The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : SC panel chief justifies court verdict on subcategorisation

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 06, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

SC panel chief justifies court verdict on subcategorisation

Staff Reporter

Panel to be set up to monitor welfare programmes

Stress on awareness: The Chairman of the National Commission for SCs/STs, Suraj Bhan, at a meeting in Hyderabad on Thursday. — Photo: Satish H.

HYDERABAD: The Chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, Suraj Bhan, has opined that the Supreme Court judgment, striking down the sub-categorisation of SCs in Andhra Pradesh, should be implemented.

Replying to a question at a press conference here on Thursday, Mr. Suraj Bhan said the Commission could do little to influence Parliament to restore sub-categorisation in the State as demanded by Madigas. "The question of bringing a legislation in Parliament to continue sub-categorisation in Andhra Pradesh is entirely left to members of the two Houses," he pointed out.

It was Punjab and Haryana which had introduced sub-categorisation followed by Andhra Pradesh. While there were only three sub-categories in Punjab and Haryana, it was four in Andhra Pradesh and feared that many more categories would be included in future.

Budget spending

Mr. Suraj Bhan said a watchdog committee would be constituted in all States to examine the ongoing welfare programmes for SCs. The Commission decided to enlist the services of SC and ST employees' organisations for study on the budget spending.

The committee would scrutinise the information furnished by respective states. "The data will be cross-checked at the field level by asking the unions to visit the rural areas and physically examine the works," he added. Letters had been written to the respective State Governments to furnish details of budgetary allocation and spending.

Advisory committee

A central advisory committee, comprising the chairmen of eight State Commissions, would be constituted shortly for regular consultation. Mr. Suraj Bhan regretted that 98 per cent of the complaints to the Commission pertained to the service matters of SC employees. "The common man in villages does not know about the Commission and there is every need to create awareness among them," he said. There was urgent need to distribute 20 crore acres wasteland in the country among the poor.

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