Enhanced monetary relief in the case of atrocities against SCs and STs has come into effect with the Centre notifying amended rules under the relevant act.
As per the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities (Amendment) Rules 2011, which has come into effect
from December 23, 2011, compensation in case of murder of a earning SC/ST member has gone up to
Rs. five lakh from
Rs. two lakh.
In case of murder of a non-earning member, the relief has been increased from Rs.one lakh to Rs. 2.5 lakh. Compensation paid in the case of sexual exploitation of a SC/ST woman would now be Rs. 1.2 lakh as against Rs. 50,000 earlier.
A copy of the rules was made available to the media here by Evidence a non-governmental organisation, which has taken steps to create awareness among the people about it.
For listed offences under Section 3(1) (i) to Section 3 (1) (x), the relief amount has been enhanced to Rs. 60,000 from Rs. 25,000 and for offences relating to right to franchise from Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 50,000.
For the offence of fouling of water, denial of customary right of passage and giving false evidence, the compensation had been increased from Rs. 1.20 lakh to Rs. 2,50 lakh.
The amendment also says that words “director/deputy director, national commission for the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes” shall be substituted with “representatives of the national commission for the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes,”
The rules have been welcomed by NGOs here including the People's Watch, SOCO trust, and Evidence.