Govt not diluting the SC/ST Act: Rajnath Singh
Govt not diluting the SC/ST Act: Rajnath Singh
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NEW DELHI: Emphasizing that the government is sensitive to the concerns of the Dalit communities, Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said it was not responsible for the dilution of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Asserting in the Lok Sabha during Zero Hour on the huge violence during Monday's Bharat Bandh call, the home minister said eight people were killed -- six in Madhya Pradesh and one each in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, during the bandh.He also said that Bandh witnessed clashes between the police and the protesters.

"Through the House, I want to assure the people that there has been no dilution whatsoever by my government, rather after coming to power and examining the SC/ST prevention Atrocities Act, we have taken a decision to strengthen it," he said as TOI qouted.

Singh said there have been widespread rumours on the subject of reservation which are "false and baseless" and the government is totally committed to protecting the interest of the SC/ST community.

"I fully appreciate that there is widespread anger among the people following the Supreme Court order. I wish to inform the House that the Government of India was not the party in that case. People have taken to the streets," he said.

The Supreme Court on March 20 in its verdict diluted the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and said that government servants should not be arrested without prior sanction and private citizens, too, be arrested only after an investigation under the law.

Opposing the ruling, a number of Dalit organisations had called for a 'Bharat bandh' yesterday in which several violent incidents and blockades of roads and rail tracks were reported from many states.

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