and
administrative measures for comprehensively
addressing issues related to child protection.
(d) Participation
The State has the primary responsibility to
ensure that children are made aware of their
rights, and provided with opportunities and
support to develop skills to form aspirations and
express their views, in accordance with their age,
maturity and evolving capacities, and enable
them to be involved in their own development
and in all matters concerning and affecting them.
The State shall engage all stakeholders in
developing mechanisms for children to share
their grievances without fear in all settings
(family, schools, institutions, community).
Children must know that the grievance
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 procedure exists, know how it works, and know
how to file a complaint.
The State shall promote and strengthen
respect for the views of the child, within the
family; community; schools and institutions;
different levels of governance; as well as in
judicial and administrative proceedings that
concern them.
The State commits to allocate the required
financial, material and human resources, with
transparency, and their efficient and effective
use, with accountability, to implement this Policy.
Child budgeting will track allocation and
utilization of resources and their impact on
outcomes for children.
2. National Charter for Children
The Government of India has also adopted
the National Charter for Children, which has
been prepared after obtaining the views/
comments and suggestions of the State
Governments/UT Administrations, concerned
Ministries and Departments and experts in the
field. The National Charter is a statement of
intent embodying the Governments agenda for
children. The document emphasizes
Government of Indias commitment to childrens
rights to survival, health and nutrition, standard
of living, play and leisure, early childhood care,
education, protection or the girl child,
empowering adolescents, equality, life and
liberty, name and nationality, freedom of
expression, freedom of association and peaceful
assembly, the right to a family and the right to
be protected from economic exploitation and all
forms of abuse. The document also provides for
protection of children in difficult circumstances,
children with disabilities, children from
marginalized and disadvantaged communities,
and child victims. The document while
stipulating the duties of the State and the
Community towards children also emphasizes
the duties of children towards family, society and
the Nation.
Legislations for the welfare of the children
(a) The Protection of Children from Sexual
Offences Act, 2012
Sexual offences are currently covered under
different sections of IPC. The IPC does not
provide for all types of sexual offences against
children and, more importantly, does not
distinguish between adult and child victims.
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The Protection of Children from Sexual
Offences Act defines a child as any person below
the age of 18 years and provides protection to
all children under the age of 18 years from the
offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and
pornography. These offences have been clearly
defined for the first time in law. The Act provides
for stringent punishments, which have been
graded as per the gravity of the offence. The
punishments range from simple to rigorous
imprisonment of varying periods. There is also
provision for fine, which is to be decided by the
Court.
The Act provides for the establishment
of Special Courts for trial of offences under the
Act, keeping the best interest of the child as of
paramount importance at every stage of the
judicial process. The Act incorporates child
friendly procedures for reporting, recording of
evidence, investigation and trial of offences.
The Act also recognizes that the intent to
commit an offence, even when unsuccessful for
whatever reason, needs to be penalized.
The attempt to commit an offence under the Act
has been made liable for punishment for upto
half the punishment prescribed for the
commission of the offence.
The Act also provides for punishment
for abetment of the offence, which is the same
as for the commission of the offence. This would
cover trafficking of children for sexual purposes.
For the more heinous offences of Penetrative
Sexual Assault, Aggravated Penetrative Sexual
Assault, Sexual Assault and Aggravated Sexual
Assault, the burden of proof is shifted on the
accused. This provision has been made keeping
in view the greater vulnerability and innocence
of children. At the same time, to prevent misuse
of the law, punishment has been provided for
making false complaint or proving false
information with malicious intent. Such
punishment has been kept relatively light (six
months) to encourage reporting. If false
complaint is made against a child, punishment
is higher (one year).
The media has been barred from disclosing
the identity of the child without the permission
of the Special Court. The punishment for
breaching this provision by media may be from
six months to one year.
For speedy trial, the Act provides for the
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 evidence of the child to be recorded within a
period of 30 days. Also, the Special Court is to
complete the trial within a period of one year,
as far as possible.
To provide for relief and rehabilitation of the
child, as soon as the complaint is made to the
Special Juvenile Police Unit (SJPU) or local police,
these will make immediate arrangements to give
the child, care and protection such as admitting
the child into shelter home or to the nearest
hospital within twenty-four hours of the report.
The SJPU or the local police are also required to
report the matter to the Child Welfare Committee
within 24 hours of recording the complaint, for
long term rehabilitation of the child.
The Act casts a duty on the Central and State
Governments to spread awareness through
media including the television, radio and the
print media at regular intervals to make the
general public, children as well as their parents
and guardians aware of the provisions of this
Act.
The National Commission for the Protection
of Child Rights (NCPCR) and State Commissions
for the Protection of Child Rights (SCPCRs) have
been made the designated authority to monitor
the implementation of the Act.
(b) Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation)
Act amendment
The Union Cabinet has approved a proposal
for amending the Child Labour (Prohibition and
Regulation) Act, 1986, to ban employment of
children aged upto 14 in any form of industry.
It will be an offence to employ such children
not only in factories or industries but also in home
or on farms, if their labour is meant to serve any
commercial interest.
Quoting the National Sample Survey
Organizations figures, the amendment would
benefit 46 lakh children who have been working
in various industries now, and they can
concentrate on education.
The Cabinet also approved another
amendment to define those children aged 14-18
as adolescents and prohibit their employment
in mines, explosive industries, chemical and
paint industries and other hazardous
establishments. The governments decision is in
line with the convention of the International
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Labour Organisation (ILO), which prohibits any
form of child labour until the age of 14.
Since the Right of Children to Free and
Compulsory Education Act or RTE now
stipulates compulsory and free education of
children upto the age of 14, the upper age limit
in the Child Labour Act has been kept at 14. The
RTE, which makes education the fundamental
right of a child, was passed by Parliament on
August 4, 2009. It sets forth the modalities of
free and compulsory education for children aged
6-14. The Act came into effect on April 1, 2010.
(c) Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of
Children) Act, 2000
The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of
Children) Act, 2000 is the primary legal frame-
work for juvenile justice in India. The Act pro-
vides for a special approach towards the pre-
vention and treatment of juvenile delinquency
and provides a framework for the protection,
treatment and rehabilitation of children in the
purview of the juvenile justice system. This law,
brought in compliance of Child Rights Conven-
tion, repealed the earlier Juvenile Justice Act of
1986. This Act has been further amended in year
2006 and 2010.
In this act a child or juvenile is defined as a
person who has not completed his/her 18th year
of age. It outlines two target groups: Children
in need of care and protection and Juveniles in
conflict with law. This act protects not only the
rights of children, but a person's rights when he/
she was a child. Meaning that if a crime or an
incident took place while the person was a child,
and then during the proceeding the juvenile
ceased to be of age the case would continue as if
the juvenile has not turned eighteen yet.
This Act calls for the establishment of Juvenile
Justice Boards (JJBs) where the State Government
sees fit. JJBs must contain a Metropolitan or Ju-
dicial magistrate and two social workers where
one of the workers must be a woman. The mag-
istrate is required to have a background in child
psychology or child welfare. JCL cases can only
be heard in the JJB and not by another court.
The powers of the JJB can be exercised in a High
Court or Court of Session when an appeal has
been made as part of the act, the state is required
to set up a number of institutions where the
needs and protection of juveniles may be fulfilled.
For the reception and rehabilitation of JCLs the
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 state must set up Observation Homes and Spe-
cial Homes in ever district or group of districts.
The state may directly set up these homes or con-
tract a voluntary organization to do so. Obser-
vation homes are for institutions for juveniles
while their proceedings are underway. After the
proceedings of a particular case are complete,
the JJB may decide that the rehabilitation of the
child is not complete and hence place them in a
Special home for no longer than three years.
Section 21 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and
Protection of Children) Act, 2000 (56 of 2000)
as amended by the Juvenile Justice (Care and
Protection of Children) Amendment Act, 2006
(33 of 2006), states that: Prohibition of
publication of name, etc., of juvenile or child in
need of care and protection involved in any
proceeding under the Act-(1) No report in any
newspaper, magazine, news-sheet or visual
media of any inquiry regarding a juvenile in
conflict with law or a child in need of care and
protection under this Act shall disclose the name,
address or school or any other particulars
calculated to lead to the identification of the
juvenile or child shall nor shall any picture of
any such juvenile or child shall be published:
Provided that for any reason to be recorded in
writing, the authority holding the inquiry may
permit such disclosure, if in its opinion such
disclosure is in the interest of the juvenile or the
child. (2) Any person who contravenes the
provisions of sub-section (1), shall be liable to a
penalty which may extend to twenty-five
thousand rupees.
Section 29 of the Act provides constituting
five members District (Administrative unit in
India) level quasi-judicial body "Child Welfare
Committee". One of the members is designated
as Chairperson. At least one of the members shall
be woman. The Committee shall have the final
authority to dispose of cases for the care,
protection, treatment, development and
rehabilitation of the 'Children in Need of Care
and Protection' as well as to provide for their
basic needs and protection of human rights.
Child welfare programmes
Several Ministries and Departments of the
government of India are implementing various
schemes and programmes for the benefit of
children. Some of the Schemes and programmes
are as under:
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(a) Integrated Child Development Services
(ICDS):
It was launched in 1975 with the following
objectives: to improve the nutritional and health
status of children in the age-group 0-6 years; to
lay the foundation for proper psychological,
physical and social development of the child; to
reduce the incidence of mortality, morbidity,
malnutrition and school dropout. It provides
supplementary nutrition, immunization, regular
health check-up, pre-school non-formal
education and nutrition & health education.
Government has recently approved
strengthening and restructuring of Integrated
Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme with
a budget allocation of Rs. 1,23,580 crore during
12th Five Year Plan.
(b) Sabla Scheme:
With the objective of improving the
nutritional and health status of adolescent girls
in the age group of 11-18 years and empower
them by providing education in life-skills, health
and nutrition, the Government of India has
introduced the Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for
Empowerment of Adolescent Girls - SABLA in
November, 2010. The Scheme also aims at
equipping girls with information on family
welfare, health and hygiene, existing public
services, etc., and to draw out-of-school girls into
the formal or non-formal education systems.
The focus of the Scheme is primarily on out-
of-school girls. An integrated package of services
comprising nutrition and non-nutrition
components are provided to adolescent girls,
the Nutrition Component targeting out-of-
school girls between 11 and 14 and all girls in
the 14-18 age-group.
The beneficiaries in 2011-12 were 100.77
lakhs and during 2012-13 are 88.49 lakhs so far.
(c) Mid- Day Meal Scheme:
The Mid-Day Meal Scheme by Department
of School Education and Literacy has a provision
for providing hot cooked mid-day meal to
children studying in class I to VIII in
Government, Government aided, local body
schools as well as children studying in the
National Child Labour Project (NCLP) schools
and centres run under the Education Guarantee
Scheme (EGS)/Alternative and Innovative
Education (AIE) centres including Madarsas/
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 Maktabs supported under the Sarva Shiksha
Abhiyan (SSA).
During 2011-12, 10.54 crore children & in
2012-13, 10.43 crore children were covered
under the Mid-Day Meal Scheme in the country.
(d) Reproductive and Child Health
Programme:
The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM)
and under its umbrella, the Reproductive and
Child Health Programme, seeks to improve the
availability and access to quality healthcare
including Maternal and Child Health services
particularly to rural population throughout the
country. Some of the key steps undertaken
through this programme are promotion of
institutional deliveries through Janani Suraksha
Yojana; capacity building of healthcare providers
in basic and comprehensive obstetric care;
antenatal and postnatal care including Iron and
Folic Acid supplementation to pregnant &
lactating women for prevention and treatment
of anaemia; Janani Shishu Suraksha
Karyakaram (JSSK) (launched on 1st June, 2011)
which entitles all pregnant women delivering in
public health institutions to absolutely free and
no expense delivery including Caesarean section;
Village Health and Nutrition Days in rural areas
as an outreach activity, for provision of maternal
and child health services; operationalization of
Sub-centers, Primary Health Centers, Community
Health Centres and District Hospitals for
providing 24x7 basic and comprehensive obstetric
care services.
Under NRHM, the Twelfth Plan strategy
seeks to strengthen initiatives taken in the
Eleventh Plan to expand the reach of healthcare
and work towards the long term objective of
establishing a system of Universal Health
Coverage (UHC) in the country. Maternal and
child care will continue to focus on reduction of
IMR and MMR.
(e) Pulse Polio Immunization Programme
It is being implemented by the Ministry of
Health and Family Welfare covers all children
blow five years. It is a massive programme covers
166 million children in every round of National
Immunization Day. The other immunization
programmes include Hepatitis B, DPT and other
routine immunization.
Other notable programmes for child health
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include, Universal immunization programme,
control of deaths due to acute respiratory
infections, control of diarrhoeal diseases,
provision of essential newborn care to address
the issue of the neonates, prophylactic
programmes for the prevention and treatment
of two micronutrient deficiencies relating to
Vitamin-A and iron, Anemia control
programme, Border District Cluster Strategy and
Integrated Management of Neo-natal and
childhood illness.
(f) A National Programme for education of girls
at elementary level
It is also being implemented by the
Department of Education for children in difficult
circumstances including drop out girls, working
girls, girls from marginalized social groups, girls
with low levels of achievement to gain quality
elementary education and to develop self-esteem
of girls through a community based approach.
(g) Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya
It is a new scheme being implemented by the
Department of Educaiton, which enables
opening of 750 special residential schools for the
girl child belonging to SC/ST, other backward
classes and minority in educationally backward
blocks having low female literacy.
(h) Integrated programme for Street Children
The programme is being implemented by the
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. This
programme aims at preventing destitution of
children and facilitate their withdrawal from life
on the streets. The programme is targeted
towards children without homes and family ties,
especially vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.
(i) Integrated Programme for Juvenile Justice
The programme is being implemented by the
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
with a view to providing carte to children in
difficult circumstances and children in conflict
with the law through Government institutions
and through NGOs. Some special features of the
scheme areas:
Establishment of a National Advisory Board
on Juvenile Justice.
Creation of a Juvenile Justice Fund.
Training, orientation and sensitization of
judicial, administrative police and NGOs
responsible for implementation of JJ Act.
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 Institutional are shall be used but only as a
last measure by enlarging the range of
suitable alternatives.
Financial assistance to bring about a
qualitative improvement in the existing
infrastructure.
Expansion of non-institutional services such
as sponsorship, foster care, probation, etc.
as and an alternate to institutional care.
(j) Child helpline
Childhelpline is a toll free telephone service
(1098) which anyone can call for assistance in
the interest of children. Being run with the
support of Women and child welfare Ministry is
working in 72 cities across the country.
The Shishu Greh Scheme is also being
implemented by the ministry to promote
adoptions within the country and to ensure
minimum standards in the care of abandoned/
orphaned/destitute children. Grant-in-Aid upto
a ceiling of Rs. 6 lakh is provided per unit of 10
children in a Shishu Greh.
(k) The National Rural Health Mission
It is a scheme of health Ministry seeks to
provide effective healthcare to rural population
including large population of children
throughout the country with special focus on 18
States, which have weak public health indicators
and/or raise public spending on health from
0.9% of GDP to 2-3% of GDP. It aims to
undertake architectural correction of the health
system to enable it to effectively handle increased
allocations as promised under the National
Common Minimum Programme and promote
policies that strengthen public health
management and service delivery in the country.
(l) Elimination of Child Labour
It is being implemented by the Ministry of
Labour which sanctions projects for
rehabilitation of working children and for
elimination of child labour. Under the project
based Action Plan of the Policy, National Child
Labour Projects (NCLPs) have been set up in
different areas to rehabilitate child labour. A
major activity undertaken under the NCLP is the
establishment of special schools to provide non-
formal education, vocational training,
supplementary nutrition, etc. to children
withdrawn from employment. 150 Child
Labour Projects have so far been sanctioned for
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rehabilitating children in the most endemic areas
and 1.5 lakh children have already been
mainstreamed in the special schools.
(m) Prevention of Offences against Children
After wide consultations a draft Bill for
offences Against Children has been prepared and
circulated to the State Governments for their
comments and views. After obtaining the
comments of the State governments and
concerned Ministries and Departments a draft
has been prepared and circulated to the
concerned Ministries and Departments for their
comments and use.
(n) Child Budgeting
The Government is also actively considering
introducing child budgeting. The key objectives
of the endeavor would be analyze budgetary
provisions on social sector, to identify the
magnitude of budgetary allocations made by the
Centre/State Governments on schemes meant
for addressing specific needs of children, to
examine the trend in child specific expenditure
etc. the main agenda for the exercise of child
budgeting is to review resource allocations
related to children; explore ways to increase
budgetary allocations for children; assess budget
utilization rates for social sector and child specific
programmes, identify blockages and constraints
to effective utilization; identify methods for
tracking expenditure and monitoring
performance to ensure that outlays translate into
outcomes for children.
(o) Pilot projects for combating trafficking of
women and children
Three pilot projects are being implemented
viz. (i) to combat trafficking women and children
for commercial sexual exploitation under the
sanction of tradition (ii) pilot project to combat
trafficking of women and children for
commercial, sexual exploitation in source areas
and (iii) pilot project to combat trafficking of
women and children for commercial sexual
exploitation in destination areas. So far 30
projects have been sanctioned benefiting about
1500 women and girls.
(p) TrackChild
To enable monitoring of the progress of
children availing services under ICPS on a
realtime basis as well as facilitate matching of
missing and found children, a software namely
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 TrackChild, has been developed through NIC
and its implementation has begun in fourteen
pilot States after training of all stakeholders in
these States including JJ/ICPS personnel as well
as police officers. For this project, nodal officers
have been appointed under the department
implementing ICPS in 18 States and by the Police
in all States. To fast track the implementation of
this software, the Ministry in association with
MHA and NIC organized an All India
Conference on 30th October, 2012 in which
senior police officers (responsible for tracing
missing persons) and senior officers from the
departments of women and child of the State
Governments were present.
Schemes for Welfare of Girl Child
The Ministry of Women & Child Develop-
ment is implementing a number of schemes for
the welfare and development of the girl child.
Dhanalakshmi a Scheme for conditional
Cash Transfer for the Girl Child is being
implemented on a pilot basis in eleven blocks in
seven States since 2008-09.
The scheme provides for cash transfer to the
family of a girl child on fulfilling certain
conditionality relating to registration of birth,
immunization, enrolment and retention in school
till class VIII; and an insurance coverage if the
girl remains unmarried till the age of 18.
The Scheme of Kishori Shakti Yojana (KSY)
is being implemented in 6118 Integrated Child
Development Scheme (ICDS) projects for
adolescent girls (11 to 18 years) using the
infrastructure of ICDS for addressing the needs
of self development, nutrition and health status,
literacy and numerical skills, vocational skills,
etc. of adolescent girls.
The Scheme of Nutrition Programme for
Adolescent Girls (NPAG) is being implemented
on a Pilot Project basis in 51 districts in the
country. Undernourished adolescent girls in age
group of 11-19 years are provided free food grains
@6 kg per beneficiary per month.
WELFARE SCHEMES FOR WOMEN
Women as an independent group constitute
48% of the countrys total population as per the
2001 Census. The importance of women as a
important human resource was recognized by
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the Constitution of India which not only
accorded equality to women but also empowered
the State to adopt measures of positive
discrimination in their favour. A number of
Articles of the Constitution specially reiterated
the commitment of the constitution towards the
socio economic development of women and
upholding their political right and participation
in decision making. Drawing the strength from
the constitutional commitments, the Government
of India has been engaged in the continuous
endeavor of concretely translating all the rights,
commitments and safeguards incorporated in
the Indian Constitution for women from de-jure
to de-facto status.
National Policies for women
i. National Policy For The Empowerment Of
Women
As a follow up action to the commitments
made by India during the Fourth World
Conference on Women held in Beijing during
Sep. 1995, the Department has drafted a
National Policy for the Empowerment of Women
after nationwide consultations to enhance the
status of women in all walks of life on par with
men and actualize the constitutional guarantee
of equality without discrimination on grounds
of sex.
The goal of this Policy is to bring about the
advancement, development and empowerment
of women. Specifically, the objectives of this
Policy include:
(a) Creating an environment through
positive economic and social policies for
full development of women to enable
them to realize their full potential;
(b) The de-jure and de-facto enjoyment of
all human rights and fundamental
freedom by women on equal basis with
men in all spheres - political, economic,
social, cultural and civil;
(c) Equal access to participation and
decision making of women in social,
political and economic life of the nation;
(d) Equal access to women to healthcare,
quality education at all levels, career
and vocational guidance, employment,
equal remuneration, occupational health
and safety, social security and public
office, etc.;
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 (e) Strengthening legal systems aimed at
elimination of all forms of discrimination
against women;
(f) Changing societal attitudes and
community practices by active
participation and involvement of both
men and women;
(g) Mainstreaming a gender perspective in
the development process;
(h) Elimination of discrimination and all
forms of violence against women and
the girl child; and
(i) Building and strengthening partnerships
with civil society, particularly womens
organizations.
Legislations for the welfare of Women
1. Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace
(Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act
According to the bill, sexual harassment
includes any unwelcome act or behaviour such
as physical contact and advances, a demand or
request for sexual favours or making sexually
coloured remarks or showing pornography. The
acts or behaviour direct or by implication
will also include any other physical, verbal or
non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature.
Non-compliance with the provisions of the
law will be punishable with a fine of upto Rs.
50,000. Repeated violations may lead to higher
penalties and cancellation of licence or
registration to do business.
The bill defines domestic worker as a woman
employed to do household work for
remuneration. The judgment not only defines
sexual harassment at workplace but also lays
down guidelines for its prevention and
disciplinary action. The bill makes it mandatory
for all offices, hospitals, institutions and other
workplaces to have an internal complaints
redress mechanism.
Highlights of the Bill
(a) The Bill defines sexual harassment at
the work place and creates a mechanism
for redressal of complaints. It also
provides safeguards against false or
malicious charges.
(b) The bill will apply to any department,
organization, undertaking, establish-
ment, enterprise, institution, office or
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unit which is established, owned, con-
trolled or wholly or substantially fi-
nanced by funds provided directly or
indirectly by the appropriate govern-
ment, the local authority, a government
company, or a corporation or a coop-
erative society. It will also apply to pri-
vate sector organization, societies, trusts,
educational institutions, non-govern-
mental organizations, service providers
of commercial, professional or entertain-
ment activities. It will cover the unor-
ganized sector'
(c) Every employer is required to constitute
an Internal Complaints Committee at
each office or branch with 10 or more
employees. The District Officer is
required to constitute a Local
Complaints Committee at each district,
and if required at the block level.
(d) The Complaints Committees have the
powers of civil courts for gathering
evidence.
(e) The Complaints Committees are
required to provide for conciliation
before initiating an inquiry, if requested
by the complainant.
(f) Penalties have been prescribed for
employers. Non-compliance with the
provisions of the Act shall be punishable
with a fine of up to Rs. 50,000.
Repeated violations may lead to higher
penalties and cancellation of licence or
registration to conduct business.
(g) In the case of false or malicious
complaint, the bill provides for action
against the complainant in accordance
with service rules.
2. The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2012
The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2012
specifies the provisions for the protection of the
women against rape, gang rape, acid attack,
stalking, etc.
The salient provisions of the Bill are:
(a) It penalizes public servants who
knowingly disobey an order that
prohibits them from conducting
investigation or requiring the attendance
of a person for the purpose of the
investigation. The Bill provides a
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 punishment of imprisonment for up to
one year and a fine.
(b) The Bill introduces an offence related to
acid attacks. It penalizes the act of
intentionally causing damage to the body
of a person, or burning or maiming a
person by throwing acid with
imprisonment for minimum of 10 years
that may extend up to life imprisonment
and a fine of Rs. 10 lakh. It penalizes the
attempt to cause harm by throwing acid
with minimum of five and maximum of
seven years of imprisonment.
(c) The Bill replaces the existing offence of
rape with that of sexual assault.
(d) The IPC provides a punishment of
minimum of seven years and a
maximum of life imprisonment and a
fine for the offence of rape. It allows
the court to impose a lower sentence.
The Bill retains the punishment specified
but takes away the power of the court
to lower the sentence.
(e) The Bill increases the age of consent
from 16 years to 18 years. It penalizes
the commission of the above mentioned
acts if the person is below 18 years of
age, irrespective of whether the acts
were committed with consent. Under
the IPC, sexual intercourse by a man
with his wife who is more than 12 years
old but below 15 years of age was
punishable with 2 years imprisonment.
For sexual assault by a husband upon
his wife below 16 years of age, the Bill
provides a punishment of a minimum
of seven years and a maximum of life
imprisonment.
(f) Under the IPC, there is an exception to
the offence of rape when sexual
intercourse is committed without the
consent of the wife if she is above 15
years of age. The Bill increases this age
to 16 years.
(g) The IPC provides a punishment of up
to five years for public servants who
engage in sexual intercourse with a
woman in his custody. The Bill
increases the punishment to a minimum
of five and a maximum of 10 years.
(h) The Bill also increases the punishment
for use of criminal force to outrage the
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modesty of a woman from up to two
years with fine to upto five years with
fine.
(i) The Bill amends the CrPC to require that
a woman police officer records evidence
if evidence is being given by a woman
who is a victim of sexual assault or
assault to outrage her modesty.
(j) The CrPC requires that all evidence in
the course of trial be taken in the
presence of the accused. The Bill seeks
to create an exception for evidence of a
victim of sexual assault who is below
18 years of age. It allows the court to
take appropriate measures to ensure that
the victim is not confronted with the
accused.
3. The Indecent Representation of Women
(Prohibition) Act, amendment Bill
The Indecent Representation of Women
(Prohibition) Act, 1986 (IRWA) focuses on
indecent representation of women and brings
under its ambit references that are derogatory
to the dignity of women. The IRWA, 1986 was
enacted with the specific objective of prohibiting
the indecent representation of women through
advertisement, publication, writing, and
painting or in any other manner. The existing
Act, in its present form, covers the print media.
However, over the years, technological revolution
has resulted in the development of newer forms
of communication such as internet and satellite
based communication, multimedia messaging,
cable television, etc. It has, therefore, become
imperative to widen the scope of the law so as
to cover such forms of media, on one hand, and
to strengthen the existing safeguards to prevent
indecent representation of women through any
such form.
Key amendments in new the Bill are:
(a) The amended Bill seeks to widen the
scope of the Act to cover new forms of
communication such as the internet,
satellite based communication, cable
television, etc.
(b) The Bill prohibits the publication or
distribution of any material, which
contain indecent representation of
women. This provision does not apply
to material, which may be published in
the interest of science, literature or art
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 or for bonafide religious purpose or for
sculptures in ancient monuments or
temples.
(c) The Bill adds new definitions of "indecent
representation of women", "electronic
form" and "publish". "Indecent
representation of women" means the
depiction of the figure or form of a
woman in such a way that it has the
effect of being indecent or derogatory or
is likely to deprave or affect public
morality. "Electronic form" means any
information generated, sent or stored in
media, magnetic and optical form (as
defined in the Information Technology
Act, 2000). "Publish" includes printing
or distributing or broadcasting through
audio visual media.
(d) It amends definitions of "advertisement"
and "distribution" to include all types
of media (printed and electronic).
(e) The Bill authorises any police officer of
the rank of Inspector or above to
investigate offences committed under
this law. The Bill enhances penalties for
various offences. For representing women
indecently, the penalty for the first offence
was increased to imprisonment of three
years from two years and a fine between
Rs. 50,000 and Rs. 1 lakh from Rs. 2,000.
For a subsequent offence, the term of
imprisonment shall be between two and
seven years and fine between Rs. 1 lakh
and 5 lakh.
These amendments seek to ensure that more
effective protection is provided against indecent
representation of women by covering newer
forms of communication like internet, multime-
dia messaging, etc., beyond the print and au-
dio-visual media. This would aid in addressing
the problem of increased objectification of
women thereby ensuring dignity of women. The
amendment doesn't apply to: Interest of science;
Art/Literature; Bona fide religious purposes.amd
Ancient monuments and sculptures (even of
temples).
4. Protection of Women from Domestic
Violence Act, 2005
The PWDVA came into force on the 26th of
October, 2006 as a National Law spanning all
of India except for the state of Jammu & Kashmir.
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The Act is supposed to provide quick protection
and relief to women facing domestic violence.
Some of the salient features of this Act are:
(a) Only women can avail of the remedies
provided under this Act.
(b) The Act provides a broad definition of
violence and includes physical, sexual,
verbal, emotional, and economic abuse
within the ambit of domestic violence.
(c) A case filed under the PWDVA is
supposed to be disposed of within 60
days of filing, with a view to providing
women with quick access to justice.
(d) The law recognizes the right of a woman
to be free from domestic violence in her
natal home as well as her marital home.
(e) The law recognizes the rights of couples
in informal relationships/unmarried
partners.
(f) The Act grants legal recognition to a
womans right to reside in a shared
household.
(g) Although this is a civil law, women can
approach magistrates courts (criminal
courts) to access their rights under this
Act.
(h) The PWDVA emphasizes a violence-free
atmosphere and creates a social
responsibility on the community at large
to inform the authorities about domestic
violence.
(i) The Act makes the government
responsible for its effective
implementation by ensuring it is given
wide publicity. It is also the duty of the
government to conduct sensitization
training for the stakeholders of the Act.
Schemes for the welfare of the women
(a) Support to Training & Employment
Programme for Women (STEP)
It is a Central Sector Scheme launched in
1986-87, seeks to upgrade skill of poor
and assetless women and provide employment
on sustainable basis by mobilizing them in viable
cooperative groups, strengthening marketing
linkages, support services and access to
credit. The scheme also provides for enabling
support services in the form of health check-ups,
legal and health literacy, elementary education,
gender sensitization and mobile crches. The
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 ultimate endeavour of each project is to develop
the group to thrive on a self-sustaining basis in
the market place with minimal governmental
support and intervention even after the project
period is over. Since inception, around 250
projects have been provided financial assistance
under the scheme.
The ten traditional sectors identified for
project funding under STEP comprise of
agriculture, animal husbandry, dairying,
fisheries, handlooms, handicrafts, khadi and
village industries, sericulture, waste land
development and social forestry. The scope and
coverage of the scheme is being broadened
with introduction of locally appropriate sectors
being identified and incorporated into the
scheme.
(b) Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment
of Adolescent Girls (RGSEAG) Sabla poor women for various livelihood support and
It is a Centrally-sponsored scheme was
approved by the Government on 16.8.2010. The
scheme is being implemented in 200 districts
across the country on a pilot basis. In the
remaining districts, Kishori Shakti Yojana (KSY)
continues to be operational as before. However,
SABLA has completely replaced Nutrition
Programme for Adolescent Girls (NPAG) as all
districts of NPAG are now part of the SABLA.
The scheme, inter-alia, aims at vocational
training for girls above 16 years of age for their
economic empowerment.
Sabla is being implemented through the State
Governments/UTs with 100 per cent financial
assistance from the Central Government for all
inputs other than nutrition provision for which
50% Central assistance to States is provided.
Anganwadi Centre is the focal point for the
delivery of the services.
(c) Central Social Welfare Board (CSWB)
In order to address the socio-economic needs
of the women and children of selected eight most
backward districts in the North Eastern region
in the economic arena, Central Social Welfare
Board has formulated the Integrated Scheme for
Women Empowerment (ISWE). The scheme is
being implemented on pilot basis since 2008 and
has the objective of meeting the felt needs of the
area by mobilizing community action,
converging available services and resources of
the area, income generation through feasible and
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sustainable activities for women and to provide
services for health awareness, career counseling
vocational training, preventing child trafficking
and other social evils.
(d) Rashtriya Mahila Kosh - (National Credit
Fund for Women)
The Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (National Credit
Fund for Women) was set up in 1993 with a
corpus of Rs. 31 crore, against the backdrop of
socio-economic constraints faced by poor
women to access micro-credit from the formal
financial system in the country, especially those
in the rural and in unorganized sectors. The
principal corpus has increased to Rs.100.00
crore by 2009-10. The main objective of setting
up of Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK) under the
Department of Women and Child Development
(now Ministry) was to provide micro-credit to
income generating activities at concessional
terms in a client-friendly procedure to bring
about their socio-economic development.
(e) Gender Budgeting and Economic
Empowerment of Women-
Budgets, which influence the overall level of
national income and employment and reflect the
priorities of the government regarding public
investment, also promote gender equality within
the national development framework. The
Government of India is committed to promoting
gender equality and has adopted Gender
Budgeting (GB) as a tool to address the
inequalities faced by women. The purpose is to
ensure the translation of Governments policy
commitments on gender equity into budgetary
allocations.
To institutionalize the process of Gender
Budgeting, the Government had initiated the
formation of Gender Budget Cells (GBCs) within
all Central Ministries/Departments in 2005.
These Cells are required to take up evaluation of
existing Government programmes and schemes
from a gender perspective and identify new areas
of intervention for addressing the existing gender
gaps. The flow of funds under certain women
specific schemes/programmes are also being
monitored through a Gender Budget Statement
(Statement 20) as a part of the Union Budget
Document since 2005. MWCD, as the nodal
agency, is pursuing with other Ministries/
Departments to build their capacity so as to
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 integrate gender concerns across sectors/
schemes/programmes/and ensure proper
allocation and/or reprioritization of resources.
(f) Rajiv Gandhi National Creche Scheme
With a view to encourage women to join/
continue with gainful employment, Rajiv Gandhi
National Crche Scheme for children of working
mothers (RGNCS) was introduced in 2006. The
scheme seeks to provide day care facilities to
children in the age group 0-6 years from families
with a monthly income of less than Rs. 12,000/-.
In addition to being a safe space for the children,
the crche provide services like supplementary
nutrition, pre-school education, emergency
healthcare, etc.
(g) Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana
(IGMSY) Conditional Maternity Benefit
(CMB) scheme
It is a Conditional Cash Transfer scheme for
pregnant and lactating women to contribute to
better enabling environment by providing cash
incentives for improved health and nutrition to
pregnant and nursing mothers. It is being
implemented initially on pilot basis in 52 selected
districts using the platform of ICDS. IGMSY is a
Centrally Sponsored Scheme introduced in the
FY 2010-11, under which the grant-in-aid is
released to States/UTs. The Scheme envisages
providing cash directly to P&L women during
pregnancy and lactation in response to individual
fulfilling specific conditions. It would address
short term income support objectives with long
term objective of behaviour and attitudinal
change. The scheme attempts to partly
compensate for wage loss to pregnant & lactating
women both prior to and after delivery of the
child.
(h) Ujjwala Scheme
Ujjwala is a comprehensive scheme that was
launched in 2007 for prevention of trafficking
and rescue, rehabilitation and reintegration of
victims of trafficking for commercial sexual
exploitation.
ISSUES RELATED TO THE
WEAKER SECTIONS IN INDIA
A. Issues related to welfare of Scheduled
Castes
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The SCs constitute 16.23% of Indias
population. 80% of them are living in the rural
areas. They constitute more than a fifth of the
population of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Himachal
Pradesh and West Bengal. Punjab has the
highest proportion of SCs to the State population.
More than half of the SC population is
concentrated in the five States of Uttar Pradesh
(35.1 million), West Bengal (18.4 million), Tamil
Nadu (11.8 million), Andhra Pradesh (12.3
million) and Bihar (13.0 million).
(a) Low Human development Status:
The (HDIs) of the SC population are much
lower than the rest of the population in terms of
all parameters such as education, health, income,
etc. this can be elaborated by the following data:
Although the literacy rate of SCs has
increased considerably, from 10.3% in 1961 to
54.7% in 2001, till recently the gap between
literacy rates of the general and SC population
had not reduced.
The school dropout rate is a crucial indicator
of lack of educational development. The dropout
rates for SC children are still very high32.7% in
Classes I to V; 55.2% in Classes I to VIII; and
69.1% in classes I to X in 200405 (see Table 6.3).
The gap between the SC population and the
general category increases at higher levels of
schooling. However, an encouraging sign is the
reduction in the gap between the dropout rates
of the total population vis--vis the SCs at all
levels.
45.61% of SC workers at the all-India level
and 52% at the rural level were agricultural
labourers, compared to 26.55 and 33.05% among
all workers at the national and rural levels,
respectively.
Mortality, for example, is an important
indicator of health status and it is seen in India,
infant mortality rate for Dalit children is as high
as 88 per 1000 as compared to children from the
other social group.
High infant/children mortality levels in Dalit
population indicate low infant survival which
is dependent on factors related to care at birth
some of which are place of delivery, type of
assistance provided, major illnesses like
pneumonia, fever, diarrhoea and the most
important of all access to immunisation.
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 (b) Lack of basic amenities:
There is a wide gap between the SCs and
the rest of the population with respect to the
availability of basic civic amenities such as
electricity, banking services, pucca houses, water
supply, toilet facilities, drainage and telephone
facilities.
In 2000, about two-thirds of rural SC
households were landless and near landless,
compared to one-third among others. Less than
one-third of SC households had acquired access
to capital assets, compared to 60% among the
others. About 60% of SC households still have
to depend on wage labour, compared to one-
fourth for the others. Employment rates and
wage earnings among SCs have also tended to
be low.
The cumulative impact of all these disparities,
therefore, is reflected in the high levels of poverty,
about 36% among SCs as compared to only 21%
among others.
(c) Discrimination and social exclusion:
The discrimination against SCs often
manifests itself in the form of socio-economic
exploitation, denial of civil rights, social ostracism
and even violence against them which sometimes
assumes brutal proportions in the form of
massacres, rape, burning of colonies, etc.
To reduce discrimination the Constitution
recognises the need for providing special
safeguards for the Scheduled Castes and
incorporates several Articles which provides for
their protection as well as promotion of their
social, economic, educational and cultural
interests. Article 17 of the Constitution abolishes
untouchability and forbids this practice in any
form. Article 46 under the Directive Principles
of the State Policy stipulates that The State shall
promote with special care, the education and
economic interest of weaker sections of the
people and in particular of Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes and shall protect them from
social injustice and all forms of exploitation.
Article 15(4) empowers the State to make special
provisions for advancement of socially
economically backward classes or citizens and
for Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes. Articles
330 and 332 provide for reservation of seats for
Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes in the Lok
Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas.
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(d) Poverty and unemployment:
According to the NSS data of the total SCs
households about 17 per cent pursued cultivation
as a self-employed occupation while 12 per cent
were employed in some kind of non-farm self-
employment activities (or business). In rural
areas thus, about 28 per cent of SCs households
had acquired some access to fixed capital assets.
This was still very low in proportion when
compared to households belonging to other
social group while 56 per cent of the other
households were self-employed in agriculture
and non-agricultural activities.
Limited access to fixed capital assets for the
SCs population has led to a exceptionally high
dependence on manual wage labour for their
source of income. With respect to employment
and unemployment rates, the SCs workers not
only suffer from low level of employment but
also face underemployment. The current daily
status employment rate in rural areas was 46
per cent for SCs male workers, compared with
48 per cent for other male workers.
(e) Atrocities against SC/STs:
Social inequalities of the tribal population are
manifested in various forms of exploitation such
as bondage, forced labour and indebtedness.
They are also exploited by merchants, money
lenders and forest contractors.
Crimes committed against members of the
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes under
the Prevention of Atrocities Act are pending in
the courts and conviction rates are very low.
Thus 2nd ARC has suggested following
measures:
The administration and police should be
sensitised towards the special problems of the
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
Appropriate training programmes could help in
the sensitising process.
The administration and police should play a
more proactive role in detection and
investigation of crimes against the weaker
sections.
Enforcement agencies should be instructed
in unambiguous terms that enforcement of the
rights of the weaker sections should not be
downplayed for fear of further disturbances or
retribution and adequate preparation should be
made to face any such eventuality.
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 The administration should also focus on
rehabilitation of the victims and provide all
required support including counselling by
experts.
As far as possible the deployment of police
personnel in police stations with significant
proportion of religious and linguistic minorities
should be in proportion to the population of such
communities within the local jurisdiction of such
police station. The same principle should be
followed in cases of localities having substantial
proportion of Scheduled Tribes population.
(f) Poor Implementation of the Scheduled
Caste Sub-Plan (SCSP)
The SCSP aims at facilitating convergence
and pooling of resources from all the other
development sectors in proportion to the
population of SCs and STs, respectively for their
overall development.
At present, 27 States/UTs are implementing
SCSP through different mechanisms. The State
Governments generally divide their resources
into divisible and nondivisible components
and earmark funds for SCs only from the
divisible pool. As a result, the actual funds
flowing directly to SCSP from the total State Plan
becomes much less than the proportion of SC
population to the total population of the State.
Though there may be several reasons for this
lacklustre implementation, lack of statutory or
clear-cut administrative sanction is an important
one.
Thus there is a need to monitor implementa-
tion of the programmes under the SCSP. A Com-
mittee meant for this purpose should be set up
which will ensure that each Ministrys alloca-
tion of SCSP is indicated well in advance.
Further, if any particular Ministry is not able
to utilize the earmarked allocation, action should
be initiated to transfer the unused fund available
to those Ministries/Departments which have
implemented the SCSP/TSP more effectively.
B. Issues related to welfare of ST
According to the 2001 census, the population
of Scheduled Tribes in the country is 84.32
million which constitutes 8.2 per cent of the total
population. 36 Of these, about 1.37 million (1.57
per cent) belong to Primitive Tribal Groups (PTG).
The issues related to Schedules Tribes are
discussed as below:
Chronicle IAS Academy
(a) Human Development Status:
The (HDIs) of the ST population are much
lower than the rest of the population in terms of
all parameters such as education, health, income,
etc. This can be analysed by following data:
Between 1961 and 2001, the literacy rate
of STs increased 5.32 times, while that of
total population increased 2.69 times.
However, the gap between the literacy rates
of STs and of the general population
continued during the three decades
between 1971 and 2001 almost at the same
level of 17.70% and above.
The dropout rate is a critical indicator
reflecting lack of educational development
and inability of a given social group to
complete a specific level of education. In
the case of tribals, dropout rates are still
very high42.3% in Classes I to V; 65.9% in
Classes I to VIII; and 79.0% in Classes I to
X in 200405.
81.56% of the total ST workers, both rural
and urban taken together, are engaged in
the primary sector, of whom 44.71% are
cultivators and 36.85% are agricultural
labourers. This indicated that STs are
essentially dependent on agriculture.
The STs are mainly landless poor forest
dwellers and shifting cultivators, small
farmers and pastoral and nomadic herders.
Though The Departments of Elementary
Education and Literacy and of Higher Education
in States have provided special incentives to ST
students which include textbooks, uniform,
abolition of tuition fee, and so on. Special focus
is also accorded to ST students under the District
Primary Education Programme, Kasturba
Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya, Mid-day Meal
Programme; however, the problem of adequacy
of the school buildings, both in number and in
facilities, still remains. The lack of education in
the mother language or dialect in primary classes,
ignorance of non-tribal teachers about tribal
languages and ethos, delay in distribution of
scholarships, textbooks and uniforms, continue
to be sources of worry.
(b) Lack of basic amenities:
Since most of the tribal habitations are
located in isolated villages and hamlets in
undulating plateau lands coinciding with forest
areas, they have limited access to critical
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 infrastructure facilities such as roads,
communication, health, education, electricity,
drinking water, and so on. This widens the gap
between the quality of their life and the people
in the country.
The incidence of poverty amongst STs still
continues to be very high at 47.30% in rural areas
and 33.30% in urban areas, compared to 28.30%
and 25.70%, respectively in respect of total
population in 200405 (Table 6.10). A large
number of STs who are living below the poverty
line are landless, with no productive assets and
with no access to sustainable employment and
minimum wages. The women belonging to these
groups suffer even more because of the added
disadvantage of being denied equal and
minimum wages.
To improve their living conditions the GOI
has set up the National Scheduled Tribes Finance
and Development Corporation (NSTFDC) in
2001 with an authorized share capital of Rs. 500
crore. The Corporation supports various income
and employment generating activities though
loans, marketing support, training, and so on.
Special focus is accorded to ST women
beneficiaries under programmes such as the
Adivasi Mahila Shashaktikaran Yojana, which
facilitate income generating activities through
womens self-help groups (SHGs). Further The
Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development
Federation of India Ltd. (TRIFED) provides
marketing assistance and remunerative prices to
STs for collection of minor forest produce (MFP),
and surplus agricultural produce to protect them
from exploitative private traders and
middlemen. But these suffer from the
implementation problems because the majority
of the tribals are settled cultivators, their farming
activity is generally uneconomical and non-viable
due to the lack of access to necessary agricultural
inputs, specially assured irrigation. Lack of
awareness and corruption with the presence of
middlemen erodes their purpose of formation.
(c) Displacement of tribals:
Tribals have been displaced in large numbers
on account of various large development projects
like irrigation dams, hydroelectric and thermal
power plants, coal mines and mineral-based
industries. A National Policy on Relief and
Rehabilitation of Project Affected Families (PAFs)
was notified in February, 2004 with a relief
package of seventeen parameters to be fulfilled
Chronicle IAS Academy
before permitting dislocation. Thereafter, the
Government of India in October, 2007 approved
a new National Policy for Rehabilitation and
Resettlement. But serious work on PAFs is yet to
start in tribal areas. Tribals are alienated from
their lands not only by acquisition of land for
public purpose, but also by fraudulent transfers,
forcible eviction, mortgages, leases and
encroachment. The Ministry of Rural
Development has estimated the extent of
alienation of tribal land in different states:
Andhra Pradesh (2.79 lakh acres), Madhya
Pradesh (1.58 lakh acres), Karnataka (1.3 lakh
acres), Gujarat (1.16 lakh acres). Those displaced
have been forced to migrate to new areas and
more often, have unknowingly encroached on
forest lands and on record, are considered as
illegal occupants. This type of displacement has
led to far-reaching negative social and economic
consequences.
(d) Conflicts Related to Inclusion in the List
of Scheduled Tribes
There have been agitations sometimes
violent by certain groups, while laying their
claims for inclusion in the list of Scheduled
Tribes. The agitation by Gujjars in Rajasthan,
and a few groups in Assam are some recent
examples of such conflicts. Thus the authorities
involved in determining the inclusion and
exclusion of tribes in the list of Scheduled Tribes
should adopt a mechanism of consultation with
the major States and those with tribal
populations, on the basis of which a
comprehensive methodology with clearly defined
parameters is arrived at.
C. Issues related to welfare of Women
Though the Constitutional commitments of
the nation to women was translated through the
planning process, legislation, policies and
programs, a situational analysis of social and
economic status of women reflects less than
satisfactory achievements in almost all important
human development indicators.
(a) Human development status:
The maternal mortality rate is estimated at
200 per 100,000 live births (2010) in India
compared to figures of 35 in Sri Lanka, 37 in
China and 59 in Vietnam; the growing female
face of HIV/AIDS is reflected in the fact that
the number of pregnant women (between 18-24
years) with HIV prevalence comprise 0.86 % in
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 2003 of the total women pregnant compared to
0.74% in 2002.
The saga of missing daughters is vividly
depicted in the growing incidence of female
feoticide as a result of which the child sex ratio
has declined from 927 in 2001 to 914 in 2011.
While the literacy rates have shown an
improvement from 54.3% to 65.46% of the total
female population between 2001 and 2011, yet
much more needs to be done especially for
socially and economically backward regions and
groups.
(b) Poor empowerment of women:
Four of the main processes that could lead
to women's empowerment, as defined by the
IFAD:
changes in women's mobility and social
interaction;
changes in women's labour patterns;
changes in women's access to and control
over resources; and
changes in women's control over decision-
making.
In India, women are still facing different
obstacles in male-dominated cultures. Economic
empowerment as reflected by the work
participation rate shows that the percentage of
women in the workforce increased by only 3%
(from 22.5% to 25.7%) between 1991 and 2001.
The average wage differential between men
and women showed a marked deterioration
between 2000 and 2004 for both rural and
urban areas.
Female share of non-agricultural wage
employment is only 17%.
Participation of women in the workforce is
only 13.9% in the urban sector and 29.9%
in the rural sector.
Womens wage rates are, on an average
only 75 % of mens wage rates and
constitute only 25% of the family income.
In no Indian State do women and men earn
equal wages in agriculture.
Women occupy: only 9% of parliamentary
seats less than 4% seats in High Courts and
Supreme Court less than 3% administrators
and managers are women.
Chronicle IAS Academy
(c) Discrimination against Women
It should be noted that in a vast country like
India - spanning 3.29 million sq. km, where
cultural backgrounds, religions and traditions
vary widely - the extend of discrimination
against women also varies from one societal
stratum to another and from state to state - some
areas in India being historically more inclined to
gender bias than others. The stages can be
divided in following sections:
I. Discrimination against Women: Before Birth
/As an Infant
India is one of the few countries where males
outnumber females; the Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB)
which shows the number of boys born to every
1000 girls - is usually consistent in human
populations, where about 1000 males are born
to every 914 females.
There are also huge local differences from
such as increasing trend in the child sex ratio (0-
6) seen in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh,
Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Mizoram and A&N
Islands. In all remaining 27 States/UTs, the child
sex ratio show decline over Census 2001.
Mizoram has the highest child sex ratio (0-6
years) of 971 followed by Meghalaya with 970.
Haryana is at the bottom with ratio of 830
followed by Punjab with 846.
Though prenatal sex discrimination was
legally banned in 1996, the law is nearly
impossible to enforce and is not even familiar to
all Indian families. Hence, the preference for a
male child persists, quite often out of mere
practical, financial concerns, because the parents
might not be able to afford the marriage dowry
for (another) daughter. This leads to some of the
most gruesome and desperate acts when it
comes to gender discrimination:
Selective abortions
Murdering of female babies
Abandonment of female babies
Prenatal tests to determine the sex of the
feotus were criminalized by Indian law in 1994,
but the above mentioned imbalances in the sex
ratio at birth, clearly point to gender selective
abortions. While abortion is officially illegal in
India there are some exceptions to this rule such
as the failure of contraceptive device used by a
couple; if the woman was raped; or if the child
would suffer from severe disabilities. In total 11
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 million abortions take place annually and
around 20,000 women die every year due to
abortion related complications.
II. Discrimination against Women: As a Child
Nutrition & Health
As a child, girls are often treated differently
from male children in terms of nutrition and
health care; where limited food or financial
resources are available, the insufficient means
are prone to be allocated unevenly in favour of
the male offspring. This imbalance results in
insufficient care afforded to girls and women,
and is the first major reason for the high levels
of child malnutrition. This nutritional
deprivation has two harmful consequences for
women:
1. They never reach their full growth
potential
2. Anaemia
Both consequences are risk factors in
pregnancy, complicating childbearing and
resulting in maternal and infant deaths, as well
as low birth weight infants.
Education
India's constitution guarantees free primary
school education for both girls and boys upto
age 14. This has been repeatedly reconfirmed,
but primary education in India is not universal,
and often times not seen as really necessary for
girls. Their parents might consider it more
important, that they learn domestic chores, as
they will need to perform them for their future
husbands and in-laws. Another disincentive for
sending daughters to school is a concern for the
protection of their virginity. When schools are
located at a distance, when teachers are male,
and when girls are expected to study alongwith
boys, parents are often unwilling to expose their
daughters to the potential assault on their
virginity, that would ultimately result in an
insult to the girl's family's honor. This results in
one of the lowest female literacy rates in the
world.
Literacy Rate for Women: 65.46% in 2011
Literacy Rate for Men: 74% in 2011
Mothers' illiteracy and lack of schooling
directly disadvantage their young children. Low
schooling translates into poor quality of care for
Chronicle IAS Academy
children, consequently in higher infant and child
mortality and malnutrition, because mothers
with little education are less likely to adopt
appropriate health-promoting behaviors, such as
having young children immunized.
Child Marriages
The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006
bans marriage below age 18 for girls and age 21
for boys, but some 80% of Indians live in villages
where family, caste and community pressures
are more effective than any legislature. According
to UNICEF's "State of the World's Children 2009"
report, 47% of India's women aged 2024 were
married before the legal age of 18, with 56% in
rural areas. The report also showed that 40% of
the world's child marriages occur in India.
The consequences are:
Girls between 15 and 19 are twice as likely
to die of pregnancy-related reasons as girls
between 20 and 24. Girls married off as children
sometimes stay in their parents' house until
puberty, but it is just as common, that they move
in with their husband and in-laws right after
marriage. In that case, many child wives are
inclined to experience domestic violence, marital
rape, deprivation of food, and lack of access to
information, healthcare, and education. Thus,
the vicious cycle of illiteracy and abuse is likely
to be continued and passed on to their own
daughters.
III. Discrimination against Women: After
Marriage
There is mainly a bias towards men and their
superiority in marital relationships. Whereas as
a child a girl is supposed to remain in the custody
and care of her parents, after marriage she
becomes the property and responsibility of her
husband, who is supposed to take care of her
and keep her in his custody.
There is no cultural or religious tradition
behind one of the most ghastly incidents of
female oppression, but the prevalence of the
dowry tradition has supposedly lead to
Bride Burning (or other form of murdering)
of the newly-wed wife by the husband and his
family, who would claim, that she died in a
domestic accident, so that the widowed husband
would be free to marry again and collect another
dowry. Indian law demands a formal criminal
investigation when a newly married woman dies
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 within the home within 7 years of marriage.
According to Indian National Crime Record
Bureau, there were 8,239 dowry death cases,
1,285 cases of attempted dowry deaths, and
another 4,890 cases with pending investigations
in 2009. The punishment for dowry deaths is a
term of 7 years, which may extend to life
imprisonment. Indian law clearly distinguishes
the offence of dowry deaths from the offence of
murder, for which a death sentence might be
declared.
IV. Discrimination against Women: As a Widow
Indian government has enacted numerous
laws to protect widow's rights, including
prohibitions against traditional practices for
which India has been discredited, such as the
burning of widows (Sati). Whereas in India's
contemporary culture, especially in the modern
urban middle-class, these societal norms have
given way to a more righteous conduct, the
enforcement of the law continues to be
challenging, where there are regional, religious
or caste variants of family law, which tend to
escape government jurisdiction. Hence, a widow
is still seen as a liability in some part of the Indian
society, which might result in her being
abandoned by her in-laws. Moreover, a widow
might face trouble securing her property rights
after her husbands death, nor be allowed to
remarry.
(d) Feminisation of Poverty:
Poverty is increasingly becoming femininsed
- mainly on account of the fact that with
globalization and liberalization, a paradigm shift
in the countrys economy has taken place skewed
towards technology dominated sectors,
rendering traditional sectors like agriculture
unviable and without any security cover.
Unfortunately it is in these sectors that women
predominately eke out a sustenance livelihood.
The lack of alternate employment, skill training,
or credit facilities for women who seek it, is
another factor that keeps them in poverty.
Traditional patriarchal systems too play their
part in keeping women at a lower rung in the
social and economic hierarchy by denying them
basic rights to land, assets, etc. and also placing
a low value on their existence. The high
prevalence of female foeticide and child marriage
is a fall out of these factors. The weak social
infrastructure such as the lack of adequate
schools or health centers, drinking water,
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sanitation and hygiene facilities inhibits a very
large section of women from accessing these
facilities. This is a major reason why women
continue to face problems as poor literacy rates,
or health issues. It is also one of the reasons for
the high incidence of MMR and IMR.
D. Issues related to welfare of children
India has made some significant
commitments towards ensuring the basic rights
of children. There has been progress in overall
indicators: infant mortality rates are down, child
survival is up, literacy rates have improved and
school dropout rates have fallen. But the issue
of child rights in India is still caught between
legal and policy commitments to children on the
one hand, and the fallout of the process of
globalization on the other.
Some issues are:
(a) Poor Health:
Almost half of all children under the age of
5 suffer from stunted growth due to malnutrition.
46% children under the age of 3 are too small
for their age, and at least 16% show signs of
wasting. Anaemia affects 74% of all children
under the age of three, and a shocking 90% of
all adolescent girls. Preventable diseases like
diarrhoea and respiratory infections continue to
be leading causes of death among children. HIV
infects about 220,000 children with nearly
60,000 being added each year. Every third
malnourished child in the world is from India.
The under-five mortality rate in the country is
78.6 deaths per 1000 live births, which is below
the world average. A country where medical
tourism is opening up new avenues of prosperity,
children of poor families continue to die from
vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles and
tetanus.
The major cause is lack of public health
services in remote and interior regions of the
country, poor access to subsidised healthcare
facilities, declining State expenditure on public
health, and lack of awareness about preventive
child healthcare.
According to the Planning Commission, 50%
of below the poverty line (BPL) families are out
of the purview of the targeted public distribution
system. The very method of identifying the poor
using the official poverty line defined at an
absolutely low level of income corresponding to
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 the expenditure required to purchase the bare
minimum of calories, is contentious. Therefore,
in reality, many more people are living in food
insecurity.
(b) Lack of education:
While enrolment levels propelled by the
flagship Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan show an
increase, levels of retention in schools remain a
matter of concern. There has been a marginal
improvement in the percentage of students who
stay in school until Class 5 -- from 61.2% to 62%
-- but this is way below the global average of
83.3% (10). There is a sharp decline in the
enrolment ratio at the upper primary level. Also,
the dropout rate increases cumulatively as it
proceeds towards higher levels. Although
showing improvement, the enrolment of girls is
still below that of boys. The dropout rate for girls
too is higher. Children belonging to scheduled
castes and scheduled tribes continue to face
discrimination in schools and have lower
enrolment and higher dropout rates. Despite the
promise of education for all, 46% of children
from scheduled tribes and 38% from scheduled
castes continue to be out of school, as against
34% in the case of others. This is not surprising
considering the discrimination that these
children face at school. The same can be said of
the discrimination faced by disabled children.
The Constitution of India fails to even
recognise education as a right for those aged
15-18 years. Many children drop out after the
elementary level. Indeed, the system is designed
to push children out of education -- there is a
lack of adequate school infrastructure, the quality
of education is poor, the educational system is
gender-unfriendly, disabled-unfriendly, caste-
discriminatory and violent because of a high
degree of corporal punishment.
(c) Child Labour:
India has the highest number of child
labourers in the world.
Census reports clearly point to an increase
in the number of child labourers in the
country, from 11.28 million in 1991 to 12.59
million in 2001.
Reports from the MV Foundation in
Andhra Pradesh reveal that nearly 400,000
children, mostly girls between 7 and 14
years of age, toil for 14-16 hours a day in
cotton seed production across the country.
Chronicle IAS Academy
Ninety percent of them are employed in
Andhra Pradesh alone.
According to Yamina de Laet of the
International Chemical, Energy and Mine
Workers federation (ICEM), children aged
6-14 years represent 40% of the labour force
in the precious-stone-cutting sector.
Rescue operations in Mumbai and Delhi in
2005-2006 highlight the employment of
children in zari and embroidery units.
Although the number of children employed
in the agricultural sector, in domestic work,
roadside restaurants, sweetmeat shops,
automobile mechanic units, rice mills,
Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) outlets
and most such sectors considered to be
non-hazardous is unknown, there is ample
evidence to suggest that more and more
children are entering the labour force and
are being exploited by their employers.
Recently the Union Cabinet has approved a
proposal for amending the Child Labour
(Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, to ban
employment of children aged upto 14 in any
form of industry.
It will be an offence to employ such children
not only in factories or industries but also in home
or on farms, if their labour is meant to serve any
commercial interest. The Cabinet also approved
another amendment to define those children
aged 14-18 as adolescents and prohibit their
employment in mines, explosive industries,
chemical and paint industries and other
hazardous establishments.
(d) Crime against children:
Crimes against children included infanticide,
murder, rape, kidnapping and abduction,
foeticide, abetment of suicide, exposure and
abandonment, buying and selling of minor girls
for prostitution and child marriage. According
to the the Child Rights Index (CRI) released by
NGO HAQ, Karnataka is the best state for
children to live in as it has the least number of
cases of crime against children, followed by
Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and
Rajasthan. While crimes against children are
highest in Nagaland (in proportion to the
number of children), and Manipur is the worst
performer in crimes by children. Despite being
ostensibly backward on social sector parameters,
Bihar is ranked number 1 when it comes to
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 crimes committed by children. It has the least
number of such cases.
GOI has recently formed the Protection of
Children from Sexual Offences Act, which will
address the issue of sexual offences against
children for the first time. The Act provides for
stringent punishments, which have been graded
as per the gravity of the offence. The
punishments range from simple to rigorous
imprisonment of varying periods. There is also
provision for fine, which is to be decided by the
Court.
E. Issues related to welfare of old citizens
Well-being of older persons has been
mandated in the Constitution of India. Article
41, Directive Principle of State Policy has directed
that the State shall, within the limits of its
economic capacity and development, make
effective provision for securities, right to public
assistance in case of old age. But the issues are
discussed below:
The problems faced by this segment of the
population are numerous owing to the social and
cultural changes that are taking place within the
Indian society. The major area of concern is the
health of the elderly with multiple medical and
psychological problems. Falls are one of the major
problems in older people and are considered one
of the Geriatric Giants. Recurrent falls are an
important cause of morbidity and mortality
among the older people and are a marker of poor
physical and cognitive status.
Inadequate financial resources are one of the
major problems of the older people in the
country. In India, approximately 60 per cent
continue to work beyond 60 years whereas in
some developed nations only 2 per cent over 65
years are part of the labour force. In India, even
above 80 age group, about 20 per cent are
forced to work. It is not that the elders who do
not participate in the workforce do not
contribute to the economy only it is not taken
into account. They contribute by bringing up
grandchildren, doing voluntary service, caring
for the sick and often counsel and resolve conflict
by virtue of their position. In many cases they
are also repositories of knowledge, experience,
culture and religious heritage.
There is a transformation occurring in
households in India, where the traditional
extended family make-up of households is
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moving to a nuclear one. There is also a trend of
migration from rural to urban areas, leaving
many older people without familial support in
rural areas. Industrialization, urbanization,
education and exposure to modern India life style
in countries bring in changes in values and life
styles. Much higher cost of bringing up and
educating children and pressures for
gratification of their desires affects transfer of
shares of income for the care of parents. Due to
shortage of space in dwellings in urban areas
and high rents, migrants prefer to leave their
parents in their native place. Changing roles and
expectations of women, their concepts of privacy
and space, desire not to be encumbered by caring
responsibilities of old people for long periods,
career ambitions, and employment outside the
home implies considerably reduced time for
caregiving. Also, adoptions of small family
norms by a growing number of families,
daughters, too are fully occupied. The position
of single persons, particularly females, is more
vulnerable in old age as few persons are willing
to take care for non-lineal relatives.
It was observed that women in rural areas
are more likely to be dependent on others, given
lower literacy and higher incidence of
widowhood among them. The most vulnerable
are those who do not own productive assets, have
little or no savings or income from investments
made earlier, have no pension bebefits, and are
not taken care of by their children; or they live
in families that have low and uncertain incomes
and large number of dependents.
Vulnerable groups like the disabled, fragile
older persons, such as: landless agricultural
workers, small and marginal farmers, artisans
in the informal sector, unskilled labourers on
daily, casual or contract labour, migrant
labourers, informal self-employed or wage
workers in the rural sector.
F. Issues related to minorities in India
Religious minorities get special benefits,
especially in the field of education and
educational institutions. Minority communities
can establish their own educational institutions,
and can reserve 50% seats of students reserved
for own community members. In addition, they
can recruit 100% staff from their own
community.
Beside this, scholarships and other help is
offered to minority students by Central and state
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 Governments. Business loans with a very low
interest are also offered to young entrepreneurs
from minority communities. There is a 15 point
development program for minorities from Prime
Minister of India.
The issues related to welfare of religious
minorities are discussed below:
(a) Education:
The literacy rate among minorities is poor.
Another issue was biased curriculum content,
that either distorted history by excluding the
achievements of religious minority communities
or by breeding hatred through specific anti-
minority rhetoric in textbooks. There was also a
fear of unregulated religious schools from the
madarssahculture or Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh (RSS) schools promoting the extremist
Hindutwa ideology in India, and certain types
of Christian schools that impart fundamentalist
views. This type of indoctrination was perceived
to be one of the root causes of religious
intolerance, which has led to a rise in
communalism.
In India, indigenous and tribal peoples
religious and cultural identities were treated
negatively and included practices in education
that often led to forced conversion. State policies
and state-determined education led to religious
and cultural indoctrination and that it needs to
be radically altered to allow for greater insight
into and understanding of world religions.
Further many minority community
children do not even come to know of the various
scholarship programmes of the government
which are made only for them due to lack of
awareness. Thus to increase awareness
government is hiring NGOs who will organize
workshops and seminars at every school in the
state and inform students about the various
schemes for the minority communities.
Further the central government has planned
to establish six universities across the country for
minority community children. Madarsa
education will be modernized and substantially
strengthened by inter-alia incorporating
professional and technical courses and effectively
implemented. Resources will be provided for
establishment and upgradation of basic
educational infrastructure particularly in the
areas of concentration of economically and
educationally backward minority communities.
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(b) Customary Laws:
The issue of customary laws is quite
complicated because theycan have both a
negative and positive impact on humanrights.
For religious communities the practice of
customary law, although not codified, is an
essential component of the identity of the
religious communities. However, customary
laws, also called personal laws, may discriminate
against certain sections of society, like women.
It is here that problems arise, as governments
remain uncertain of how such cases should be
handled. For example, in India, the adoption of
a Uniform Civil Code has been hotly contested
as it is thought to be an imposition of majority
community law on minorities. Dual judicial
systems, such as that of Sharia/civil law cause
many problems for minorities and may prevent
them from accessing the legal system.
Most participants agreed that the main
problem facing all countries was the extremely
low level of awareness of people, especially
women, regarding human rights, and the lack
of implementation of international and even
constitutional human rights guarantees signed
up to by states. In India, Muslim women have
very few rights under the Sharia, as the
interpretation of the Quran in issues of divorce,
polygamy, alimony, etc. is extremely patriarchal.
The rights of women remain secondary (although
in some cases, customary laws can offer a degree
of protection), and crimes against women, such
as dowry deaths, sati, abductions, rape and
honour killings often go unpunished.
(c) Employment status:
Worker population ratios for Muslims are
significantly lower than for all other religious
communities in rural areas, but only marginally
lower in urban areas. The lower ratios are mainly
due to much lower participation in economic
activity by Muslim women. However the
employment status of the non-Muslim minorities
displays diverse characteristics. The Scheduled
Caste Buddhists are predominantly dependent
on the worst forms of casual work, while the
majority of Sikhs and Christians are self-
employed. While the concentration of workers
in the self-employed category is higher among
Sikh males, both in villages and urban towns and
cities, among Christians it is more so only in rural
areas. Urban Christians, both male and female,
are found to be employed as regular workers.
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 What is striking is that the share of female
regular workers in urban areas surpasses the
share of male regular employees among the Sikhs
and Christians.
Government is planning to earmarked a
proportionate percentage of funds in all Central
Sector and Centrally Sponsored Schemes in the
field of employment in both rural and urban
sectors for beneficiaries belonging to the minority
communities for creation of durable, social,
physical and economic infrastructure.
(d) Employment in government sector:
The most important grievances of the Muslim
community is adequate representation in various
services under the control of Govt. of India.
Inspite of the fact that the constitution of India
provides equal opportunities to all irrespective
of any discrimination on the basis of the religion
etc. The number of Muslims recruited to various
services have never been above 5% and mostly
lower around two or three percent in the govt.
service. The relative number of jobs held by
Muslims in govt. and in industrial and
commercial undertakings has been a bone of
contention for a long time. There is a strong
feeling among Muslims that this number has
been steadily declining. Among several reasons
one important factor may be also the lack of
quantitative supply of really competent
candidates from the Muslim community.
As the representations of minority
communities in the Government sector is
reported to be declining. A survey need to be
done by the military and para military
organizations so that suitable remedial measures
can be taken. Besides, Central Government will
give special consideration and priority to
minority communities candidates in recruitments
in Central Para Military Forces, Police personnel
and all Civil Services Group A, B, C and D to come out of economic backwardness lack of
posts. Representatives of Minority communities
will invariably be included in all the Selection
Committees constituted for recruitment of such
posts. Universities including Central Universities,
Railways, Nationalized Banks, Public Sector
Enterprises, etc. will ensure that special
consideration and priority is given in recruitment
for candidates belonging to minority communities.
State Government should give special
consideration and priority to minorities in
recruitment of State Government personnel, civil
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and police, by including representatives from
minority communities in all Selection
Committees constituted for selection of all such
posts.
(e) Poverty and low social status:
In every region of the world, there are
minorities that are the poorest of the poor, often
having faced long-standing discrimination,
exclusion, denial of their basic rights, and
sometimes violence. Minorities face high and
disproportionate levels of poverty and the
dynamics of that poverty are often more complex
in nature for minority groups and defy the
rationale of common denominator policies of
poverty alleviation. Often minorities are
neglected or excluded from efforts to achieve the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Muslims face fairly high levels of poverty.
Their conditions on the whole are only slightly
better than those of SCs/STS, though slightly
worse in urban areas. According to NSSO data,
overall 22.7% of Indias population was poor in
2004-05 (251 million people), with SC/STs
together as the worst off (at 35%), followed by
Muslims at 31%. Substantially larger proportions
of the Muslim households in urban areas are in
the less than Rs. 500 expenditure bracket. Poverty
among Muslims has declined in rural areas by
12%, whereas the economic conditions of
Muslims in urban areas have not improved as
much as other communities. No special efforts
have been made to fulfill the need of education
and training of the major portion of Muslim
population which belongs to the lower strata of
society. Modern education neither attracts them
nor serves any of their functional needs. The
Indian Muslims have been caught in a vivacious
circle as lack of modernization helps in
perpetuating their economic backwardness. The
Indian Muslims today find it extremely difficult
modernization backwardness syndrome.
Whereas Indias Christian minority has the
lowest percentage of poor people. The poverty
gap is low in rural areas whereas it increases
tremendously especially in Muslims in urban
areas.
Financial inclusion id also low among
religious communities. To increase their financial
participation government is planning to
earmarked a proportionate percentage of priority
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 sector lending viz. agricultural loans, loan to
small-scale industries & small business, loans to
retail trade, professional and self-employed
persons, education loans, housing loans and
micro-credit, etc. for the minority communities.
Government will evolve an interest subsidiary
scheme for the people belonging to riot affected
Minorities Communities in respect of all
communal disturbances or riots, taking place in
future.
(f) Security:
Internal security laws and anti-terror laws
are being used against communities that do not
fall in line with state policies. Such laws are used
to quash dissent and are often misused against
political opponents, minorities and other
vulnerable groups. In India, the Prevention of
Terrorism Act (POTA) has been used to detain
Muslims unlawfully. The police have become
communalized and are biased against religious
minority communities. This communalism has
also manifested itself in the lower and high
courts, and has encouraged corruption and
prejudice within the judiciary.
Thus to overcome this problem National
Commission for Minorities has issued some
guidelines:
State Governments shall be advised that
Police officials of highest known efficiency,
impartiality, integrity and secular record must
be posted in sectarian sensitive and riot prone
districts and areas to create a sense of confidence.
Prevention of sectarian tension would be first
and foremost duties of the District Magistrate
and Superintendent of Police. They would be held




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unequivocally responsible in the event of
outbreak of sectarian violence. Their
performance in this regard would be an
important factor in determining their promotion
and career progression prospects. Intelligence
mechanism in this regard should also be
strengthened.
Severe action and demonsratable action
should be taken against all those who incite
sectarian tension or take part in violence, thereby
debarring them permanently from Government
jobs and from benefitting from Government
beneficiary oriented schemes such as holding of
ration cards, gas connections, driving licenses,
arms licenses, etc.
Special (Fast Track) Courts should be
exclusively set up to try sectarian offences to be
set up so that offenders are brought to book,
investigated and punished speedily i.e., within
three months, and if necessary, an extension of
another three months will be given.
National Human Rights Commission will be
given statutory powers to monitor the performance
of Special Courts and place the performance
reports before the legislature of the concerned
States as well as before the Parliament.
Victims of sectarian riots will be given
immediate relief, i.e., within 30 days of the
incidents, and provided prompt, adequate,
uniform and equitable compensation for their
rehabilitation. Compensation for damage of
moveable and immovable properties
(commercial as well as residential) will be
provided at current replacement value and that
too within a period of six months.
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